Study slams academic ‘dead end’ jobs

Sweden’s early-career scientists are struggling under career uncertainty, study finds

Early-career researchers suffer too much career uncertainty in Sweden and risk getting stuck in jobs that lead nowhere, according to a report from the Swedish Association of University Teachers and Researcher (Sulf) and the National Junior Faculty.

The study, titled Uncertain future: a reality for junior researchers in Sweden, found that researchers who are at the beginning of their academic career have few opportunities to plan their progress. Many are forced to take project-dependent, “dead end” jobs that do not further their career, the resulting report said.