Shifting Perspectives in Polar Research: Global Lessons on the Barriers and Drivers for Securing Academic Careers in Natural Sciences
The polar regions provide valuable insights into the functioning of the Earth’s regulating systems. Conducting field research in such harsh and remote environments requires strong international cooperation, extended planning horizons, sizable budgets and long-term investment. Consequently, polar res...
Published in: | Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution |
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Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10852/93325 http://urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-95920 https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2021.777009 |
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ftoslouniv:oai:www.duo.uio.no:10852/93325 2023-05-15T18:02:44+02:00 Shifting Perspectives in Polar Research: Global Lessons on the Barriers and Drivers for Securing Academic Careers in Natural Sciences Figuerola, Blanca Valiente Parra, Nicolas Barbosa, Andres Brasier, Madeline J. Colominas-Ciuró, Roger Convey, Peter Liggett, Daniela Fernández-Martínez, Miguel Angel Gonzalez, Sergi Griffiths, Huw J. Jawak, Shridhar D. Merican, Faradina Noll, Daly Prudencio, Janire Quaglio, Fernanda Pertierra, Luis R. 2022-02-28T20:15:48Z http://hdl.handle.net/10852/93325 http://urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-95920 https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2021.777009 EN eng http://urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-95920 Figuerola, Blanca Valiente Parra, Nicolas Barbosa, Andres Brasier, Madeline J. Colominas-Ciuró, Roger Convey, Peter Liggett, Daniela Fernández-Martínez, Miguel Angel Gonzalez, Sergi Griffiths, Huw J. Jawak, Shridhar D. Merican, Faradina Noll, Daly Prudencio, Janire Quaglio, Fernanda Pertierra, Luis R. . Shifting Perspectives in Polar Research: Global Lessons on the Barriers and Drivers for Securing Academic Careers in Natural Sciences. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. 2021, 9, 1-10 http://hdl.handle.net/10852/93325 2006436 info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:journal&rft.jtitle=Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution&rft.volume=9&rft.spage=1&rft.date=2021 Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 9 https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2021.777009 URN:NBN:no-95920 Fulltext https://www.duo.uio.no/bitstream/handle/10852/93325/1/Shifting%2BPerspectives-fevo-09-777009.pdf Attribution 4.0 International https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ CC-BY 2296-701X Journal article Tidsskriftartikkel Peer reviewed PublishedVersion 2022 ftoslouniv https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2021.777009 2022-04-06T22:33:52Z The polar regions provide valuable insights into the functioning of the Earth’s regulating systems. Conducting field research in such harsh and remote environments requires strong international cooperation, extended planning horizons, sizable budgets and long-term investment. Consequently, polar research is particularly vulnerable to societal and economic pressures during periods of austerity. The global financial crisis of 2008, and the ensuing decade of economic slowdown, have already adversely affected polar research, and the current COVID-19 pandemic has added further pressure. In this article we present the outcomes of a community survey that aimed to assess the main barriers and success factors identified by academic researchers at all career stages in response to these global crises. The survey results indicate that the primary barriers faced by polar early and mid-career researchers (EMCRs) act at institutional level, while mitigating factors are developed at individual and group levels. Later career scientists report pressure toward taking early retirement as a means of institutions saving money, reducing both academic leadership and the often unrecognized but vital mentor roles that many play. Gender and social inequalities are also perceived as important barriers. Reorganization of institutional operations and more effective strategies for long-term capacity building and retaining of talent, along with reduction in non-research duties shouldered by EMCRs, would make important contributions toward ensuring continued vitality and innovation in the polar research community. Article in Journal/Newspaper Polar Research Universitet i Oslo: Digitale utgivelser ved UiO (DUO) Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 9 |
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Open Polar |
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Universitet i Oslo: Digitale utgivelser ved UiO (DUO) |
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ftoslouniv |
language |
English |
description |
The polar regions provide valuable insights into the functioning of the Earth’s regulating systems. Conducting field research in such harsh and remote environments requires strong international cooperation, extended planning horizons, sizable budgets and long-term investment. Consequently, polar research is particularly vulnerable to societal and economic pressures during periods of austerity. The global financial crisis of 2008, and the ensuing decade of economic slowdown, have already adversely affected polar research, and the current COVID-19 pandemic has added further pressure. In this article we present the outcomes of a community survey that aimed to assess the main barriers and success factors identified by academic researchers at all career stages in response to these global crises. The survey results indicate that the primary barriers faced by polar early and mid-career researchers (EMCRs) act at institutional level, while mitigating factors are developed at individual and group levels. Later career scientists report pressure toward taking early retirement as a means of institutions saving money, reducing both academic leadership and the often unrecognized but vital mentor roles that many play. Gender and social inequalities are also perceived as important barriers. Reorganization of institutional operations and more effective strategies for long-term capacity building and retaining of talent, along with reduction in non-research duties shouldered by EMCRs, would make important contributions toward ensuring continued vitality and innovation in the polar research community. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Figuerola, Blanca Valiente Parra, Nicolas Barbosa, Andres Brasier, Madeline J. Colominas-Ciuró, Roger Convey, Peter Liggett, Daniela Fernández-Martínez, Miguel Angel Gonzalez, Sergi Griffiths, Huw J. Jawak, Shridhar D. Merican, Faradina Noll, Daly Prudencio, Janire Quaglio, Fernanda Pertierra, Luis R. |
spellingShingle |
Figuerola, Blanca Valiente Parra, Nicolas Barbosa, Andres Brasier, Madeline J. Colominas-Ciuró, Roger Convey, Peter Liggett, Daniela Fernández-Martínez, Miguel Angel Gonzalez, Sergi Griffiths, Huw J. Jawak, Shridhar D. Merican, Faradina Noll, Daly Prudencio, Janire Quaglio, Fernanda Pertierra, Luis R. Shifting Perspectives in Polar Research: Global Lessons on the Barriers and Drivers for Securing Academic Careers in Natural Sciences |
author_facet |
Figuerola, Blanca Valiente Parra, Nicolas Barbosa, Andres Brasier, Madeline J. Colominas-Ciuró, Roger Convey, Peter Liggett, Daniela Fernández-Martínez, Miguel Angel Gonzalez, Sergi Griffiths, Huw J. Jawak, Shridhar D. Merican, Faradina Noll, Daly Prudencio, Janire Quaglio, Fernanda Pertierra, Luis R. |
author_sort |
Figuerola, Blanca |
title |
Shifting Perspectives in Polar Research: Global Lessons on the Barriers and Drivers for Securing Academic Careers in Natural Sciences |
title_short |
Shifting Perspectives in Polar Research: Global Lessons on the Barriers and Drivers for Securing Academic Careers in Natural Sciences |
title_full |
Shifting Perspectives in Polar Research: Global Lessons on the Barriers and Drivers for Securing Academic Careers in Natural Sciences |
title_fullStr |
Shifting Perspectives in Polar Research: Global Lessons on the Barriers and Drivers for Securing Academic Careers in Natural Sciences |
title_full_unstemmed |
Shifting Perspectives in Polar Research: Global Lessons on the Barriers and Drivers for Securing Academic Careers in Natural Sciences |
title_sort |
shifting perspectives in polar research: global lessons on the barriers and drivers for securing academic careers in natural sciences |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10852/93325 http://urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-95920 https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2021.777009 |
genre |
Polar Research |
genre_facet |
Polar Research |
op_source |
2296-701X |
op_relation |
http://urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-95920 Figuerola, Blanca Valiente Parra, Nicolas Barbosa, Andres Brasier, Madeline J. Colominas-Ciuró, Roger Convey, Peter Liggett, Daniela Fernández-Martínez, Miguel Angel Gonzalez, Sergi Griffiths, Huw J. Jawak, Shridhar D. Merican, Faradina Noll, Daly Prudencio, Janire Quaglio, Fernanda Pertierra, Luis R. . Shifting Perspectives in Polar Research: Global Lessons on the Barriers and Drivers for Securing Academic Careers in Natural Sciences. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. 2021, 9, 1-10 http://hdl.handle.net/10852/93325 2006436 info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:journal&rft.jtitle=Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution&rft.volume=9&rft.spage=1&rft.date=2021 Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 9 https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2021.777009 URN:NBN:no-95920 Fulltext https://www.duo.uio.no/bitstream/handle/10852/93325/1/Shifting%2BPerspectives-fevo-09-777009.pdf |
op_rights |
Attribution 4.0 International https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2021.777009 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution |
container_volume |
9 |
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1766173349127389184 |