<div dir="ltr">Greetings everyone<div> you may have heard this report on news outlets this morning. Here is a link to the fill report. More good work done by STA, of which the ASA is a member.</div><div><br></div><div> Best to all</div><div><br>John L<br><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">---------- Forwarded message ---------<br>From: <strong class="gmail_sendername" dir="auto">Science & Technology Australia</strong> <span dir="auto"><<a href="mailto:mmrelease@isentia.com">mmrelease@isentia.com</a>></span><br>Date: Mon, 11 Oct 2021 at 07:15<br>Subject: UNDER SEVERE STRAIN: A STARK SNAPSHOT OF SCIENTISTS<br>To: <<a href="mailto:john.lattanzio@monash.edu">john.lattanzio@monash.edu</a>><br></div><br><br>
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UNDER SEVERE STRAIN: A STARK SNAPSHOT OF SCIENTISTS</p>
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<span style="font-size:14px"><span style="font-family:verdana,geneva,sans-serif"><strong>Monday 11 October 2021</strong><br>
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Widespread job insecurity, a spike in workloads and fatigue, and devastating job losses are eroding the morale of Australia’s science workforce at a time when we need science at its strongest, new research has found.</span></span><br>
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<span style="font-size:14px"><span style="font-family:verdana,geneva,sans-serif">The annual
<a href="https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/bfBsCWLVXkU5LXWM1H6NnYQ?domain=apesma.informz.net" target="_blank">
<span style="color:rgb(220,161,13)">Professional Scientists Employment and Remuneration Report</span></a> by Science & Technology Australia and Professional Scientists Australia reveals the mounting toll on scientists of the pandemic and longer-term
chronic job insecurity. </span></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:14px"><span style="font-family:verdana,geneva,sans-serif">This year’s survey lays bare a steep drop in morale amid growing exhaustion, mounting workloads and job insecurity from short-term work contracts and the high stakes lottery
of science careers relying on competitive grants.</span></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:14px"><span style="font-family:verdana,geneva,sans-serif">Science & Technology Australia Chief Executive Officer Misha Schubert said Australia’s scientists desperately needed better job security.</span></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:14px"><span style="font-family:verdana,geneva,sans-serif">“There’s a huge risk that many more of our brilliant scientists will hit breaking point and just walk away if we don’t fix this broken system of insecure work,” she said.</span></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:14px"><span style="font-family:verdana,geneva,sans-serif">“We need stronger investment in science such as a $2.4 billion Research Translation Fund and much greater job security for scientists to avert a disastrous loss of talent and
pursue a science-led recovery.”</span></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:14px"><span style="font-family:verdana,geneva,sans-serif">“This year’s federal Budget is a legacy-defining opportunity for a lifeline for Australian science.” </span></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:14px"><span style="font-family:verdana,geneva,sans-serif">Science & Technology President Associate Professor Jeremy Brownlie said the “pincers of the pandemic and precarious work” were taking a brutal toll on scientists.</span></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:14px"><span style="font-family:verdana,geneva,sans-serif">“Australia’s scientists have prevented a vast number of deaths in this pandemic - yet our country isn’t supporting them nearly well enough in return,” he said.</span></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:14px"><span style="font-family:verdana,geneva,sans-serif">“We’re seeing rising levels of fatigue, a bleak drop in morale, and widespread job insecurity with job losses at universities and precarious short-term contracts.”</span></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:14px"><span style="font-family:verdana,geneva,sans-serif">Nearly two-thirds of scientists surveyed said morale at their workplace had fallen in the last year - a steep spike up from one in two who said morale fell in 2020. </span></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:14px"><span style="font-family:verdana,geneva,sans-serif">And seven in ten scientists said fatigue levels had risen this year - another steep rise from the five in ten who said the same last year.</span></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:14px"><span style="font-family:verdana,geneva,sans-serif">Almost one in four scientists in today’s survey said they were on a fixed-term contract, with an average length of 18 months, offering very little job security.</span></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:14px"><span style="font-family:verdana,geneva,sans-serif">Modelling by Universities Australia
<a href="https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/QkPNCXLW2mUXPDz8ltVFL29?domain=universitiesaustralia.edu.au/" target="_blank">
<span style="color:rgb(220,161,13)">estimated 17,300 jobs were lost at universities</span></a> in 2020, a devastating toll fuelling workloads and job insecurity for staff who remain. </span></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:14px"><span style="font-family:verdana,geneva,sans-serif">Key findings from this year’s scientists survey include:</span></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:14px"><span style="font-family:verdana,geneva,sans-serif">62.5 per cent of scientists surveyed said morale fell in their workplace in the last year. That’s a big jump from 45.8 per cent in 2020.</span></span>
</li><li style="margin:0px;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:13px;line-height:normal;font-family:"Helvetica Neue"">
<span style="font-size:14px"><span style="font-family:verdana,geneva,sans-serif">70.6 per cent of scientists said fatigue had risen over the past year - up from 54.6 per cent in 2020.</span></span>
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<span style="font-size:14px"><span style="font-family:verdana,geneva,sans-serif">One in four scientists surveyed were on fixed-term work contracts, with an average contract length of just 18 months.</span></span>
</li><li style="margin:0px;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:13px;line-height:normal;font-family:"Helvetica Neue"">
<span style="font-size:14px"><span style="font-family:verdana,geneva,sans-serif">39.4 per cent of scientists have not had a pay increase in the last 12 months (with pay freezes at many universities amid the pandemic’s financial hit).</span></span>
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<span style="font-size:14px"><span style="font-family:verdana,geneva,sans-serif">Women scientists earn just 82.8 per cent of male scientists’ salaries - a gender pay gap of 17 per cent.</span></span>
</li><li style="margin:0px;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:13px;line-height:normal;font-family:"Helvetica Neue"">
<span style="font-size:14px"><span style="font-family:verdana,geneva,sans-serif">One in five scientists (19.9 per cent) indicated they plan to leave the profession entirely in coming years. This figure was 18.3 per cent in 2020.</span></span>
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<span style="font-size:14px"><span style="font-family:verdana,geneva,sans-serif">Scientists are working an average of 7.5 hours overtime each week. 58.9 per cent said they received no extra pay or compensation for overtime.</span></span>
</li></ul>
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<span style="font-size:14px"><span style="font-family:verdana,geneva,sans-serif">Science & Technology Australia and Professionals Australia run this survey every year to gather accurate data on salaries and workplace conditions. </span></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:14px"><span style="font-family:verdana,geneva,sans-serif">The survey of 1,275 professional scientists ran in June 2021.<br>
<br>
The full report is <a href="https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/bfBsCWLVXkU5LXWM1H6NnYQ?domain=apesma.informz.net" target="_blank">
<span style="color:rgb(220,161,13)">here</span></a>.</span></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:14px"><span style="font-family:verdana,geneva,sans-serif"><b>Media contact:
</b>Martyn Pearce, Science & Technology Australia - 0432 606 828</span></span></p>
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</div><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div><font size="2"><b><span style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><span style="color:rgb(142,124,195)">I </span><span style="color:rgb(53,28,117)">a</span><span style="color:rgb(11,83,148)">m</span> <span style="color:rgb(106,168,79)">a</span><span style="color:rgb(241,194,50)">n</span><span style="color:rgb(230,145,56)"> </span></span><span style="color:rgb(255,0,0)"><span style="color:rgb(153,0,255)"><span style="color:rgb(230,145,56)">L</span><span style="color:rgb(255,0,0)">G</span></span><span style="color:rgb(142,124,195)">B</span><span style="color:rgb(53,28,117)">T<span style="color:rgb(11,83,148)">I</span></span><span style="color:rgb(106,168,79)">Q</span></span><span style="color:rgb(0,255,0)"> </span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><span style="color:rgb(241,194,50)">A</span><span style="color:rgb(230,145,56)">l</span><span style="color:rgb(255,0,0)">l</span><span style="color:rgb(142,124,195)">y</span></span></span></b></font><i style="font-size:12.8px"><span style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"><font size="2"><b> </b></font> - Find out more at <a href="https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/0o68C2xMQzip2Z9BLsMtI0v?domain=monash.edu" target="_blank">monash.edu/ally</a></span></i><i><br></i></div><div><i style="font-size:12.8px"><br></i></div><div>Professor John Lattanzio</div><div>President, Astronomical Society of Australia</div><div><br>School of Physics and Astronomy<br></div><div>Monash University Victoria 3800 AUSTRALIA<br><br></div><div>Ph: +61 (0)3 9905-4428<br>WWW: <a href="https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/CV_NC4QOPEiB29vDZhNqio_?domain=maths.monash.edu.au/" target="_blank">users.monash.edu.au/~johnl/</a><br><div>
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<span></span>
<span><a href="https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/cc6oC6XQ4Lfr60BpRij564U?domain=orcid.org" target="_blank">orcid.org/0000-0003-2952-859X</a></span></div></div></div><div><br></div><div><div>-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br>"...<span style="color:rgb(29,29,29);font-family:"Clarendon FS Light"">it’s a human story that builds to a climax and it’s personal from end to end. </span></div><div><span style="color:rgb(29,29,29);font-family:"Clarendon FS Light"">You start out wondering why you bought those blue pajamas and later you’re </span></div><div><span style="color:rgb(29,29,29);font-family:"Clarendon FS Light"">wondering why you were born. You go from the foolishly absurd to the deadly </span></div><div><span style="color:rgb(29,29,29);font-family:"Clarendon FS Light"">serious and you’ve passed through the gaudy and the nasty along the way. </span></div><div><span style="color:rgb(29,29,29);font-family:"Clarendon FS Light"">You get to the edge and you’re played out and you wonder where’s the good </span></div><div><span style="color:rgb(29,29,29);font-family:"Clarendon FS Light"">news? Isn’t there supposed to be good news?"</span></div><div><span style="color:rgb(29,29,29);font-family:"Clarendon FS Light""> - Bob Dylan</span></div><div>-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>