Breaking barriers? Ethnicity and socioeconomic background impact on early career progression in the fields of ecology and evolution

• Published in: Ecology and evolution Vol. 10; no. 14; pp. 6870 - 6880
• Main Authors: Wanelik, Klara M., Griffin, Joanne S., Head, Megan L., Ingleby, Fiona C., Lewis, Zenobia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.07.2020; John Wiley and Sons Inc; Wiley
• Subjects: Academic Practice in Ecology and Evolution; Career advancement; career progression; Careers; Disability; early career researchers; Ecology; Equality; ethnic minorities; Ethnicity; Evolution; Evolutionary biology; Gender; Intersectionality; Minority & ethnic groups; Multiculturalism & pluralism; Researchers; Science; Sexual behavior; Sexual orientation; socioeconomic background; Socioeconomics; STEM education; women in science; Workplace diversity; United Kingdom > UK; socioeconomic background; career progression; ethnic minorities; women in science; early career researchers; intersectionality
• DOI: 10.1002/ece3.6423
• ISSN: 2045-7758

The academic disciplines of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) have long suffered from a lack of diversity. While in recent years there has been some progress in addressing the underrepresentation of women in STEM subjects, other characteristics that have the potential to impact on equality of opportunity have received less attention. In this study, we surveyed 188 early career scientists (ECRs), defined as within 10 years of completing their PhD, in the fields of ecology, evolutionary biology, behaviour, and related disciplines. We examined associations between ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, sex, socioeconomic background, and disability, with measures of career progression, namely publication record, number of applications made before obtaining a postdoc, type of contract, and number of grant applications made. We also queried respondents on perceived barriers to progression and potential ways of overcoming them. Our key finding was that socioeconomic background and ethnicity were associated with measures of career progression. While there was no difference in the number of reported first‐authored papers on PhD completion, ethnic minority respondents reported fewer other‐authored papers. In addition, ECRs from a lower socioeconomic background were more likely to report being in teaching and research positions, rather than research‐only positions, the latter being perceived as more prestigious by some institutions. We discuss our findings in the context of possible inequality of opportunity. We hope that this study will stimulate wider discussion and help to inform strategies to address the underrepresentation of minority groups in the fields of ecology and evolution, and STEM subjects more widely. This study provides evidence that socioeconomic background and ethnicity can impact negatively on the career progression in early career researchers in the field of ecology and evolution.