The following is a summary of our interim meeting in which we looked at ways that the working group might best support emerging scholars.

 

For our interim meeting in December 2022, the working group hosted Dr Hannah Simpson (University of Edinburgh) who facilitated an very pressing conversation about ways that the working group (and by implication of course IFTR) can best support emerging scholars. We are summarising here the main points she raised, as well as those that came up in the subsequent conversation, and any links or resources that were shared during the session. We note that much of the focus here is on the UK context, with some reference to Ireland. In the Q&A, however, we were glad to include members from Argentina, Greece, Japan, China, France as well and to hear their thoughts on how these issues emerge in their various contexts. As we explore these matters further within the group, we are keen to uncover further ways of supporting emerging international scholars as well as those based in the UK.

Firstly, Hannah articulated how the issue of the PGR/ECR support and the state of the job market is no longer a subtext issue and is one that senior and salaried colleagues need to be having more widely. The challenges that she identified are ones that are familiar to many of us and include:

·        Pay rates – even funded pay is too low to support the basic cost of life,

·        Precarity and casualisation among ECRs,

·        Balancing any caring responsibilities, family commitments and illness, chronic or short term, with the pressures of PhD and subsequent precarious work,

·        The psychological impact that all of the above can have.

 

Hannah addressed a number of potential solutions or strategies to combat these issues, including:

Support

 

1.       Creating and maintaining professional formal spaces for addressing the psychological aspects of the realities of the challenges faced, including finding means to support self-care. This is including critical reflection on what we normalise in terms of workload, what discourses of self-care often mean, and presenting a bulwark against internalised senses of low worth.

2.       Ensuring that PhD students get appropriate career support and mentorship during their studies. It was suggested that too often careers sessions focus on transferable skills and a non-academic future, often to the detriment of career progression. An appropriate level of focus should be given to the academic career path, while support in developing transferable skills is important as well. Supervisors and mentors should monitor training access.

Remuneration 

 

3.       Offering PGRs/ECRs tactics for determining value in a role and leaving tactfully, especially when their work is being poorly rewarded. The advice is to not hesitate to leave unpaid jobs when they do not help a career or align with personal interests.

4.       Working to end casualisation in higher education, especially 9-month contracts (see here for information on the UK UCU campaign on this topic: https://www.ucu.org.uk/stampout). While this issue is more a structural one that demands collective action, it is important to think on how salaried academics can use their positions to push back against exploitative contracts in their schools and departments and commit to supporting those on short term contracts to maximise their advantage for the job market, especially in regard to research and publications.

5.       For adjunct staff, being paid for preparation work and marking is an interlinking issue that requires structural change, but salaried staff should be aware of the workload and challenges faced by people in these roles.

6.       Funding bids with key roles carved out for the ECR with decent pay; salaried academics are already under significant pressure to bring in grant money, thinking of grant projects as a means to create jobs for ECRs is important, as is being sure that the terms of the contracts issued by the university are fair.

 

Events, Conferences & Networking

7.       Colleagues’ willingness to pass on opportunities, panel invitations, being asked to help run conferences, networks etc. as well as engaging with postgraduate work and treating them as colleagues and collaborators in their own right was cited as an important elements in PGR/ECR career development. It was noted that Beckett studies with its habit of plenary sessions at most events was exemplary in this regard.

8.       Meeting places: where we meet is an important issue. Facilitating online and in person meetings widens access especially for international delegates.

9.       Adopting a module whereby conference keynotes are paid expenses only and no keynote fee; this money is instead put towards support for PGR/ECR delegates. 

10.    Scrapping expensive banquets at conferences is essential if some of the inequalities of access cited above are to be lessened.

11.    Assistance with basic skills including job application skills such as writing a CV and cover-letter is essential and something that the working group and IFTR new scholars can advise on.

12.    Being mindful of PGR/ECR caring responsibilities.  

 

The Single-Author Scholar?

During the subsequent conversation, we also discussed the issue of being competitive on the job market when studying a single author. Beckett scholars develop a wide range of skills and areas of expertise through Beckett studies, which has mostly become interdisciplinary. It is important that they value those other disciplinary engagements on their CV, instead of presenting themselves as single-author scholars. In addition, PhD students should be encouraged to take up teaching positions in which their knowledge of Beckett and other areas/disciplines is utilised towards learning.

 

In the Q&A, Matthew McFrederick also had some very clear and constructive advice for colleagues, based on his recent early experiences:

·        Don’t expect smooth linear progress as ECRs. Instead persevere and manage expectations;

 

·        Versatility: consider your skillset and broader opportunities;

 

·        Go beyond Beckett Studies for postdoc opportunities;

 

·        Read job descriptions carefully before applying, ensuring that you match your skills and experience clearly to the requirements of the role;

 

·        Do qualifications within your university (e.g. Fellowship for Higher Education, https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/fellowship).  

 

 

As the SBWG convenors, we intend to respond to Hannah’s advice with the following strategies:

 

1.      Exploring modes of mentorship for emerging scholars through the group; this could take the form of acting as bulwark, as Hannah suggested, against some of the more challenging psychological impacts of precarity. It could also involve mentorship from senior colleagues, such as on basic skills like job applications, and the creation of a forum for sharing advice and resources;

 

2.      Committing to hosting online interims meetings annually and facilitating in particular paper discussion for PGR and ECR members that could not afford to travel the preceding summer;

 

3.      Embedding a discussion session within the in-person and interim working group meetings to discuss PGR and ECR support and feeding back the needs of these scholars to the organisation.

For a list of funding sources for PGRs and ECRs see here: https://iftr.org/working-groups/samuel-beckett/resources-pgr-ecr-funding