Research futures: opportunities, challenges, and competitiveness of doctoral and early-career researchers
The evolving global research landscape has generated a dynamic yet increasingly demanding environment for doctoral candidates and early-career researchers (ECRs). At this formative stage of professional development, researchers face multifaceted challenges that extend beyond traditional academic excellence. These include limited funding opportunities, precarious employment, growing expectations for interdisciplinary collaboration, and rising pressure to demonstrate the societal impact of their work. These demands are further complicated by institutional politics, evolving norms in academic publishing, including open science practices, and growing mental health pressures as researchers balance multiple roles and expectations (Melin & Janson, 2006; Purvis et al., 2023; Lee & Shin, 2024).
Critically, these challenges are not experienced equally. The professional journeys of ECRs are deeply shaped by structural inequities across socio-economic classes, gender, race, and geography. As Altbach (2004), Kovalenko & Richards (2023), and Cunningham et al. (2024) highlight, stark global disparities in research resources and institutional infrastructure limit access to mobility, collaboration, and visibility for scholars based in under-resourced systems. These asymmetries reproduce exclusion within academic networks, reinforcing global hierarchies of knowledge production.
Policy reforms and institutional strategies aimed at addressing these issues are emerging, but remain fragmented and unevenly implemented across contexts. Doctoral education, career development, and research governance systems continue to evolve, yet often lack comparative and theoretically grounded perspectives on how best to support early-career researchers.
This Collection therefore aims to generate a comprehensive, interdisciplinary exploration of the evolving conditions of doctoral and early-career research. It will examine how systemic structures, institutional environments, and individual strategies intersect to shape ECR experiences and outcomes. Rather than imposing a fixed analytical lens, the Collection encourages multi-level, context-sensitive investigations, ranging from comparative policy analysis to ethnographic accounts and institutional case studies.
We welcome contributions from all relevant disciplines, including education, sociology, policy studies, science and technology studies, and gender studies, that examine the conditions shaping doctoral and early-career research. We particularly encourage submissions that adopt comparative, interdisciplinary, or underrepresented perspectives.
The Collection invites empirical, conceptual, and reflective papers on the following themes:
Challenges in professional development
- Navigating competitive academic environments
- Dealing with job insecurity, performance pressures, and precarious funding
Opportunities for growth and innovation
- Leveraging mentorship and supportive policy frameworks
- Engaging in international collaboration and open science practices
- Fostering innovative trajectories and global engagement
Formation of core competencies
- Developing interdisciplinary communication, leadership, and responsible research conduct
- Understanding how institutions support or hinder skill development
Structural inequities and inclusion
- Examining the influence of race, gender, socio-economic background, and geographic location on opportunities
- Highlighting strategies for fostering inclusive academic ecosystems (Altbach, 2004; Kovalenko & Richards, 2023; Cunningham et al., 2024)
Mental health and career resilience
- Addressing psychological pressures of early academic life
- Promoting well-being, work-life balance, and sustainable engagement (Levecque et al., 2017; Evans et al., 2018)
Policy and institutional pathways for success
- Evaluating doctoral training systems and career development schemes
- Assessing national or institutional reforms shaping the research profession globally
By foregrounding the interconnected challenges and opportunities across career stages and systems, this Collection seeks to build a nuanced, evidence-based understanding of how early-career researchers can be better supported in building meaningful, impactful, and sustainable research careers.
