Is Pretenure Interdisciplinary Research a Career Risk?

Authors

E. V. Fischer, Harvard University
K. R. M. Mackey, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
D. F. Cusack, University of California, Los Angeles
L. R. G. DeSantis, Vanderbilt University
L. Hartzell-Nichols, University of Washington
J. A. Lutz, University of Washington
J. Melbourne-Thomas, University of Tasmania
R. Meyer, California Ocean Science Trust
Diego Andrés Riveros-Iregui, University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow
C. J. B. Sorte, University of Massachusetts Boston
J. R. Taylor, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
S. A. White, Oberlin College

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

2012

Citation

Eos, Vol. 93, No. 32, 7 August 2012

Comments

© 2012. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.

Abstract

Despite initiatives to promote interdisciplinary research, early-career academics continue to perceive professional risks to working at the interface between traditional disciplines. Unexpectedly, the inherent practical challenges of interdisciplinary scholarship, such as new methodologies and lexicons, are not the chief source of the perceived risk. The perception of risk is pervasive across disciplines, and it persists despite efforts to support career development for individuals with common interests [Mitchell and Weiler, 2011]. Suggestions that interdisciplinary work can go unrewarded in academia [Clark et al., 2011] foster a concern that targeting interdisciplinary questions, such as those presented by climate change, will pose problems for acquiring and succeeding in a tenure-track position. If self-preservation limits the questions posed by early-career academics, a perceived career risk is as damaging as a real one to new transdisciplinary initiatives. Thus, institutions should address the source of this perception whether real or specious.