Phys.org December 16, 2021
On March 6, 2020, universities across the U.S. announced systematic laboratory closures, social distancing policies and travel bans to cope with the growing coronavirus epidemic. A multi-university project, called SciOPS, conducted a survey which revealed that the pandemic’s hardships in academia have been widespread and lasting, and female and early career scientists faced more negative impacts than other groups. These differences are likely aggravating already existing disparities and potentially altering career trajectories. The negative outcomes may last well beyond the end of the pandemic. On the research side, 93% of respondents experienced university shutdowns and 88% faced lab work disruptions. Over 80% dealt with conference cancelations and travel restrictions. Some researchers also had to quickly adapt to financial issues, and this, along with other hurdles, saw many scientists delaying data collection, applying for timeline extensions or ending data collection early. The May 2021 survey showed that a year later, not much had changed. The pandemic highlighted existing problems within science but also offered lessons to be learned. By implementing programs such as tenure clock extensions, advocating for affordable childcare and allocating funds to support early career women researchers, the scientific community could enable broader participation, capacity, and production for all scientists…read more.