Transitioning from temporary and precarious research contracts to permanent lectureship: A Sociologist's reflection

TY - CONF

T1 - Transitioning from temporary and precarious research contracts to permanent lectureship

T2 - International Conference on Educational and Life Transitions (ICELT)

AU - Makita, Meiko

PY - 2025/8/21

Y1 - 2025/8/21

N2 - Purpose: This piece critically examines my personal and professional experiences of transitioning from holding long-term temporary and precarious research contracts to securing a permanent lectureship. Background: Although postdoctoral positions are often perceived as short-term transitions, there is a less visible group in UK academia known as "long-term researchers", employed on temporary contracts for periods frequently exceeding a decade. These researchers face ongoing job insecurity, financial uncertainty, limited mentoring, resulting in restricted career advancement. Despite their significant research contributions, their experiences remain largely overlooked in discussions about academic employment and career progression. Additionally, existing literature offers limited reflection on navigation transitions from precarious contracts into secure academic roles, particularly across disciplinary boundaries. Methods: I critically assess my own experiences navigating from being a sociologist primarily engaged in collaborative research projects under temporary contracts to becoming an independent researcher with teaching responsibilities within health sciences. My reflections address institutional challenges, academic culture, developing research autonomy, and adapting to new teaching contexts. This reflective analysis is informed by existing literature on academic precarity, supplemented by my own lived-experiences of systemic institutional issues. Conclusions: Transitioning from precarious research contracts to permanent academic roles requires significant personal and professional adjustments, which are influenced by continued institutional instability. My reflections highlight that even permanent positions can retain elements of precarity due to broader systemic and financial crises within higher education. This underscores the importance of nuanced understandings of precarity that extend beyond contract status. Policy and practice changes are required to address the invisibility and ongoing vulnerability of long-term researchers. While reflective analyses are inherently subjective, this piece offers valuable insights for others navigating similar transitions, informing broader debates on academic career paths.

AB - Purpose: This piece critically examines my personal and professional experiences of transitioning from holding long-term temporary and precarious research contracts to securing a permanent lectureship. Background: Although postdoctoral positions are often perceived as short-term transitions, there is a less visible group in UK academia known as "long-term researchers", employed on temporary contracts for periods frequently exceeding a decade. These researchers face ongoing job insecurity, financial uncertainty, limited mentoring, resulting in restricted career advancement. Despite their significant research contributions, their experiences remain largely overlooked in discussions about academic employment and career progression. Additionally, existing literature offers limited reflection on navigation transitions from precarious contracts into secure academic roles, particularly across disciplinary boundaries. Methods: I critically assess my own experiences navigating from being a sociologist primarily engaged in collaborative research projects under temporary contracts to becoming an independent researcher with teaching responsibilities within health sciences. My reflections address institutional challenges, academic culture, developing research autonomy, and adapting to new teaching contexts. This reflective analysis is informed by existing literature on academic precarity, supplemented by my own lived-experiences of systemic institutional issues. Conclusions: Transitioning from precarious research contracts to permanent academic roles requires significant personal and professional adjustments, which are influenced by continued institutional instability. My reflections highlight that even permanent positions can retain elements of precarity due to broader systemic and financial crises within higher education. This underscores the importance of nuanced understandings of precarity that extend beyond contract status. Policy and practice changes are required to address the invisibility and ongoing vulnerability of long-term researchers. While reflective analyses are inherently subjective, this piece offers valuable insights for others navigating similar transitions, informing broader debates on academic career paths.

UR - https://www.dundee.ac.uk/events/international-conference-educational-and-life-transitions-icelt

M3 - Abstract

Y2 - 21 August 2025 through 23 August 2025

ER -