Table of Contents

• Acknowledgements
  • SURPAS Long Range Planning Committee Members (2020-23)
  • Contributors
  • Land Acknowledgement
    
• EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
• Contents
• Purpose, Mission, & Process for SURPAS Long Range Planning
• Postdoc at Stanford Background
  • Defining a “Postdoc”
  • Postdoc Demographics at Stanford
• Opportunities for Early Career Researchers: Competitive Landscape for Postdocs
  • Introduction
    
  • Postdocs in the US
    • Changing Workforce Demographics
      
    • Higher Education Does Not Mean Higher Pay
      
    • Advanced Training for Limited Academic Roles
  • Postdocs at Stanford
    • Prestige Does Not Prevent Poverty
      
    • The Reality of Postdoc Financial Challenges
      
    • Representation and Advocacy on Campus
      
  • Conclusion
    
• A Quarter Century of Postdoc Advocacy at Stanford: Review of Previous Work
  • Overview
    
  • Theme 1: Mentoring
    
  • Theme 2: Affordability
    
  • Theme 3: Status
    
  • Theme 4: Justice, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Belonging
    
  • Theme 5: Implementation & Outreach
• Conversations with Postdocs at Stanford: Focus Groups 2021
  • Overview
    
  • Meta-Analysis of Focus Group Conversations
    
  • Postdoc Salaries Are Insufficient For Extremely High Cost of Living
    
  • Postdoc Parents Face Very High Costs and Low Access to Childcare
    
  • Strong Research Environment and Vibrant Postdoc Community at Stanford
    
  • Instability of Postdoc Position Prevents Longer-Term Life Planning
    
  • Effective Formal Postdoc Structure Is Lacking
    
  • US Funding Systems Difficult to Navigate, Especially for International Postdocs
    
  • Ambiguous Status of Postdocs on Campus Leads to Feelings of Exclusion
  • Much More Effort is Required on Justice, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Belonging
  • Existing Academic Incentive Structures are Poorly Designed & Unclear
  • Postdocs are Not Always Aware of the Resources that are Available to Them
    
• Ongoing Postdoc Advocacy at Stanford: Surveys & Letters 2021/2022
  • Matters Arising from Report Draft (2023)
    • Meta-Analysis of Feedback on Report Draft
      
    • Postdocs are Valuable to the University & Research Enterprise
    • Where are the Numbers to Back This Up?
      
    • What is the Specific Salary Ask of the Report?
      
    • Should There be a Time Limit for the Postdoc Period?
      
    • How to Best Define a Postdoc?
    • Existing Demographic Data are Inadequate
      
    • The Question of Postdoc Unionization
      
    • Covering Basic Needs
      
  • SURPAS Leadership Position Paper on Support for the Underrepresented Postdoc Community (2022)
    • Open Letter
      
    • Background information
      
  • Stanford Latinx Postdoc Association Survey (Fall 2022)
    • Summary of Major Findings
    • Open Letter
      
  • Stanford Chinese Postdoc Association Housing Costs Letter (2022)
    
  • SURPAS Benefits and Affordability Survey (Winter 2021/22)
    • Demographics
      
    • Summary of Results
      
    • Recommendations
      
  • SURPAS Family Committee Letter (2020/21))
    • Letter
      
    • Testimonials
      
• RECOMMENDATIONS
  • Overview
    
  • Costs: Overall
    
  • Costs: Food Insecurity
    
  • Costs: Housing
    
  • Costs: Transition to Postdoc
    
  • Costs: Childcare
    
  • Costs: Healthcare for Dependents
    
  • Justice, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Belonging
    
  • Mentorship & Formal Structure
    
  • Building Community
    
  • Postdoc Visibility
    
  • Postdoc Status
    
  • Insecurity: Job
    
  • Insecurity: Immigration
    
  • Career Tracking & Job Seeking
    
  • Incentives in Academia
    
  • Orientation & Onboarding
  • Personal Health & Safety
  • Language in Communication
• Conclusions
• Bibliography
• Appendices
  • Appendix A: SURPAS (Stanford Postdoc Association) By-Laws
  • Appendix B: How to Run a Long Range Planning Focus Group
  • Appendix C: Communication Strategy of Report
  • Appendix D: Data Tables