Introduction
Postdoctoral positions are a critical transition from student to professional: they launch careers by providing opportunities for independent research, skill development, and further professional training (Sauermann & Roach 2016). Increasingly, postdocs can expand on the academic skills and knowledge gained in graduate school to build a bridge to careers outside the academy (Powell 2014; Sauermann & Roach 2016). Despite these benefits, personal and professional isolation is common among postdocs, resulting from relocation away from support networks or from remote work (Arnold 2014; Burgio et al. 2020). These challenges can interfere with opportunities for development of skills and collaborations, introduce personal logistical constraints (e.g., childcare, inflexibility in job location of partners/family), and negatively affect productivity and mental health. Postdocs may also experience limited agency, for example, due to the short duration of their positions and policies that prevent postdocs from applying for grants as principal investigators. The COVID-19 crisis has only exacerbated these challenges while simultaneously reducing the availability of academic and other jobs.
We are a cohort of ~12 early career PhD-level employees at a non-profit research institution who have built a postdoc program that complements the individual training we receive from our postdoctoral advisors. Our research interests are diverse, spanning biogeochemistry, plant ecology, behavior, disease ecology, fisheries, sociology, and community ecology. We are spatially dispersed over three time zones in the U.S. We have a diverse set of professional goals that range from academia to government scientist positions to non-profit conservation and advocacy organizations.
Like many other postdocs, we share an overarching anxiety about employment and the future of our careers (Shaw et al. 2015). For those seeking academic careers, ongoing “adjunctification” means a shrinking number of stable positions (Jenkins 2014). The growing number of postdocs further imbalances supply and demand in the job market (Dawson 2007), reducing opportunities for early career scientists. On top of this, COVID-19 related hiring freezes and disruptions to lab, field, and in-person work exacerbate the loss of opportunities and amplify anxiety and loneliness (Duncombe 2020).
To address the typical and the current additional stresses of the postdoctoral years, we initiated a formal postdoc program that is bottom-up and peer-led. This structure has allowed us to adapt to our changing needs. Our goals are to: 1) expand and refine our visions of our future careers; 2) develop new skills and knowledge to become more well-rounded, resilient, and adaptable scientists; and 3) build and maintain a robust community with remotely-based peer colleagues. One of the biggest successes of our program has been hardiness in the face of the upheaval of the global pandemic and widespread civil unrest in the United States. A major benefit of our program has been the development of personal and professional networks that help overcome isolation: we support one another by sharing trust, successes, and setbacks.
We outline below the structure of the program and actions we have designed and implemented, connect them to benefits for individuals, our group, and the field at large, and give recommendations to other postdocs interested in developing a similar program (Figure 1). Our goal is to encourage early career ecologists to work collaboratively with one another and their institutions to build skills, knowledge, and relationships that help them grow and thrive in the face of current and future barriers and opportunities.