Overstretched and overlooked: solving challenges faced by early-career investigators after the pandemic
Authors: Brock A. Humphries, Priscilla Y. Hwang, Agnieszka A. Kendrick, Rajan P. Kulkarni, Rachel A. Pozzar, Rebeca San Martin
Journal: Trends in cancer (2021)

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had a detrimental effect on research. However, little has been done to identify and solve the unique challenges faced by early career investigators (ECIs). As a group of American Cancer Society-funded ECIs, we provide recommendations for solving these challenges in the aftermath of the pandemic. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had a detrimental effect on research. However, little has been done to identify and solve the unique challenges faced by early career investigators (ECIs). As a group of American Cancer Society-funded ECIs, we provide recommendations for solving these challenges in the aftermath of the pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in unique stressors affecting ECIs, including graduate students and postdoctoral fellows (ECI-trainees), and assistant professors (ECI-faculty). Some of these stressors include heavier workloads, job insecurity, limited or decreased funding, and geographic instability [1.Susi T. et al.'I'll work on it over the weekend': high workload and other pressures faced by early-career researchers.Nature. 2019; 2019197735355Google Scholar,2.Woolston C. Postdoc survey reveals disenchantment with working life.Nature. 2020; 587: 505-508Crossref PubMed Scopus (35) Google Scholar]. Furthermore, under-represented ECIs bear a disproportionate burden of these challenges. Investigators who belong to gender, racial, and ethnic minority groups; are first generation college students; or are economically disadvantaged, are less likely to receive independent federal research funding and less likely to pursue principal investigator positions [3.Martinez E.D. et al.Falling off the academic bandwagon. Women are more likely to quit at the postdoc to principal investigator transition.EMBO Rep. 2007; 8: 977-981Crossref PubMed Scopus (134) Google Scholar, 4.Heggeness M.L. et al.Measuring diversity of the National Institutes of Health-funded workforce.Acad. Med. 2016; 91: 1164-1172Crossref PubMed Scopus (37) Google Scholar, 5.Ginther D.K. Diversity in academic biomedicine: an evaluation of education and career outcomes with implications for policy.Labor Supply Demand. 2010; 2010153325694Google Scholar, 6.Hechtman L.A. et al.NIH funding longevity by gender.Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 2018; 115: 7943-7948Crossref PubMed Scopus (92) Google Scholar, 7.Fernandez S.B. et al.Perceptual facilitators for and barriers to career progression: a qualitative study with female early stage investigators in health sciences.Acad. Med. 2021; 96: 576-584Crossref PubMed Scopus (9) Google Scholar, 8.Hemming J. et al.Exploring professional development for new investigators underrepresented in the federally funded biomedical research workforce.Ethn. Dis. 2019; 29: 123-128Crossref PubMed Scopus (13) Google Scholar]. Emerging evidence suggests the pandemic has only exacerbated these disparities [9.Das D. et al.The multifaceted impact of COVID-19 on the female academic emergency physician: a national conversation.AEM Educ. Train. 2021; 5: 91-98Crossref PubMed Scopus (8) Google Scholar,10.Sqazzoni F. et al.Only Second-Class Tickets for Women in the COVID-19 Race.A Study on Manuscript Submissions and Reviews in 2329 Elsevier Journals. Social Science Research Network, 2020Google Scholar] and pandemic-related setbacks will negatively affect the diversity of the scientific workforce for years to come [11.Cardel M.I. et al.Preventing a secondary epidemic of lost early career scientists. Effects of COVID-19 pandemic on women with children.Ann. Am. Thorac. Soc. 2020; 17: 1366-1370Crossref PubMed Scopus (106) Google Scholar]. Several senior scientists of varied disciplines have published recommendations for investigators to maintain research productivity during the pandemic. While these recommendations are valuable and well-intentioned, advice that is relevant to established investigators may be difficult or impossible for ECIs to implement. Many established investigators were able to turn to writing, submitting, and publishing manuscripts during the 'work from home' time to maintain productivity, however ECIs might not have sufficient data or collaborators to conduct and publish reports of secondary data analyses. Additionally, reductions in animal colonies during laboratory (lab) shutdowns had more long-term negative effects on ECI research, given that many ECIs may not have had enough time to generate preliminary data or fully establish their colonies. Further, established investigators generally have older children that do not require constant care, while ECIs tend to have increased caregiving responsibilities in the context of school and childcare closures [11.Cardel M.I. et al.Preventing a secondary epidemic of lost early career scientists. Effects of COVID-19 pandemic on women with children.Ann. Am. Thorac. Soc. 2020; 17: 1366-1370Crossref PubMed Scopus (106) Google Scholar]. Finally, senior investigators have a larger established network so they can build collaborations virtually, whereas ECIs are trying to build their network, which is difficult to do from home. Even though it is largely acknowledged that ECIs face a unique set of challenges, published recommendations for ways to support ECIs are limited. Finally, for many ECIs, there may be things lost during the pandemic that are not returning, such as ECI-specific funding opportunities or faculty job openings. As American Cancer Society-funded ECIs, we believe our perspective provides a unique angle to help institutions and individuals develop effective strategies to promote success and career advancement. Herein, we bring to light the negative, long-term impacts of the pandemic on ECIs. We highlight the aftermath of the pandemic on work–life balance, promotion, tenure, funding, networking, and mentoring, and make recommendations that can help remediate these problems. We hope these ideas mitigate the impact of the pandemic on the careers of ECIs, particularly those who are under-represented in the sciences. When educational institutions, child and elder care facilities, and individual and family support services abruptly shut down in early 2020, ECIs had to take on significantly more personal responsibilities. While working from home decreased commute time, the need to perform day-to-day household tasks and care for children and other dependents significantly halted productivity. This increase in personal responsibilities had a disproportionate impact on female scientists [11.Cardel M.I. et al.Preventing a secondary epidemic of lost early career scientists. Effects of COVID-19 pandemic on women with children.Ann. Am. Thorac. Soc. 2020; 17: 1366-1370Crossref PubMed Scopus (106) Google Scholar], who traditionally are primary caregivers of children and the elderly [12.Myers K.R. et al.Unequal effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on scientists.Nat. Hum. Behav. 2020; 4: 880-883Crossref PubMed Scopus (472) Google Scholar]. Given that female scientists were under-represented among independent research grant awardees [4.Heggeness M.L. et al.Measuring diversity of the National Institutes of Health-funded workforce.Acad. Med. 2016; 91: 1164-1172Crossref PubMed Scopus (37) Google Scholar] and principal investigators [3.Martinez E.D. et al.Falling off the academic bandwagon. Women are more likely to quit at the postdoc to principal investigator transition.EMBO Rep. 2007; 8: 977-981Crossref PubMed Scopus (134) Google Scholar] before the COVID-19 pandemic, an institutional response to this dilemma is urgently needed. One obstacle to gender parity in the sciences is a lack of quality, affordable childcare. In some regions of the United States, the annual cost of full-time care for one child exceeds 40% of the federally established postdoctoral stipend [13.Kristoffersen M. Postdocs struggle with child care costs. Yale News, 2020Google Scholar]. Even when parental leave policies are in place, it is rarely feasible for ECIs to step away from the research environment for an extended period. Institutions that offer affordable, on-site childcare allow ECIs who are parents to balance personal responsibilities with scholarly productivity and maintain a presence in the research environment. The provision of on-site childcare can be a cost-effective investment in ECI retention. Institutions such as the University of Toronto and the University of California, Los Angeles have established demonstration schools that provide early childhood education while serving as research and practicum sites for the university's education majors. Another innovative solution is to create an institutional childcare network in which vetted students offer intermittent childcare or K-12 tutoring services to university faculty, students, and staff. In addition to ensuring ECIs have access to dependent care, institutional leadership can initiate changes in workplace culture that will benefit ECIs. For example, female academics bear a higher burden of academic service responsibilities than their male counterparts [14.Guarino C.M. Borden V.M.H. Faculty service loads and gender: are women taking care of the academic family?.Res. High. Educ. 2017; 58: 672-694Crossref Scopus (450) Google Scholar]. Temporarily exempting all ECIs from service-related responsibilities would promote gender parity and permit ECIs to focus on scholarship. Likewise, department chairs can advocate for additional administrative, teaching, and research support staff to allow ECIs to use their time judiciously. Institutional leadership at all levels can support ECIs with dependent care responsibilities by creating an environment where families are welcome, acknowledging that personal responsibilities may not be visible and maintaining flexible schedules and remote work options for the foreseeable future [15.Lodish H.F. Accommodating family life: mentoring future female faculty members.Trends Cell Biol. 2015; 25: 109-111Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (7) Google Scholar]. An often under-discussed topic of paramount importance affecting ECIs, even in prepandemic times, is mental health. In the past year, facing COVID-related illnesses and deaths, grappling with career uncertainty, and coping with political and social unrest have placed significant strain on our cohort. ECIs whose identities are under-represented in the sciences bear an added level of stress. In addition, within the ECI cohort, researchers at different career stages experience different pandemic-related stressors. For example, ECI faculty might worry more about securing research funding, while ECI postdocs might be more concerned with hiring freezers that prevent them from securing faculty positions, and ECI graduate students may experience anxiety related to meeting graduation requirements and future career prospects. To promote the well-being of all ECIs, it is necessary to create a supportive and inclusive work environment [15.Lodish H.F. Accommodating family life: mentoring future female faculty members.Trends Cell Biol. 2015; 25: 109-111Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (7) Google Scholar], where our diverse experiences during and beyond the pandemic are acknowledged and valued. This practice should be standard for all labs, departments, and universities and employers at all levels should be held accountable to these guidelines. In addition, principal investigators should not pressure ECIs to increase productivity to compensate for time lost during the pandemic; instead, mental health should be emphasized. At the institutional level, universal health days and workshops on work–life balance should be implemented. Hotlines and other mental health or stress management resources to address depression, anxiety, and burnout would help identify ECIs in need of extra help and address those concerns as they occur. While scientific productivity has been significantly hindered for all investigators, ECIs, including clinician-scientists that have been diverted from research to assist with pandemic-related patient care, have been disproportionately impacted. Many ECIs focus on a single project and had limited alternatives for working remotely during the shutdown. In lab settings, social distancing restrictions, limited access to equipment and cores, and supply chain interruptions have made it extremely difficult for ECIs to regain research productivity. For clinical researchers this was exacerbated by decreased recruitment of patients for non-COVID-19 research. In addition, many institutions required extensive reductions in animal colonies during shutdown. While established investigators might be able to argue that these animal models are indispensable for their research, ECIs might not have such negotiating power, leading to years of lost research. Lastly, many institutions implemented hiring freezes during the pandemic, limiting the extent to which administrative and research support has been available to ECIs. In a world where the principal metric of ECI productivity is number of papers published, this loss of experimental momentum is bound to negatively affect the perceived effectiveness of the ECI in their path to independence. Despite acknowledging the adverse impact of the pandemic on research productivity, most institutions and universities have not provided a clear plan or policies to move forward. Although some institutions have extended the tenure clock, it is essential for institutional leadership to provide written expectations and guidelines for how job applications, promotion dossiers, and related personnel issues will be reviewed given the current research environment. In addition, institutions should increase flexibility in tenure review criteria and allow candidates for promotion to select the area of performance that is emphasized during formal evaluations. Oregon Health and Sciences University is one example of an institution that has already adopted this individualized approach. Allowing candidates for promotion to prioritize teaching, service, or research would acknowledge that the experiences of ECIs during the pandemic have been diverse and largely contingent on individual circumstances. Conversely, a fixed review model could disadvantage many ECIs, particularly women and those with dependent care responsibilities. ECIs may further benefit from the inclusion of preliminary data and preprints (e.g., submissions to BioRXiv) in formal evaluations. Professional development opportunities, such as workshops on grant writing and reviewing, job interviews, and contract negotiations, may further prepare ECIs to advance to the next stage of their career. These professional development opportunities should be specifically tailored to the different ECI career levels to accomplish the most efficient support. In addition, ECI-graduate students should be granted extensions on thesis and graduation requirements. Mentors could also provide a clear 'COVID-19 impact statement' for job applications to further support their trainees. It is critical that the academic community and established investigators safeguard ECI-trainees by providing support and resources for this future generation of scientists. Another significant concern plaguing ECIs is decreased opportunities for research funding. Many funding agencies have smaller budgets as a result of the pandemic and, unfortunately, the first opportunities that have vanished are ones originally designated for ECIs. We believe these smaller grants and path-to-independence awards are essential for our success and ask funding agencies to consider developing new ECI-specific opportunities, modify current grants not accessible to ECIs, increase the dedicated funding envelope for ECI grants, and extend ECI eligibility windows for at least 1 additional year as lab activities are slowly returning to normal. Funding agencies should also consider identifying reviewers with diverse backgrounds and experiences so that the grant review process can be done equitably and with empathy. Inviting ECIs to participate in the review process, for both funding and scientific publications, will aid in career development, as is often viewed favorably for tenure and promotion.