Malcom Shirley M, Parikh Sudip
Shirley M. Malcom is a senior advisor and director of the STEM Equity Achievement (SEA) Change program at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS, the publisher of Science), Washington, DC, USA.
Sudip Parikh is the chief executive officer of AAAS and executive publisher of the Science journals.
Science. 2023 Feb 10;379(6632):519. doi: 10.1126/science.adh0336. Epub 2023 Feb 9.
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?
美国的研究生和博士后正面临一场慢动作危机，他们构成了当今不可或缺的研究和教学力量，也是未来的科学领袖。多年来，低薪、缺乏福利，有时还有恶劣的研究环境一直存在。沮丧的研究生、博士后和非终身教职员工正在抗议并寻求组建工会以改善日益恶化的状况。一些资深领导人开始认识到，如今的研究环境比他们记忆中的要艰难得多。作为回应，一些大学提供了薪资和福利方面的缓解措施。组建工会和姗姗来迟的调整只是对根深蒂固问题的不完整且临时的应对措施，其长期影响可能会让每个人都感到后悔。那么解决方案在哪里呢？
