A Letter from the Post-doc with One Foot in the Pipeline

This may seem random. What's a post-doc? What's 'the pipeline'? Where is this coming from?

A post-doc is someone (like me) who's finished their PhD but is sort of doing another one. With a bit
more freedom of ideas, but also a bit more pressure to publish. The pipeline? That refers to the fact that the further you go in academia (in life sciences anyway), the fewer women there are.

And where is my letter coming from? A recent article in Nature about the future of the postdoc, that's generated lots of discussion. This is my take.

A Letter from the Post-Doc with One Foot in the Pipeline

(in response to: Nature 471, 7 (2011))

To Whomever Has the Power to Do Something About This:

Trust me, you want me to stay.

You’ve spent considerable time and money training me, culturing me academically. Now here I am, in the vastness of life-after-PhD, fending for myself. Sink or swim – I know that’s how this game works … but I don’t want to do either. What I want doesn’t exist yet.

(This is one of the ways I can help you.)

You may not realize it, but I am your future. I am the woman scientist with one foot in the pipeline. I am the post-doc who wants it all. I want to mentor students and inspire lecture attendance and create, learn, discover. But I also want to run on dewy mornings, and bake cookies with my daughter afterschool, and nurture those parts of me that – gasp! – aren’t related to my publication record. And though I used to think I wanted to be an academic (hence, the training), the reality is - I don’t have the time. My day only has 24 hours and I don’t want to spend all of them working.

But I do like being part of academic life. I’m smart, I’m experienced, and I can help transform the way this university trains modern scientists. How? You want skill transference. You want research-based learning. You want meaningful assessment. Simultaneously, you want academics to be more productive, get more grants, and train more postgrads. So, here’s all I’m saying -
Let. Me. Help. You.

I’m enthusiastic. I’m motivated. I even know my way around technology and social media. So let me take care of some things for you. Let me help you make this a better place for learning and research.

And, if you don’t snag me now, I might just form a consulting company and charge you triple later.

So trust me, you want me to stay.

Sincerely,
Dr Amanda Niehaus
Mother of one, part-time post-doc & idealist
School of Biological Sciences,
The University of Queensland
Brisbane, Australia

PS. You can see an abbreviated version of this letter in the Australian Higher Education edition here.