Do the fixed-term contracts in academia lead to a brain drain?

Question

A significant, perhaps growing proportion of research at universities is carried out by postdocs¹. Postdocs are typically employed on fixed-term contracts. Personally, I know several people who have been employed on chains of temporary research contracts for well over ten years, including some all the way to retirement: their work is good enough to satisfy their PI, but not good enough (or perhaps not interested) for promotion. Some may seek to move to industry, not because the work is more interesting but because a permanent contract is easier to get, such as suggested in this Dutch-language article), but a response in the same article denies that there is a brain drain.

Is there any evidence for a brain drain from academia to industry, lured by permanent² contracts?

NB: although personal stories/anecdotes are interesting (I could offer my own) it would be even more interesting to see if there is actual research into this question.

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Edit: I welcome answers that challenge the assumption that job security as a researcher is more easily achievable outside academia than inside. Some PhDs do of course become professors, but I've rarely seen professors that have much time to do research, as opposed to supervise research. My question supposes the perspective of people who wish to do research themselves rather than in a supervisory role.

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¹I use postdoc here in the meaning of any time-limited contract which is mainly or entirely focussed on research.

²Of course, no job is certain until retirement, but getting a mortgage without a permanent contract is likely hard/impossible.

Answer 1

I can only provide anecdotal data, I was going to do this as a comment, but it got too big.

I'm a postdoc (finished my phd in 2012), and I'm tired of it. In some cases (fapesp, brazil) postdocs don't have any rights or benefits (no vacations, for instance).

Worrying about how I'll provide for my family from next August, when my contract ends, compromises my performance... More than that, I don't have continuity, I can't think of anything medium term, because I have no idea where I'll be in one year.

I really like the projects I'm working on. But this whole thing has taken its toll on my and on my family. I'm seriously considering changing careers to get some kind of stability. I'd like to stay on research, but maybe research doesn't want to stay with me :)

update: I do not have kids, it is just me and my wife. We are postponing that exactly because I don't want to subject a kid to this. And its easier to move around when its only the two of us. If I'm honest, I don't know of any other non-religious profession that requires this kind of commitment. Maybe the military, but at least you got benefits, sometimes housing. And financial stability, if not geographical.

Answer 2

Brain drain?

The term brain drain to me has a decidedly negative connotation of a loss (here to academia).

In contrast, I'd like to point out that education is one of the main functions of a university. From that point of view, highly educated people leaving university for industry is not a loss but an intended outcome. And that makes it close to impossible to measure how many researchers that should have stayed are leaving because of conditions*.

Here in Germany, we distinguish between (more-or-less pure) research institutions and universities, where that educational aspect is more pronounced. And in general, academia over here produces far more people finishing "lower" levels than are required to fill in the free positions higher up (e.g. we have 2 - 3 times as many habilitations per year than newly filled professorships).

I grant that there may be an hen-and-egg question here.

I see more of an IMHO totally unnecessary waste in the transition from researcher to research manager within academia - in that I totally agree with OP.

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Where to find job security?

I would like to do research without wondering all my life in what country I will live 2–4 years from now.

IMHO this is a totally understandable wish for security and the possibility to plan ahead. I guess there are very few people who don't need this for their whole life.

The question does suppose such is more achievable outside academia than inside, but do correct me if I'm wrong.

I'm not sure whether you get much more of this security with a career in industry - that is, without paying by something else / other drawbacks.

• The father of a friend once said that you may expect to be able to work where you like or what you like - but to be able to find employment covering both wishes would be extremely good luck.

• Industry may also expect you to move to a different country, or you may be transfered to another site which is, say, 200 km away.

• Also, those highly interesting start-up companies where working is so much fun and everyone so enthusiastic and full of ideas [like in academia] - they tend to fail (not because fun in work or enthusiasm is inherently wrong - but they are high risk enterprises - or e.g. the founders may move on to a different job, and the thing is silently closed down).

• OTOH, I know people who got themselves technical positions in academia in order to have long term contracts and reliable working hours.

• I took a different route and a now somewhere between industry and research (feel free to contact me if you'd like to know more)

In the end you'll need to find out for yourself what your priorities are and how much career and what else you are willing to trade in for job security.

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* Personally, I have left academic positions because of conditions - not the length of fixed-term contracts, though. And I found the official length of the contract far less important than how the respective institution (supervisor) deals with the fact that they can offer only fixed term contracts.