Steering Committee meets with the head of the Leibniz Leadership Academy

On March 2nd, members of the PhD Network Steering Committee (SC) met with Marvin Bähr of the Leibniz Head Office and Claudia Müller, Head of the Leibniz Leadership Academy, to discuss topics that could be covered in the Leadership Academy for institute directors, project principal investigators, and research group leaders. The SC proposed several ideas, including strategies for addressing diversity in more tangible ways; enhancing measures to prevent power abuse; establishing limits on the number of PhD candidates that leaders can supervise with already full schedules; and offering leadership coaching to PhDs to promote effective academic leadership.

11 February, the International Day of Women and Girls in Science

11 February is acclaimed by the United Nations as the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. It highlights women’s and girls’ contributions to science and calls for reducing the gender gap at all levels of academic research and in the industry. Statistics from 2019 confirm women’s under-representation in research in Germany: female researchers make up only 28% of total researchers, which is one of the lowest rates in the EU. The federal data on students’ gender is more optimistic and equal: girls’ proportion in the winter semester 2021/2022 was 50,2%. Only 26,3% of the highest academic grade (professorship), however, are women. Factors explaining this enormous discrepancy are rooted in socioeconomic rationale, that follows the “Gender-Pay-Gap”, the “Gender-Care-Gap” and a well-known glass ceiling.

In the Leibniz Association, female Doctoral Researchers (DRs) are strongly represented among all institutes where they outnumber male colleagues. The visible difference, however, concerns the research within Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Engineering. As the results of the survey from 2021 show, in the institutes from this section, female DRs make up roughly 33% of the total doctoral researchers. The similar, low representation of female researchers is also reflected in data on the gender of supervisors. This result is not surprising, but it instead resonates with the nationwide issue of female leadership in science. To foster research talents and support women on their career paths, the Leibniz Association offers a one-year mentoring programme for female postdoc researchers that ensures the transfer of knowledge and skills related to leadership and obtaining a professorship. The versatility of career-supporting female DRs raises hopes of retaining them in the academic environment. According to the survey from 2021, more than half of female DRs at Leibniz consider pursuing their career in academia (male DRs: 57%), whereas interest in non-academic research was declared by nearly 80% of researchers (both genders).

Statement of the President of the Leibniz Association Prof. Dr. Martina Brockmeier:

Question: Which advice can you give to the current female doctoral researcher community that you received from your supervisor during your PhD?

Prof. Brockmeier: “One piece of advice that my supervisor once gave me has been particularly important to me: Trust in your abilities and strengths and do not shy away from challenges and resistance!“

In spite of visible efforts to reduce the gender gap in research, there is still much to be done in this area. It would seem to be a good idea to strengthen current development programmes with a gender focus. The International Day of Women and Girls in Science poses an opportunity to recognise their role in research and remind stakeholders and policymakers about the urgency of taking necessary steps towards encouraging girls to pursue their careers in science and reducing systematic barriers.

Author: Izabela Paszko M.A (Leibniz Institute for Contemporary History, Institut für Zeitgeschichte – IfZ and part of the Arbeitskreis “Diversity”)

References:

https://www.unesco.de/wissen/wissenschaft/frauen-der-wissenschaft

https://www.academics.de/ratgeber/frauen-in-der-wissenschaft

https://www.destatis.de/Europa/DE/Thema/Wissenschaft-Technologie-digitaleGesellschaft/FrauenanteilForschung.html

https://www.un.org/en/observances/women-and-girls-in-science-day

https://www.leibniz-gemeinschaft.de//en/careers/careers-in-research/taking-on-leadership-positions/leibniz-mentoring/

https://www.ifado.de/ifadoen/program-women-in-science/?noredirect=en_US

Avoiding a mental health crisis in academia (and beyond)

In the latest issue of the Leibniz Magazine, an article was published, in which a doctoral researcher, a resilience researcher and three managers were interviewed on the topic of mental health at the workplace. Among them Pankhuri Saxena, a former Spokesperson (2020/2021) of the Leibniz PhD Network.

The number of people missing work due to mental health issues is rising, a trend not only present in science and research. Due to the increasingly competitive nature of academia, early-career researchers increasingly suffer from uncertainty, pressure, and stress. The intense pressure and demands of a doctorate can take a toll on a person’s mental well-being, leading to symptoms of anxiety and depression. If you are interested in the interview have a read here.

In November 2021 the “Guide to Mental Health during the PhD” was passed by the Leibniz Association. It was collated by Sebastian Lentz (director of the Leibniz-Institut für Länderkunde) in close collaboration with Leibniz institutes and the Leibniz PhD Network. The guide states three fields of action: raising awareness, prevention, and counselling, while it also provides recommendations of measures to be taken. You can find the guide here.

Yet, Jan Klenke (former Spokesperson 2020/2021) critically comments:

“There are still many PhDs on scholarships (i.e., without an official working contract and in voluntary statutory health insurance). This situation enhances the described (mental health) problems in this group. At the same time, this group isn’t on anyone’s budget plan and is usually not mentioned in target agreements. In many cases, the doctoral students are without proper guidance, even if they ask for more supervision.”

Mental health (during the PhD) remains an important topic, seemingly for the foreseeable future. Let us know your ideas and comments on the topic. What would you need to reduce mental stress during your PhD? Leave us a comment or get in touch on our social media platforms.

Our voices listened! – N2 participation on the expert exchange in a public commission meeting – German Federal Parliament.

On October 19th 2022, the N2 representation presented a statement in front of the parliament’s commission to express the interests of the Doctoral Researchers Network of non-university organizations in the improvement of the “basic working conditions in order to ensure scientific excellence and diversity in a sustainable manner”.

Here you can find the complete text of the speech.

Huge leap for Mental health awareness: Leibniz Association adopts guide on mental health of Doctoral Researchers.

Recently working group Survey of the PhD Network assessed the well being of the PhD researchers in the various Leibniz associations based on a conducted survey. The lack of proper means to address mental health well-being sparked discussions. Adoption of the mental health guide within the Leibniz Association addresses the issue of mental health of our doctoral researchers.

The guide deals with steps to decrease the psychological stress during the PhD.
Clear fields of actions are stated which can be implemented in all the institutes. Actions like awareness-raising, removing taboos from mental health and how to recognize critical factors leading to mental health issues and many more are elaborated on the guide

Realizing that PhD on its own can be stressful and the uncertainties with the career path ahead can get overwhelming, but knowing that the Leibniz association will be there to guide and counsel the researchers who need it comes as a reassuring support.

The guide is attached as follows.

Click to access mental-health-guide-lp-association.pdf