Melander Catharina, Löfqvist Charlotte, Haak Maria, Smedegaard Bengtsen Søren E, Edgren Gudrun, Iwarsson Susanne
Department of Health, Education and Technology, Division of Nursing and Biomedical Engineering, Luleå University of Technology, Luleå, Sweden.
Department of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
PLoS One. 2025 Apr 29;20(4):e0321039. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0321039. eCollection 2025.
To contribute to the development of effective support for early career researchers during and after doctoral education, the aim of this study was to examine the experiences of the early career transition after affiliation with an interdisciplinary graduate school, using the Swedish National Graduate School on Ageing and Health (SWEAH) as an example. Through qualitative interviews with 18 alumni, the findings reveal that the graduate school had fostered interdisciplinary research skills among early career researchers, and they felt well-prepared for the next career stage. However, they expressed a need for continuous career support and personal guidance while still feeling confident and open-minded. Interdisciplinary graduate schools can play a crucial role in nurturing the next generation of early career researchers, providing them with the skills and identities needed for impactful research and collaboration in a complex, interconnected world. We suggest that academic careers should be understood in an entangled or interlinked way from the very beginning of the academic journey, and introduce a new conceptual coinage of "career ecologies". This implies that doctoral students and early career researchers should be encouraged, empowered, energized, and invited to activate and make use of their societal voice, influence, and value, right from the early formative doctoral years. Moreover, strategic support is vital to maintain an interdisciplinary spirit and facilitate informed career choices.
为推动在博士教育期间及之后为早期职业研究人员提供有效支持的发展，本研究旨在以瑞典老龄化与健康国家研究生院（SWEAH）为例，考察加入跨学科研究生院后早期职业转型的经历。通过对18位校友的定性访谈，研究结果表明，该研究生院培养了早期职业研究人员的跨学科研究技能，他们对下一职业阶段做好了充分准备。然而，他们表示在仍保持自信和开放心态的同时，需要持续的职业支持和个人指导。跨学科研究生院在培养下一代早期职业研究人员方面可发挥关键作用，为他们提供在复杂、相互关联的世界中进行有影响力的研究与合作所需的技能和身份认同。我们建议，学术生涯应从学术旅程一开始就以一种相互交织或相互关联的方式来理解，并引入一个新的概念“职业生态”。这意味着，从博士早期形成阶段开始，就应鼓励、赋能、激励博士生和早期职业研究人员，并邀请他们激活并利用自己的社会声音、影响力和价值。此外，战略支持对于保持跨学科精神和促进明智的职业选择至关重要。
