Nearly two-thirds of PhD students in chemistry in Germany have thought about abandoning their degrees, according to recent findings from the Young Chemists Network (JCF) of the German Chemical Society. Participants in a survey run by the JCF mentioned mental health challenges, insufficient supervision, and excessive workloads as the main factors for contemplating the end of their academic journey. 31% of those surveyed reported having faced abuse of power.
Conducted between December 2023 and March 2024, the JCF survey included responses from 722 PhD students working in various chemistry fields and at different stages of their doctoral studies.
61% of the participants indicated they had thought about discontinuing their PhD work. Among these students, 64% pointed to mental health issues and 44% to inadequate supervision as motivations for leaving their research programs. Other frequently mentioned reasons included failed experiments (41%), workload (37%), and unsatisfactory work environment (33%), while several respondents also highlighted a loss of interest in their project and financial problems.
The survey’s organizers emphasize that the findings reflect globally recognized trends across multiple disciplines, particularly the well-known mental health crisis in graduate education and the connection between supervisory relationships and the mental health of students.
Data from the JCF survey indicated that regular interactions with supervisors, constructive feedback, and respectful communication are all significantly associated with higher satisfaction levels among PhD candidates. Students with an engaged second supervisor reported marginally higher satisfaction with their supervisory experience.
Consequently, the survey organizers advise that supervisors should hold regular, goal-focused meetings with their students, and that institutions should implement mandatory leadership and management training for novice supervisors. They also suggest that having a second supervisor, preferably from a different research group, should be obligatory.
Abuse of power
One of the most notable findings from the survey is that 41% of participants reported conflicts with their supervisors, primarily related to work environment and workload. 80% of those surveyed indicated they worked more than 40 hours a week, while about one in six reported working over 50 hours weekly.
31% of respondents acknowledged experiencing abuse of power from their supervisor. Among these instances, the most prevalent abuses included pressure to work outside standard hours (54%), coercion into exceeding legal limits (54%), and public humiliation by a supervisor (42%).
A quarter of the participants said they had either experienced or witnessed discrimination in the workplace, with about two-thirds of these cases linked to gender and roughly one-fifth pertaining to nationality or ethnicity.
Highlighting the ‘alarmingly common’ occurrences of problematic behaviors and power dynamics within research groups, the survey organizers assert that institutions must create independent, confidential reporting systems for students and ensure that trained personnel are available for support and guidance. They also call for mandatory training on diversity and respectful behavior, with visible endorsement from department leadership. Another recommendation is for institutions to establish policies that promote a healthy work-life balance to safeguard the well-being of researchers and avert burnout.