[The situation of early career researchers in health services research: A survey study].

BACKGROUND

Early career researchers in health services research work in an interdisciplinary field of research. So far, information on early career researchers in health services research has only been available from surveys of individual disciplines, which do not adequately reflect the concerns in the field of health services research. Therefore, a working group of the German Network for Health Services Research (DNVF) conducted a first survey. The following research questions can be answered on the basis of the data obtained: (1) Which socio-demographic aspects characterize early career researchers in health services research? (2) What is the professional biographical background of early career researchers in health services research? (3) What are the research fields of early career researchers? (4) What are the career perspectives of early career researchers?

METHOD

The survey among early career researchers was conducted as an online survey in January/February 2019. The study was addressed to individuals currently working as early career researchers in health services research in Germany. The online survey was conducted using a standardized questionnaire. Participants were recruited through the DNVF access points and by snowball sampling.

RESULTS

336 early career researcher aged between 23 and 57 participated in the online survey study, 102 of whom held a doctorate. The majority were employed as scientific staff (58%) and were in temporary employment (75%); 69% of them were emplyed at a university, followed by health care institutions (17%) and non-university research institutions (16%). About one-third of the respondents (36%) completed a vocational training prior to their studies. Of the participants, 50% said they were strongly or very strongly aspiring to a professional career in academia, 43% at a non-university research institution, and 30% at a university of applied sciences.

DISCUSSION

The results of the online survey show the heterogeneity in terms of age and professional biography of early career researchers in health services research. Few researchers have permanent positions. However, the majority of respondents would like to have a professional future at a university, a research institute or a university of applied sciences. Further studies should be conducted to determine (possible) career paths taken by young scientists in health services research.

CONCLUSION

There is still scope for improvement in the promotion of early career researchers.