Universities struggling to compete with industry on research pay

Attempts to attract and retain academic talent are being hindered by universities’ inability to offer competitive salaries, with barely one in 10 higher education leaders feeling well prepared to address this challenge.

In a global survey of 115 academic leaders and funders, publisher Elsevier found that 75 per cent of academic leaders believe tackling the challenges associated with attracting and retaining talent is a high priority for them, but only 11 per cent feel well prepared to address the challenge of providing competitive compensation and benefits. Ninety-three per cent of respondents say they need more funding to attract the best talent.

Since the pandemic, researchers have greater bargaining power, sometimes choosing to leave universities for better-paid private sector jobs.

Nick Fowler, Elsevier’s chief academic officer, said universities faced a “war for talent” and that some risked finding that “when they lose talent they get into a negative spiral where their reputation becomes damaged and it becomes harder to attract [academics]”.

One academic leader from the Americas told the report that they “struggle to recruit the best people and, on the other hand, we risk losing them to industry sectors where they are in high demand”.

“If you take an area like generative AI, most of the top people have left academic positions to work in industry. That’s true in the top US universities and true at Cambridge, Oxford, UCL and Imperial, from what I’ve seen,” they said.

According to the report, institutions in North America are generally able to offer more “attractive” salaries than any other region, leaving those in other parts of the world unable to compete financially. However, leaders from the Americas often still feel unprepared to offer competitive packages.

The survey also found that nearly four in five leaders (78 per cent) consider providing facilities for research a high priority, and only 31 per cent feel well prepared for this, but the report’s authors warn that infrastructure investments must be matched with “long-term investment in human resources” in order to see a return.

More widely, 84 per cent of respondents say that securing financing for research is a high priority for them, but only 49 per cent feel that their institutions are well prepared for this. Sixty-six per cent expect this challenge to grow over the next five years.

“There are lots and lots of things on university leaders’ and funders’ minds and there’s also relatively low preparedness to address those issues,” Dr Fowler said.

helen.packer@timeshighereducation.com