MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences UnitMost members of the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit (CBU) have faced barriers in continuing their work during the CV-19 pandemic. In some cases, these barriers have been substantial: inability to conduct most normal work activities due to the lock-down, limited time to work due to caring responsibilities, or living situations that preclude working from home. We have put together a document that provides a small number of example scenarios to suggest some ways of discussing the impact of CV-19 on your work when you apply for jobs and promotions (etc.). We welcome additions to this list (email camilla.nord at mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk with the format “example situation” and “example text for CV or statement”).
Do I need to include a statement about the effect of CV-19 on my career?
Not necessarily. Consider the following scenarios carefully and think about whether CV-19 has had a noticeable impact on your career which you think merits an explanatory note in the context of whatever you are applying for. If need be, consult with colleagues or mentors. It may be that for certain applications, you do not feel the need to excuse a change in work due to CV-19, but for others (perhaps further in the future when a gap in productivity or the time-line of your research is evident), an explanation is helpful.
Whether or not you believe your work suffered, it may have changed considerably as a result of CV-19 (examples below include moving teaching modules online or virtual team-management, but there are many others.). You may find this general information is actually helpful to include for a particular application, if you think it is relevant.
Of note, funding bodies like Wellcome are actively encouraging people to discuss what they’ve had to cope with on funding applications1. Wellcome have introduced a space on their application forms to specifically mention the impacts of COVID-19 on their progress. At the Unit, if relevant, you could consider including a statement like this on your annual appraisal, promotion application, or application for grant or fellowship funding.
Why is this issue relevant for equality and diversity?
Long-term effects of the pandemic are still uncertain, but initial evidence certainly indicates there are disproportionate effects of the pandemic on under-represented groups, which includes people from financially disadvantaged backgrounds, women, people from minority ethnic backgrounds, and people with physical and mental health conditions. In addition, early-career academics are emerging as a group that may be particularly affected by the pandemic. See example articles below (A few perspectives on the unequal effects of COVID-19).
1 https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02183-x
Example scenarios and possible ways of addressing
Example scenario: any situation that reduced your working hours
First, calculate your rough % FTE during the pandemic. E.g., if you are normally contracted to work 36.5 hours per week, but during the pandemic you have only been able to work one day per week, you have been working at 20% FTE. If this changed at some point (3 months at 20%, one month at 10%), be explicit.
Example text for CV/statement in job application or promotion form (you do not have to explain why – for ways to do this if you want to, see additional examples):
*NB: From March 2020 – [fill in relevant end-date], I worked the equivalent of 10% FTE [calculate your equivalent amount] from [start date] to [end date].
Example scenario: Early-career researcher running a study that has not yet resulted in publications because of CV-19 delays
Example text for CV/statement in job application or promotion form:
*NB: From March 2020 – [fill in relevant end-date], data collection for this study was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This resulted in later-than-anticipated study follow-up and closure, with concomitant delays in the [x number of] publications expected to result from this project.
And/or
From 2019-2021, I was the lead researcher for STUDYONE, a longitudinal cohort study with multimodal assessments (neuroimaging; behavioural; clinical symptoms). Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I was responsible for rapidly moving assessments online and restructuring our follow-up data collection sessions via extensive coordination with participants. Although these exceptional circumstances delayed study output, this demonstrates my ability to flexibly restructure complex experiments in circumstances of extreme uncertainty.
Example scenario: Staff member with managerial responsibilities who has been responsible for moving team workloads online
Example text for CV/statement in job application or promotion form:
During the CV-19 pandemic [specific dates], I undertook responsibility for those I managed to proactively and deliberately ensure the preferred level of contact on the preferred communication channel was observed in all my correspondence. I led the adaptation of my team’s work deliverables to a variety of different platforms to maintain work momentum. Additionally, this undertaking to observe and be seen to support the agreed team protocols helped prevent social exclusion within the lab group and boosted team cohesion by strengthening trust.
Example scenario: Student or staff member with caring responsibilities who has been unable to work their expected hours
Example text for CV/statement in job application or promotion form:
*NB: From March 2020 – [fill in relevant end-date], I worked the equivalent of 10% FTE [calculate your equivalent amount] from [start of additional caring responsibilities] to [end of additional caring responsibilities – amend for relevant changes].
Example scenario: Member with teaching responsibilities responsible for moving to an online format
Example text for CV/statement in job application or promotion form:
In [dates], I rewrote all teaching materials for online delivery, including a hybrid discussion-lecture model in lieu of the traditional lecture format. This substantial undertaking also involved additional responsibilities for online teaching administration, including decisions about online exam formats and marking, and support for students with exceptional needs during the pandemic.
Example scenario: Member with severe technological or other impediments to home work
*NB: From March 2020 – [fill in relevant end-date], work on these studies was severely restricted due to home working/severe technological impediments during the global pandemic.
Example scenario: Member with physical or mental health condition causing work delays
*NB: From March 2020 – [fill in relevant end-date, if applicable], work on these studies was severely restricted due to ill health. [If applicable: I resumed full-time work from [relevant date]].
Example scenario: Member with close bereavement due to CV-19
*NB: From [fill in relevant start-date], I experienced a close bereavement due to CV-19, causing a severe restriction in hours worked and concomitant delay in study output. I resumed full-time work from [relevant date].
Additional advice for line managers
A number of people suggested we include guidance for line managers, who have faced the additional challenge of supporting their employees during the pandemic. There are a number of resources online about this, so here is a brief summary of their suggestions:
- Encourage line managers to take care of their own mental health. Often managers feel responsible for the wellbeing of those they are line managing, but this can sometimes be to the detriment of their own mental wellbeing.
- Line managers are also encouraged to maintain connection with those they line manage regularly, but avoid excessive Zooms by sending a text-based ‘one word check-in’ or other alternative strategies for communication
- Manage flexibly, taking into account the individual needs of the people you manage: some may need to meet more or less regularly than others; some may need more concrete deadlines than others; and so on.
- Equally, for a multitude of reasons, some may feel more comfortable returning to work during the pandemic than others. Engage in open and regular communication about this to stay alert of any potential issues that may arise.
- Have regular check-in conversations about updating relevant risk assessments, caring responsibility, mental health, and all employees/students’ ability to carry on working
- Keep alert to any logistical issues faced by the people you manage. Does everyone have access to necessary computing facilities? Are there any extra resources people might require from your institution that they might be able to access with your help? Ensure everyone knows they have the support of a more senior ‘voice’ should they require additional resources from the institution.
A few perspectives on the unequal repercussions of COVID-19
Nature careers article on ‘how the pandemic threatens to make UK universities less diverse,’ and what institutions can do to staunch these effects. Reports on a June letter to Nature Ecology and Evolution arguing that job losses form the pandemic will disproportionately affect researchers from under-represented groups, including women, people from minority ethnic backgrounds and those who are financially disadvantaged:
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02288-3
Science commentary on ‘How early-career scientists are coping with COVID-19 challenges and fears’, including quotes from scientists about their experience and how they have tried to mitigate the effects on their careers:
Nature Reviews Cancer commentary on the effect of the pandemic on early-career cancer researchers (also relevant for non-cancer researchers), which discusses the additional effects of caring responsibilities, disproportionately carried by ECIs (particularly women), and the set of challenges faced by investigators who are from minority groups which may be amplified. Moreover, clinical trainees, with in-demand skillsets, are necessarily being pulled from protected research time to provide clinical care to patients with COVID-19. Also proposes some initiatives to help mitigate the effects:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41568-020-0279-5
Nature careers article on ‘The career cost of COVID-19 to female researchers, and how science should respond’. Discusses the potential for inequality in scientific publishing output (suggesting female researchers, particularly those at early-career stages, are the hardest hit). Journal editors, funders, and academic leaders comment on how to mitigate the threat for female researchers specifically.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02183-x
PNAS comment on the gendered impacts of COVID-19 on academic faculty/PIs, which they argue are exacerbated by salary inequalities for women, and in particular women faculty of colour. Discusses ‘ways in which COVID-19 is amplifying known barriers to women’s career advancement’, and proposing actionable solutions, which include the formation of a Pandemic Response Faculty Fellow or Pandemic Faculty Merit Committee (PFMC) https://www.pnas.org/content/117/27/15378 (most
