Unpaid work and access to science professions

Auriel M. V. Fournier; Angus J. Holford; Alexander L. Bond; Margaret A. Leighton

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0217032

Unpaid work and access to science professions

Auriel M. V. Fournier, Angus J. Holford, Alexander L. Bond, Margaret A. Leighton

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Abstract

Unpaid work in the sciences is advocated as an entry route into scientific careers. We compared the success of UK science graduates who took paid or unpaid work six-months after graduation in obtaining a high salary or working in a STEM (Science, Technology Engineering and Mathematics) field 3.5 years later. Initially taking unpaid work was associated with lower earnings and lower persistence in STEM compared with paid work, but those using personal connections to obtain unpaid positions were as likely to persist in STEM as paid workers. Obtaining a position in STEM six months after graduation was associated with higher rates of persistence in STEM compared with a position outside STEM for both paid and unpaid workers, but the difference is considerably smaller for unpaid workers. Socio-economic inequality in the likelihood of obtaining entry in STEM by taking an unpaid position is a well-founded concern for scientific workforce diversity.

Original language	English
Article number	e0217032
Number of pages	16
Journal	PLoS ONE
Volume	14
Issue number	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0217032
Publication status	Published - 19 Jun 2019

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10.1371/journal.pone.0217032Licence: CC BY

Fournier_2019_PLoSONE_Unpaidwork_CC
Copyright: © 2019 Fournier et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Final published version, 1.13 MBLicence: CC BY

Margaret Alice Leighton
- mal22st-andrews.acuk
- Economics (Business School) - Senior Lecturer, Director of Impact
- Centre for Higher Education Research
Person: Academic

Cite this

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title = "Unpaid work and access to science professions",

abstract = "Unpaid work in the sciences is advocated as an entry route into scientific careers. We compared the success of UK science graduates who took paid or unpaid work six-months after graduation in obtaining a high salary or working in a STEM (Science, Technology Engineering and Mathematics) field 3.5 years later. Initially taking unpaid work was associated with lower earnings and lower persistence in STEM compared with paid work, but those using personal connections to obtain unpaid positions were as likely to persist in STEM as paid workers. Obtaining a position in STEM six months after graduation was associated with higher rates of persistence in STEM compared with a position outside STEM for both paid and unpaid workers, but the difference is considerably smaller for unpaid workers. Socio-economic inequality in the likelihood of obtaining entry in STEM by taking an unpaid position is a well-founded concern for scientific workforce diversity.",

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Unpaid work and access to science professions

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Margaret Alice Leighton

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