Introduction
Postdoctoral fellowships are an important step in an academic career trajectory, as they provide new PhD graduates with the opportunity to further develop their academic and professional skillsets, establish their research programs, and enhance their career prospects. Although most postdoctoral fellows are at the institution for a short period of time (e.g., one to two years), they are essential members of the academic enterprise and social fabric of the University of Toronto (U of T). Postdoctoral fellows contribute to and elevate our institution by collaborating with faculty, mentoring students, teaching courses, and importantly, conducting innovative scholarship that contributes to the university’s research mission. Given their important role in fostering an enriching learning and research environment, it is imperative that they have the appropriate supports, resources, and tools to make the most of their time at the university and prepare for a fruitful and successful career.
To review the structure, programs, and services offered to postdoctoral fellows across the university and ensure a meaningful and fulfilling postdoctoral experience, the School of Graduate Studies (SGS) struck the Postdoctoral Review Working Group in the Fall of 2023. The working group was composed of academic leadership, faculty members, business officers, representatives from the divisions of Student Life, Research Services, Human Resources, and Labour Relations, as well as current and former postdoctoral fellows. Together, the working group reviewed key areas of postdoctoral fellowships, including governance, structure, programs, and services for postdoctoral fellows and developed a set of recommendations in each of these areas to enhance the postdoctoral experience.
Report and recommendations
Background
Table of contents
To contextualize the review conducted by the working group, it was important to examine the evolution of these academic appointments at the university over time. In 2000, the university established a Task Force to collect data on postdoctoral fellows and explore the circumstances of their appointments to develop recommendations and enhance the relationship between postdoctoral fellows, their supervisors, and the university more broadly.[1] Prior to the Task Force, postdoctoral management was primarily facilitated by the supervisor, with support from their graduate unit. Under this structure, the Task Force identified a few core issues, including academic concerns (e.g., lack of integration into university life, lack of secure common written agreement, exploitation, and feelings of isolation), social concerns (e.g., lack of professional development and career services, few resources to assist transition to life in Canada), a significant need for increased benefits, and a general lack of unity amongst postdoctoral fellows across the university. To resolve these core issues, the Task Force issued several recommendations, including but not limited to: the creation of a central administrative office to service postdoctoral fellows, guidelines for postdoctoral appointments, a formal registration mechanism, a minimum salary stipend, and measures to increase access to university resources and services, among others.
In response to these recommendations, the Postdoctoral Fellows Office in the SGS was established in 2003, which led to several important structural and service-based changes for postdoctoral fellows. In the early stages, the new office led the formalization of appointments by issuing a standard Letter of Offer, engaging in initial attempts at an appointment tracking process, and increasing access to UHIP and various university services (e.g., Student Life, Family Care Office). In 2008, healthcare and benefits were expanded as the Green Shield plan was introduced for all postdoctoral fellows paid through the U of T payroll and a university-wide Postdoctoral Registration Database was created. At this time, the first union certification drive was also initiated but postdoctoral fellows ultimately voted against unionization. Shortly after, a second union certification drive was initiated – which specified a subset of postdoctoral appointments as employees – and postdoctoral fellows voted to unionize. In early 2015, the first collective agreement was ratified.
As a result of unionization, there are two types of postdoctoral appointments at U of T: trainee postdoctoral fellows and employee postdoctoral fellows. Trainees comprise the original category of postdoctoral appointment at U of T; these appointments are for individuals who have secured their own external postdoctoral awards, fellowships, or funding (e.g., tri-agency, MITACS, Fonds de recherche du Québec). Following certification, the employee categorization of postdoctoral appointment was created in 2013. These postdoctoral fellows are considered employees of the university, if when they are hired, their entire salaries are paid by their Primary Investigator (PI), graduate unit funds, or an internal award (e.g., graduate unit, faculty, or university award). Employee postdoctoral fellows are a part of the CUPE 3902 Unit 5 collective agreement, which sets out terms and conditions of employment over and above the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA). Since the establishment of this category in 2013, over 75% of annual postdoctoral appointments have been employees, with the latest numbers showing 83% employees (2022–23 statistics).
Currently, there are a variety of administrative processes, programs, and services across the university ecosystem to support postdoctoral fellows while they train at U of T. At the institutional level, the Postdoctoral Fellows Office at SGS, in conjunction with key university partners such as Human Resources and Labour Relations, facilitates formal tracking, registrarial and academic services; ensures consistent postdoctoral hiring and employment practices; communicates with postdoctoral fellows on important issues such as healthcare, benefits, campus services, and collective agreement articles; assists with wayfinding services and supports; and advises graduate units and academic divisions on postdoctoral engagement matters. In addition, the Postdoctoral Fellows Office facilitates community building activities (e.g., Postdoctoral Community of Practice, monthly coffee hours), hosts special events to celebrate National Postdoc Appreciation week and supports the SGS Graduate Awards office in its provision of postdoctoral awards and tri-agency fund administration. Through service-level agreements, SGS, in partnership with Student Life and the Family Care Office, also provide postdoctoral fellows with access to the Career Exploration and Education Centre (e.g., CLNx, repository of career resources, flexible futures workshop series, group advising), social activities (e.g., Gradlife workshops, Grad escapes), and family care services (e.g., childcare information, workshops, family events, resource library).
At the departmental level, graduate units – in partnership with supervising PIs – are tasked with ensuring appropriate hiring and employment best practices (including ensuring compliance with the collective agreement), gathering documents to support the immigration of international postdoctoral fellows, facilitating administrative processes (e.g., administration of applicable health benefit programs), supporting in the orientation and onboarding of postdoctoral fellows to their position, providing job-specific training and professional development, and integrating postdoctoral fellows into the department and research team (e.g., inclusion on listservs, social events, research projects, networking, lab webpages).
[1] Task Force on Postdoctoral Fellows at the University of Toronto.
Approximately 7,180 postdoctoral fellows across both types of appointments have trained at the university since the institution formalized central registration.[2] Postdoctoral appointments are spread across a variety of academic divisions, with the majority of the appointments in the Faculty of Arts and Science (35.4%), Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering (23.2%), Temerty Faculty of Medicine (17.5%), University of Toronto Mississauga (6.3%) and University of Toronto Scarborough (6.0%). Of the 7,180 postdoctoral fellows registered, there is a balance of international (50.4%) and domestic (49.6%) citizenship, with over 120 countries represented across the postdoctoral community. The majority of postdoctoral fellows received their PhD degrees at institutions other than U of T (75.8%), which fosters connections with over 1,424 institutions in 80 different countries. Evidently, postdoctoral fellows play a critical role in the internationalization of our research mission at U of T.
[2] Data retrieved from the Postdoctoral Registration System (PRS) in May 2023. This dataset does not include postdoctoral fellows who trained at university affiliated hospitals.
Through the Career Outcomes project, SGS has tracked the employment status of over 88% of postdoctoral fellows who worked at the university between 2008 and 2021.[3] The project, which sources publicly available data such as LinkedIn and company websites, provides important insights on the overarching postdoctoral career landscape over time and discipline-specific outcomes across key sectors (e.g., post-secondary education, private sector, public sector). Recent findings revealed that the post-secondary sector was the top sector of employment across all postdoctoral fellows at the university (51.6%), followed by the private sector (21.4%). Yet, data demonstrates that it is increasingly challenging to obtain a tenure-stream faculty position upon completion of a postdoctoral fellowship. Specifically, when comparing the outcomes for postdoctoral fellows between 2018 and 2022, the data indicates 27.1% of postdoctoral fellows within four years of completion had obtained tenure-stream faculty positions as of 2018, while the percentage dropped to 15.9% for those who completed between 2018 and 2021. However, when combining the outcomes for teaching-stream positions and tenure-stream positions, a small increase in postdoctoral fellows landing faculty positions is observed (28.8% of recent postdoctoral fellows working in tenure- or teaching-stream roles in 2018 vs. 32.4% as of 2021). These data illustrate a slight increase in teaching-stream faculty positions in the last few years. However, given the increased competition for academic roles and the enhanced efforts to bridge research to industry, it is important for U of T to provide postdoctoral fellows with more opportunities to diversify their professional skillsets and enhance awareness of the range of career prospects available to them.[4]
[3] School of Graduate Studies: 2022 Career Outcomes Project
[4] See Career Outcomes data for more information.
SGS Postdoctoral Review Working Group: Observation and recommendations
The Postdoctoral Review Working Group convened for four meetings over the course of the 2023–2024 academic year and discussed five important areas of administration and postdoctoral experience: Raising the profile of postdoctoral fellows at U of T; governance and administration; building a sense of community amongst postdoctoral fellows; professionalization; and enhancing and streamlining the provision of services. Informed by the 2000 Task Force report, current institutional and local policies and practices, and postdoctoral data, the working group engaged in enriching discussions regarding the existing challenges under each of these broad categories and developed recommendations to enhance both the administration and experience of postdoctoral fellowships. The key challenges of each area are summarized below.
Summary of recommendations
Working group members agreed that the recognition and integration of postdoctoral fellows in our university community could be strengthened. To help raise their profile across the tri-campuses, it is imperative to ensure the Postdoctoral Fellows Office at SGS is adequately staffed and best positioned to provide optimal support and services. Clarity is required to ensure the university community understands who is responsible for the postdoctoral portfolio in each academic division to ensure postdoctoral needs are not inadvertently overlooked. To ensure appropriate recognition outside of our institution, it is also important to review the nomenclature for these appointments at U of T to ensure it is up-to-date and aligned with nomenclature used in other institutions in Canada and abroad.
There were a few core concerns raised by working group members with respect to the governance and administration of postdoctoral fellows. First, recognizing the policies governing postdoctoral fellows have been in place since 2002 and the structural changes that have occurred for postdoctoral fellowships since then (e.g., formal tracking, appointment types, unionization), working group members identified the need to engage in a fulsome review of governing council policies related to postdoctoral fellows and update, if needed. Second, working group discussions emphasized the need to review, clarify, and update (if needed) the division of labour for key administrative functions, such as UHIP, general human resources duties, immigration advising, housing, and health and well-being, among others. Presently, these administrative duties for postdoctoral fellows are largely led by SGS, which prompted some working group members to consider whether these duties might be more appropriately supported through institutional offices specializing in human resources (e.g., PSEC) and / or divisional office(s). Leveraging support from other offices may assist SGS in focusing resources on postdoctoral policy development, administering awards and funding to trainee postdoctoral fellows, and enhancing the postdoctoral experience. Third, working group members recognized the critical need to review the benefits and entitlements (e.g., leaves, benefits, vacation) of trainee appointments vis-à-vis employee appointments as this is the first scoping review of postdoctoral fellows since unionization. In these discussions, it was determined that equity could be strengthened between appointment types, especially as it relates to leaves for birth parents. This issue is particularly pronounced for trainees who hold an award outside of the tri-agencies, as some awards do not provide financial support and / or require the award to be paused during a parental leave.[5] Because postdoctoral fellows are often engaged during childbearing years, working group members agreed that it is critical to create measures that provide trainees in these circumstances with adequate financial support. Throughout these discussions, it also became apparent that there could be increased clarity and transparency related to the types of postdoctoral appointments in general.
[5] Of note, tri-agency trainees and employee postdoctoral fellows have comparable leaves.
Due to the large, decentralized nature of U of T, it can be challenging for postdoctoral fellows to develop a sense of community with their peers. While departments, labs, or research teams with a significant postdoctoral population may have success in building a strong network of peer support and engagement, it can be challenging to create community in departments where there are few postdoctoral fellows. Furthermore, decentralization of programs can lead to a lack of awareness and cohesion between institutional, divisional, and departmental community-building activities. As a result, working group members offered recommendations that aim to create opportunities for postdoctoral fellows in smaller departments to build an academic and social network at the university and foster a fulfilling, well-rounded experience.
Professionalization of postdoctoral fellows was also identified by working group members as an area where institutional offices, in particular, could play a key role in enhancing the postdoctoral experience. While postdoctoral fellows currently have access to some local and institutional professionalization programs and supports such as those offered through SGS Graduate Centre for Academic Communication, SGS Centre for Graduate Professional Development, and Student Life Career Exploration & Education, many of these offerings are tailored to graduate students and may not address some of the specific professional and career development needs of postdoctoral fellows. While these offerings do help refine postdoctoral fellows’ professional skillset and should continue to be offered, the working group recognizes the importance of creating tailored offerings for postdoctoral fellows that provide professional and career development specific to the transition from graduate student to early career roles within and outside of academia. For instance, more offerings that support preparation for interviews or job talks, deepen skills as mentors and leaders, enhance awareness of pathways for a variety of careers, and assist postdoctoral fellows in recognizing and communicating their unique skillsets would be valuable.
Lastly, postdoctoral fellows on the working group identified the onboarding process as one of the most significant challenges of the postdoctoral experience. Given the compressed timeframe of most appointments, postdoctoral fellows are required to rapidly acquaint to a new geographic location, institution, and research environment, as well as organize their personal affairs (e.g., healthcare, benefits, immigration, family needs). The current cost-of-living in Toronto and lack of affordable housing in proximity to the U of T campuses significantly exacerbates these challenges, and requires postdoctoral fellows to expend significant time, energy, and resources in the lead up to their fellowship addressing this basic need. Together, these factors can cause stress, overwhelm, and burnout for postdoctoral fellows before they even land on campus or begin their research program.
In addition, many postdoctoral fellows have families and are challenged by the quick turnaround to secure childcare and a lack of options on or in proximity to campus. Adequate and affordable childcare is an essential support for postdoctoral fellows with children and plays a critical role in their onboarding and future success at the institution. Additionally, recent immigration changes regarding spousal open work permits should be considered, as they may impact the ability of postdocs and their spouses to afford childcare.
While institutional offices, academic divisions, and departments have resources to assist postdoctoral fellows in onboarding to the university, working group members offered recommendations for new resources and strategies to better communicate existing supports.
Recommendations
- U of T should rename Postdoctoral Fellows to Postdoctoral Scholars to strengthen recognition of their rich contributions to the academic community at the University of Toronto and ensure alignment with peer institutions.*
- Academic divisions should designate a single academic leader responsible for maintaining and improving excellence in training, professionalization, and community building initiatives for postdoctoral scholars. The designate must be annually communicated to SGS for record keeping, communications, and outreach.
- SGS should convene at least one meeting annually with academic leaders responsible for this portfolio to address postdoctoral matters. In addition, SGS should continue to facilitate the network of postdoctoral administrators at the departmental and divisional levels that convenes on a consistent basis to discuss issues and challenges in the administration of applicable policies and collective agreements.
- SGS should develop a mission statement to clearly articulate the purpose, value, and intended outcomes of postdoctoral scholarships at University of Toronto.
Suggested mission statement recommended by the working group:
- The University of Toronto’s mission is to provide postdoctoral scholars with an enriching academic environment, where they can leverage our world-class and diverse research expertise to build lasting professional connections, engage in mentorship and learning opportunities, and move towards greater independence in scholarship. In turn, postdoctoral scholars play a vital role in advancing the university’s research excellence, contributing fresh perspectives, innovative ideas, and specialized expertise to our intellectual community. By actively engaging in collaborative research, knowledge dissemination, and mentorship, they help shape the university’s dynamic scholarly environment and inspire the next generation of thinkers. We strive to ensure postdoctoral scholars receive exceptional training and supports to expand their research expertise and impact, while preparing to successfully transition into diverse careers.
* In light of this recommendation, the term “postdoctoral scholars” will be used throughout the remainder of the document.
- Review the Governing Council policies on postdoctoral scholars to determine if any updates are required. If needed, establish a schedule for review of the postdoctoral policy suite to ensure it remains current.
- SGS, in collaboration with PSEC and academic divisions, should develop a working group to determine the division of labour for key functions of postdoctoral administration such as UHIP, immigration advising, housing, and health and well-being.
- SGS, in collaboration with Labour Relations, Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation, and Human Resources, should engage in a review of relevant University policies related to trainee postdoctoral scholars’ minimum stipends, benefits, and leaves. If needed, SGS, LR, and HR should collaborate to develop broad parameters that guide adjustments over time to ensure trainee postdoctoral scholars continue to be well-supported while at the University.
- SGS should clearly articulate the benefits and services available to each type of postdoctoral scholar in the appointment or engagement letter templates to ensure prospective postdoctoral scholars understand the terms of their appointment with the University. The letter should also include a website link for postdoctoral scholars to access further information.
- SGS should develop a mechanism to review non-tri-agency trainee parental leaves on a per case basis to determine if the provision of additional financial support is necessary to ensure equity with tri-agency trainee postdoctoral scholars’ parental leaves. In cases where additional support is required, SGS should consider extending the eligibility criteria for the SGS Parental Grant to include trainee postdoctoral scholars (who do not have access to parental benefits through their trainee stipend). Additionally, SGS should explore whether PIs have the capability of independently providing a top-up to trainee postdocs.
- SGS should develop community building activities that are open to all postdoctoral scholars across the University but oriented to academic divisions with lower levels of postdoctoral representation.
- SGS should collaborate with the Indigenous Research Network and Black Research Network to enhance awareness and help build connections with postdoctoral scholars from underrepresented groups across the University.
- Within the existing MOU with SGS, Student Life should consider offerings focused on community building for postdoctoral scholars who may not have the opportunity to find community locally and / or are seeking identity-based community. Additional resources may be needed to enhance these offerings and expand beyond the two participating units (Student Engagement Grad Life and CxED) if there is demand.
SGS should consider extending the full breadth of graduate professional development opportunities and services to postdoctoral scholars, and further explore the unique professionalization needs of postdoctoral scholars for development of future offerings.
- SGS, in collaboration with Student Life, PSEC & other partners, should create an overarching and accessible website for postdoctoral scholars that outlines the resources and services available to them across the postdoctoral lifecycle (i.e., from appointment letter to completion of contract) and specifies the pathways for engagement across the tri-campuses. Postdoctoral scholars should also be explicitly mentioned in all relevant supports and services-related communications.
- SGS, in collaboration with academic divisions and Student Life, should develop a best practices framework that offers guidance on the possible roles and responsibilities of each stakeholder in building community and facilitating professionalization for postdoctoral scholars, according to the different scales and capacities of academic divisions and graduate units.
- SGS, in collaboration with OVPS and Office of Spaces and Experiences, should strengthen resources and communications to assist postdoctoral scholars in securing housing in proximity to the U of T campuses, including creating template letters of reference, a trusted landlords list, and increasing promotion of off-campus housing portals and housing fairs.
- SGS, in collaboration with PSEC, should advocate for the development of a strategy to address the current lack of subsidized childcare options on campus available to postdoctoral scholars with children.
- SGSshould coordinate a meeting with key partners across the University at the conclusion of each collective agreement bargaining cycle to review the new agreement and determine if any updates to the trainee category are warranted to ensure equity across the postdoctoral appointment types.