WHY IS DEVELOPING EFFECTIVE LEADERS IN SCIENCE IMPORTANT?

“I am not able to find the motivation to submit this important paper/grant application.”

“I feel really stuck. I want to move beyond the bench to an alternate career in science. But I apply and never get a reply.” ?

“I am seldom included in key projects. Maybe I am not good enough.”?

?“My supervisor is too busy and unavailable. All others are so critical of my work. I feel lost without guidance and support”?

“I am so overwhelmed. I just can’t handle all the research, administrative tasks, and managing my team, all at the same time.”?

These are just a few statements I have heard from my peers, mentees, and coaching clients highlighting the hard realities, struggles and challenges faced by people in science. ?If you are a person in science reading this, I am sure you are not surprised and may even be able to relate to at least some of this.

The hard realities of the unsustainable way of work in Science

There is more and more data emerging with evidence for an unsustainable work culture in science which is only getting worse year after year. The 2021 Nature Salary and Job Satisfaction survey marks an all-time low in job satisfaction in science in the ten-year history of annual nature surveys (For 54% of respondents, job satisfaction had worsened while burnout and mental health concerns have increased. Not surprisingly, the proportion is higher in academia as compared to the industry. There is a very high proportion of people in science experiencing signs of burnout (Figure 1)

Figure 1- Image Source: Chris Woolston- How burnout and imposter syndrome blight scientific careers Nature 2021 (1)

This is quite disheartening because people in science are in it for their love of science and the fulfilment they derive from doing meaningful science that positively impacts people and the world. Scientists are not as well-paid as in other sectors, generally have to put in really long hours including working on weekends, manage tons of admin work in addition to doing science, writing papers and grants, speaking at conferences, and managing their team/lab. Getting funding in science consistently is a behemoth problem even for the most established scientists.

Despite this, scientists find joy when their experiments work, when their papers get accepted, and above all when their intellectual curiosity gets satisfied. Hence the low job satisfaction, burn out and poor mental well-being experienced by a significant population is sad, alarming and requires attention and action.

The root causes for this situation are generally attributed to the notorious ‘publish or perish’ culture in academia, high competition for limited funds, failures which are common in science, toxic work culture which includes long work hours, unwillingness to share data, not giving due credit, unsupportive supervisors and being stuck in a postdoctoral position for too long as the tenure track path gets narrower. Forty-five per cent of respondents in the Nature survey said they frequently or always felt that they couldn’t keep up with the demands of the job.?

The industry seems to provide a better working environment, but there is little institutional support and guidance for people to make that shift. Some choose to move into other alternate science careers such as science communication, patent specialists, research administration, regulatory affairs etc. A challenge with these areas is a lack of clarity in career progression and salary stagnation beyond a certain level.

How can we address this and create a better work culture in science?

?First and foremost, a systemic level of change is required to replace outdated ways of working and embrace new ways of working. However, this is a Herculean task that would require higher, policy-level changes that need to penetrate layers from global to regional to the country to institutional and finally operate at the level of each lab group. Ultimately, each lab takes on the flavour of its leader and the micro-culture within these groups is largely influenced by the group leader/principal investigator over and above the organisational culture.

A plausible solution I propose is to drive the change by starting with people

As per the Nature survey, people are seeking solutions to their problems. Forty-two per cent of respondents said they had sought help or wanted to seek help for job-related anxiety or depression, a rise of six percentage points from 2018.

?Figure 2- Image Source: Chris Woolston- How burnout and imposter syndrome blight scientific careers Nature 2021 (1)

But as per the data (Figure 2), what is very surprising to me is the absence of solutions through coaching, self-development, professional development and leadership development.

More and more corporates are embracing these methods for employee well-being, engagement and retention. The strategies are well documented in top business publications such as the Harvard Business Review (HBR) and Forbes (2).

There is little or hardly any initiative to develop effective leaders in science.

It is important that every individual in science develops the skills needed to be an effective leader- starting with the self to becoming a self-leader who is able to motivate their peers/team through an empathetic, human approach, sharing a common vision to drive creativity and innovation, while reducing stress and burnout.

References:

1) https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-03042-z

2) https://hbr.org/2022/04/3-ways-to-boost-retention-through-professional-developmen

3) https://www.forbes.com/sites/meghanbiro/2018/07/23/developing-your-employees-is-the-key-to-retention-here-are-4-smart-ways-to-start/

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About me: I am Dr. Lakshmi Ramachandran, and my vision is to help sustain and retain scientific talent, a workforce crucial for the betterment and sustenance of life on our planet through innovation. Science is crucial for achieving the SDGs. However, people in science continue to suffer from the publish or perish culture, lack of funding, and lack of guidance in their career and personal development.

I aim to address this through a two-pronged approach:

• Empower science professionals to advance in their careers and life with greater visibility, confidence and leadership through coaching and training.
• Enable scientific organisations to be more inclusive and supportive of their talent to ultimately improve performance and remove burnout and attrition.

Please note that my articles and sharing are based on my own personal exploration. You may further explore my personal blog for more articles- www.drlakshmispeaks.com or follow my posts- #drlakshmispeaks

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