There’s an increasing focus on equity in the scientific community, especially in terms of gender, ethnicity and cultural background. But while the obstacles faced by first-generation students – those whose parents didn’t go to university – are frequently highlighted, there’s still a blind spot when it comes to first-generation academics, says The Young Academy.

In the report, titled First but not least, fifteen of these researchers are featured. They include lecturers and professors from twelve different institutions.

TU/e Professor of Chemical Biology Luc Brunsveld is one of the fifteen academics featured in the report. Although he is a first-generation scientist himself, he never really gave it much thought. “The only thing is that my background has shaped who I am. It's not so much that my parents didn’t go to university, but rather that I’ve always had to work hard.”

Imposters

The first-generation researchers say they often feel insecure. They see themselves as imposters: despite their achievements, they don’t think they actually belong in academia.

Meanwhile, some of them also feel alienated from the world they grew up in. One interviewee described moving between these two worlds as “standing on two ice floes threatening to drift apart”.

Discrimination

The low likelihood of finding a permanent position is also deterring first-generation students from choosing a career in academia. “I wouldn’t recommend it to my own child”, said one of the respondents.

Some interviewees experienced discrimination – they received nasty comments about their background and people were quick to doubt their talents. For many of them, this started as early as primary school, when their abilities were underestimated.

Driven

But the respondents also see their background as a strength. “Maybe first-generation researchers are at an advantage in terms of perseverance”, one of them said. “When you’ve always had to do everything under your own steam, you’re used to just going for it and doing things yourself.” “I don’t want to play the victim”, another said, “because I think I also draw strength from it.”

Several of them also received valuable support from a mentor who helped them navigate the unfamiliar – and sometimes unfriendly – world of academia. The Young Academy believes that a good mentoring programme could also help others.

Planting seeds

There are no easy solutions, but The Young Academy has other suggestions for improvement. For example, it wants the unwritten rules of academia to be made explicit, as first-generation academics are often less familiar with these codes.

It also argues that recruitment efforts for committees and boards should “not only consider gender and migration background, but also less visible forms of diversity, including first-generation status”.