Junior Investigators Thinking About Quitting Research: A Survey

Abstract

Objective: Junior tenure-track faculty report high levels of stress and low satisfaction; the increasingly competitive funding environment compounds this discontent. We examined factors associated with junior investigators who were thinking about quitting research.

Method: Data were collected as part of a program evaluation of an interdisciplinary research mentoring program in an academic medical center.

Results: Of the 62 mentees, 44 responded to the survey (71%). When asked "In the past year, have you considered quitting research?" 39 mentees answered the question; 17 (44%) answered in the affirmative. Those who had considered quitting had lower scores on the Clinical Research Appraisal Inventory-12 (CRAI-12) and job satisfaction and higher scores on burnout. In a regression model, we found that only CRAI-12 scores were significantly, inversely associated with thinking about quitting.

Conclusion: Factors associated with thinking about quitting included lower confidence in research skills, reduced job satisfaction, and higher levels of burnout.