The past year delivered challenges as well as opportunities to working scientists around the world [1]. Every week brought new developments: changes in funding (for better or worse), disruptions from a lingering pandemic, fresh warnings about inequity and toxicity in the workplace, and other reminders that careers in science remain dynamic and rewarding, but can also be daunting.
COVID-19 continued to shape science. Surveys of researchers conducted in the first few months of 2021 confirmed that the pandemic had hampered the productivity and strained the mental health of researchers [2] in the United States and the United Kingdom. The disruptions were especially harmful to female scientists [3], according to a report by the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. A separate survey broadened that to anyone with childcare duties [4]. Shortages of reagents, pipette tips and other supplies forced researchers to scramble and adapt [5]. More than 40% of those who responded to Nature’s global salary and job satisfaction survey in June and July reported that the pandemic had negatively affected their career prospect [6]s. Despite all the downsides, some researchers still saw a pandemic silver lining. The results of another Nature poll, published in March, found wide support for the continuation of virtual conferences [7].
Read the rest of this article on the Nature Careers Website – https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-03710-0 [8]