Working together: Culture
The importance of a positive and supportive research culture goes back to the founding principles of our members. Set up to ‘do different’, as UEA’s motto made clear, the EARC universities were fundamentally more collegiate and egalitarian than existing universities, offering support and development to all of our staff and students, whatever their role or position.
This outlook was central in the establishment of Eastern Arc. Its initial focus was on career development and training, with funding to give nine early career research fellows independence and agency to lead and strategically direct the consortium for five years. Alongside them 29 PhD students were funded, who together created a culture of inter-institutional and interdisciplinary communitybuilding.
As the Consortium has developed, it has reached out to others in the sector to prioritise the development of a positive research culture. In 2019 it worked with the Wellcome Trust to address the ‘toxic culture’ the charity had identified, hosting one of its regional town hall meetings and giving a voice to those affected, feeding into the report and actions that led to a framework of change.
Since then we have established a crossconsortium mentoring scheme, through which over 230 members of staff have been able to get help and advice in developing their careers. We have opened up our training where we can, and have established networks to support academics and
professional services staff to learn from each other, including a formal Technicians’ Network.
In the next five year period we will formalise this by building on the Government’s R&D People and Culture Strategy and ensure that all of our staff have the opportunity to reach their potential and develop their careers across the Arc.
What does our support for a positive research culture look like?
We recognise that each university in our consortium already has a strong framework to support a positive research culture. We aim to add value by exploring ways to integrate these frameworks, opening opportunities for our academics, researchers, technicians and all of those involved in our research. Below are some examples of how we are doing this.
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The EARC mentoring scheme has been running for four years, and over 230 colleagues have taken part. At the end of each year we get feedback from the participants.Over 94% have said that it the experience met their expectations, with some suggesting it had gone ‘above and beyond,’ and was ‘hugely rewarding’. Mentees have appreciated having ‘an external, objective view, sounding board, and advice’, ‘having someone to talk with about my feelings towards the new role,’ and ‘finding someone who ‘gets’ me and having unconditional support from someone with lots of experience of what you have been through.’For some, the experience was significant. ‘I am not exaggerating when I say this experience has been life changing,’ wrote one mentee. ‘It made me realise I do have a place in academia and that I am allowed to take up space, and find meaningful ways to work, I don’t just have to be grateful for whatever scraps my employers throw my way.’
For both mentor and mentee, it was an opportunity to ‘shake up set ways of thinking, whether that be ‘It doesn’t have to be done like this’ or ‘Thank God my institution doesn’t do things like that’: both are equally illuminating and helpful.’
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Each of our universities provides training for their staff and postgraduate students in a range of areas, from developing research applications to balancing the conflicting demands of academia. The Reciprocal Training Programme is intended to open this training up to those at the other universities, as well as hosting our own training sessions.An example of this is our European Funding Training Series, which bring together experts from all four universities to share their insights and knowledge across the Consortium. They also provide a platform for national contact points (NCPs) to introduce the Horizon Programme work programmes, and help our staff gain the knowledge necessary to explore the opportunities open to them.
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Mid-career researchers (MCRs) face significant challenges in developing their careers, and these are increasing as the pressures and expectations within modern higher education have mounted.We commissioned a report that provided evidence of these challenges, and made eight recommendations for addressing them. Undertaken by Women in Academia Support Network (WIASN), the report made clear that the barriers faced by MCR are ‘pervasive and entangled in their complexity’, and an academics mid-career is a ‘pinch point’ at which academics face a ‘competing number of additional roles, responsibilities and activities.’
The report’s authors, Dr Kelly Pickard-Smith, Dr Helen Ross, and Dr Amy Bonsall, analysed 254 responses to a survey open to academics at Eastern Arc universities and beyond. Narrative questions within the survey elicited a total of 2,147 written responses, and 13 in-depth qualitative interviews were conducted.
The Consortium went on to commission a pilot training programme for MCRs, and is currently developing a network of support for them.