Highlighting the barren landscape of postdoctoral resources: a content analysis of University Websites

Abstract

This research paper serves as a benchmarking study to investigate the types and availability of resources available to postdoctoral scholars on university websites. Postdoctoral education in engineering and computer science disciplines is a forgotten stage of the academic pipeline, with very few scholars investigating the learning and development that occurs through the transient postdoctoral years. The few studies that have been done report postdocs feeling “forgotten” and on a “postdoctoral treadmill,” often without formal mentorship or guidance in developing the skills required to land academic careers. While most postdoctoral scholars do have supervisors to whom they report, most literature indicates that postdocs in engineering and computer science are still lacking mentorship in the peripheral skillsets essential for career success, and these effects are amplified for women and postdocs of color. Given a lack of interpersonal mentorship, it is plausible that postdocs turn to institutional resources for guidance and directions for professional development. To date, literature has not benchmarked the type or extent of resources available that are aimed at postdoctoral scholars. To this end, the purpose of this paper is to characterize university webpages using content analysis methods in order to understand the presence or absence of various types of support for postdocs at universities.