Since 2009 the National Report on Junior Scholars has reported once every legislative session on the situation of junior scholars in Germany. The report is published by an independent academic consortium in cooperation with other researchers.
This report focuses on the training and career development of researchers from their first professional qualification to their doctorate, and then in the subsequent phase of further academic training right up to their transition into a professional career in research, academia or other fields.
The National Report on Junior Scholars 2017 focusses on the compatibility of family and work in higher education and non-university research institutions. A central element is the inquiry and reprocessing of relevant problems and potential denouements. Emphasis is laid on junior scholars’ duties of care for dependents, especially in regard to children and elderly family members, and on the relationship between family planning and career decisions.
This partial study approaches this key issue from three vantage points. The study
- reviews the public and political debate on the compatibility of family and career in higher education and non-university research institutions
- summarises the current state of research by producing a literature review, thereby highlighting unresolved questions and research gaps
- outlines a comprehensive list of higher education and family affairs policies, programmes and mechanisms that aim to increase the compatibility of family life and research careers.
