Students and postdocs deserve more

Abstract

A slow-motion crisis is underway among graduate students and postdocs in the United States who comprise today's indispensable research and teaching workforce and tomorrow's scientific leaders. Low pay, lack of benefits, and sometimes toxic research environments have persisted for years. Frustrated graduate students, postdocs, and nontenured faculty are protesting and pursuing unionization to address worsening conditions. A few senior leaders are starting to recognize that today's research environment is much more challenging than that of their sepia-tinted memories. In response, some universities have offered salary and benefits relief. Unionization and overdue adjustments are incomplete and temporary responses to deeply embedded problems-with long-term implications that everyone may regret. So where do solutions lie?