IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/sagope/v13y2023i1p21582440231153054.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Striving Transition for University Academics: The Academic Role Identity of Young Postdocs at Universities in China

Author

Listed:
  • Jia Song
  • Zunwei Yang

Abstract

Since implementing the postdoctoral system in China, the number and quality of postdocs have improved greatly. Under the policy of creating world-class universities, most universities have focused unprecedentedly on recruiting postdoctoral fellows, and the management regulations for postdocs have become increasingly diverse. Through in-depth interviews with postdoctoral fellows at three universities in a metropolitan city, we found that postdoctoral roles have been multidimensional and sometimes conflicting, including the quasi-role of university teacher, the rigid role of independent researcher, the inertial role of student and the unofficial role of associate supervisor. Sociocultural norms, institutional contexts, and professional community shape these role identities.

Suggested Citation

  • Jia Song & Zunwei Yang, 2023. "Striving Transition for University Academics: The Academic Role Identity of Young Postdocs at Universities in China," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(1), pages 21582440231, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:sagope:v:13:y:2023:i:1:p:21582440231153054
    DOI: 10.1177/21582440231153054
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/21582440231153054
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/21582440231153054?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jesper W. Schneider & Thed N. van Leeuwen, 2014. "Analysing robustness and uncertainty levels of bibliometric performance statistics supporting science policy. A case study evaluating Danish postdoctoral funding," Research Evaluation, Oxford University Press, vol. 23(4), pages 285-297.
    2. Herschberg, Channah & Benschop, Yvonne & van den Brink, Marieke, 2018. "Precarious postdocs: A comparative study on recruitment and selection of early-career researchers," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 303-310.
    3. Hayter, Christopher S. & Parker, Marla A., 2019. "Factors that influence the transition of university postdocs to non-academic scientific careers: An exploratory study," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(3), pages 556-570.
    4. Izhak Berkovich, 2018. "Beyond qualitative/quantitative structuralism: the positivist qualitative research and the paradigmatic disclaimer," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 52(5), pages 2063-2077, September.
    5. Nuno Cerca, 2016. "Postdoc rights need not hurt productivity," Nature, Nature, vol. 532(7600), pages 441-441, April.
    6. Bernd Fitzenberger & Ute Schulze, 2014. "Up or Out: Research Incentives and Career Prospects of Postdocs in Germany," German Economic Review, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 15(2), pages 287-328, May.
    7. Livia Puljak & Wallace D Sharif, 2009. "Postdocs' perceptions of work environment and career prospects at a US academic institution," Research Evaluation, Oxford University Press, vol. 18(5), pages 411-415, December.
    8. Jae Hyeung Kang & James G. Matusik & Lizabeth A. Barclay, 2017. "Affective and Normative Motives to Work Overtime in Asian Organizations: Four Cultural Orientations from Confucian Ethics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 140(1), pages 115-130, January.
    9. Ana F Zubieta, 2009. "Recognition and weak ties: is there a positive effect of postdoctoral position on academic performance and career development?," Research Evaluation, Oxford University Press, vol. 18(2), pages 105-115, June.
    10. Tom Christensen & Per Lægreid, 2015. "Performance and Accountability—A Theoretical Discussion and an Empirical Assessment," Public Organization Review, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 207-225, June.
    11. Brendan Cantwell & Barrett J. Taylor, 2015. "Rise of the Science and Engineering Postdoctorate and the Restructuring of Academic Research," The Journal of Higher Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 86(5), pages 667-696, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Songyue Lin & Kaixuan Zhang & Jin Liu & Wenjing Lyu, 2024. "Credential inflation and employment of university faculty in China," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-14, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Alessandro Muscio & Sotaro Shibayama & Laura Ramaciotti, 2022. "Universities and start-up creation by Ph.D. graduates: the role of scientific and social capital of academic laboratories," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 47(1), pages 147-175, February.
    2. Hayter, Christopher S. & Parker, Marla A., 2019. "Factors that influence the transition of university postdocs to non-academic scientific careers: An exploratory study," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(3), pages 556-570.
    3. Klaus Wohlrabe, 2018. "Einige Anmerkungen zum FAZ-Ökonomenranking 2018," ifo Schnelldienst, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 71(20), pages 29-33, October.
    4. Cathelijn J F Waaijer & Benoît Macaluso & Cassidy R Sugimoto & Vincent Larivière, 2016. "Stability and Longevity in the Publication Careers of U.S. Doctorate Recipients," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(4), pages 1-15, April.
    5. Belén Álvarez-Bornstein & Adrián A. Díaz-Faes & María Bordons, 2019. "What characterises funded biomedical research? Evidence from a basic and a clinical domain," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 119(2), pages 805-825, May.
    6. Mario Fernandes & Andreas Walter, 2023. "The times they are a-changin’: profiling newly tenured business economics professors in Germany over the past thirty years," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 93(5), pages 929-971, July.
    7. Carolina Cañibano & F. Javier Otamendi & Francisco Solís, 2011. "International temporary mobility of researchers: a cross-discipline study," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 89(2), pages 653-675, November.
    8. Ming Kong & Jie Xin & Wenxiao Xu & Haonan Li & Dandan Xu, 2022. "The moral licensing effect between work effort and unethical pro-organizational behavior: The moderating influence of Confucian value," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 39(2), pages 515-537, June.
    9. Giulio Marini, 2021. "The employment destination of PhD-holders in Italy: non-academic funded projects as drivers of successful segmentation," DoQSS Working Papers 21-16, Quantitative Social Science - UCL Social Research Institute, University College London.
    10. Doris Fischer, 2014. "The Impact of Changing Incentives in China on International Cooperation in Social Science Research on China," Journal of Current Chinese Affairs - China aktuell, Institute of Asian Studies, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies, Hamburg, vol. 43(2), pages 33-46.
    11. Louis W. Fry & Mai Chi Vu, 2024. "Leading Without a Self: Implications of Buddhist Practices for Pseudo-spiritual Leadership," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 190(1), pages 41-57, February.
    12. Bäker, Agnes, 2015. "Non-tenured post-doctoral researchers’ job mobility and research output: An analysis of the role of research discipline, department size, and coauthors," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(3), pages 634-650.
    13. Luo Lu & Ting-Ting Chang & Shu-Fang Kao & Cary L. Cooper, 2021. "Do Gender and Gender Role Orientation Make a Difference in the Link between Role Demands and Family Interference with Work for Taiwanese Workers?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(18), pages 1-17, September.
    14. Lawson, Cornelia & Lopes-Bento, Cindy, 2024. "Miss or match? The impact of PhD training on job market satisfaction," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(3).
    15. Wildgaard, Lorna, 2016. "A critical cluster analysis of 44 indicators of author-level performance," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 10(4), pages 1055-1078.
    16. Hao, Jing & Wang, Ziqiao & Zhang, Xiaotao & He, Feng & Chen, Xuehong, 2024. "Culture imprint and gambling preference: Evidence from individual investors' trading in the Chinese stock market," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    17. Byrne, Eamon & MacKenzie, Tim MG & goswami, aranyak & Suresh, Samyuktha & Ahmad, M. Usman, 2023. "SURPAS Long Range Planning Report 2023," OSF Preprints t5mwn, Center for Open Science.
    18. Ganguli, Ina & Gaulé, Patrick & Čugalj, Danijela Vuletić, 2022. "Chasing the academic dream: Biased beliefs and scientific labor markets," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 202(C), pages 17-33.
    19. Fang, Tony & Xiao, Na & Zhu, Jane & Hartley, John, 2022. "Employer Attitudes and the Hiring of Immigrants and International Students: Evidence from a Survey of Employers in Canada," IZA Discussion Papers 15226, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    20. Haucap, Justus & Thomas, Tobias & Wohlrabe, Klaus, 2017. "Publication performance vs. influence: On the questionable value of quality weighted publication rankings," DICE Discussion Papers 277, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:sagope:v:13:y:2023:i:1:p:21582440231153054. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.