1st Edition
'Making It' as a Contract Researcher A Pragmatic Look at Precarious Work
Preface
Acknowledgements
Chapter One Situating the Contract Research Career
The partial academic
What is making it?
Introduction to the Research
Some key terms
Who is this book for?
How this book is organised
Chapter 1: Situating the contract research career
Chapter 2: Becoming and being a contract researcher
Chapter 3: The collective work of contract research
Chapter 4: The possible future of research careers
What is work?
The growth of contract research
Who are contract researchers?
Policy context
Feeling the effects of managerialism
Consequences for researchers
A final word
Chapter Two Becoming and being a Contract Researcher
The multiplicity of making it
Entry into contract research
Progressing as a contract researcher
Developing the academic identity
Being strategic and developing your research story
Building a publication track record
Acquiring in-demand skills
Managing quality research
The hidden work of a contract researcher
Charging fairly for your work
Finding the next contract
Managing periods of under or unemployment
Health, ageing and contract research
Moving beyond contract research
Tenured academic job applications
Moving to non-research positions
A final word
Chapter Three The Collective Work of Contract Research
Collegiality, not competition
Employment on other people’s projects
Quality research: Balancing independence and collegiality
Ethical dilemmas
Feeling like you belong
Writing on other people’s projects
Working for free
Questions of authorship
Initiating publications in a team
The collective work of career building
Creating and maintaining your networks
Sustaining your network
Conferences and professional organisations
Networks of contract researchers
Collectivisation among researchers
A final word
Chapter Four The Possible Future of Research Careers
Nurturing engagement
Supporting contract researchers to make it
Individual efforts
Group work: Collectivisation among researchers
Supervisory action and ethical leadership
Industrial action: The role of unions and activism
Research Associations
The impact of institutional initiatives
Impacts on universities
Government-led reform
A final word
References
Index
Biography
Nerida Spina is a senior lecturer at Queensland University of Technology, Australia.
Jess Harris is an associate professor at the University of Newcastle, Australia.
Simon Bailey is a research associate at the University of Kent, UK.
Mhorag Goff is a research associate at the University of Manchester, UK.
