People working in technical roles make enormous contributions to research and innovation, yet their work is less often in the limelight. With initiatives in place to change this, we ask the question: ‘who are our technicians?’
Thanks to a long-overdue culture shift, spurred by initiatives such as the Technician Commitment, people working in technical roles within research and higher education organisations increasingly expect their contributions to be properly acknowledged.
Whether they are included as authors on research papers or able to access more transparent career development pathways, technicians are increasingly getting the visibility, rewards, and progression opportunities they have always deserved.
Progress is being made but the work is far from done. More organisations need to adopt and implement plans to support their technical staff and further initiatives are needed to showcase these roles to people considering their future studies and careers.
To provide effective and sustainable support, however, we need people in technical roles to recognise themselves as technicians.
Just as science and technology have advanced, so too the roles and technical expertise have broadened to enable research and innovation.
“Technical professionals might include data scientists, data engineers, informaticians, statisticians, software developers, staff who operate or manage core facilities, and those essential people who support the delivery of a range of other organisational functions,” explains Fiona Fraser, Senior Research Assistant and the Earlham Institute’s Technician Commitment lead.
“Given the very wide range of roles that wholly or partly rely on technical skills and expertise, there are inevitably some people who don’t realise they are covered by initiatives such as the Technician Commitment.”
The Technician Commitment, which was first launched in May 2017, is an institutional pledge to work towards addressing challenges that particularly affect the community of people working in technical roles within research environments.
Signatories develop robust action plans, created in partnership with those working in technical roles, to ensure greater visibility, recognition, and career development opportunities.
“It’s the co-creation that makes this question of how you define a technician so important,” says Dr Siobhán Dorai-Raj, Inclusion, Diversity, Equality and Accessibility Manager at the Earlham Institute.
“We need the input of people working in a diverse range of roles to make sure our action plan meets the needs of all technicians at the Institute. If we only involve wet lab scientists we’ll likely fail to meaningfully support other colleagues who are just as deserving of recognition, career development opportunities, and day-to-day visibility.”
Given the very wide range of roles that wholly or partly rely on technical skills and expertise, there are inevitably some people who don’t realise they are covered by initiatives such as the Technician Commitment.
Fiona Fraser
While there is no universal definition, the term ‘technician’ is used at the Earlham Institute to describe those who aren’t PhD students, post-docs, or group leaders.
“We think around a third of the people employed at the Institute could be considered to work in technical roles,” says Fiona.
“Their job functions vary widely but the common thread here is that they could all benefit from the goals of the Technician Commitment.”
The Technician Commitment is a university and research institute initiative hosted by the UK Institute for Technical Skills and Strategy. The Earlham Institute became a signatory in November 2022.
“Becoming a signatory gave us an opportunity to reflect on how we treat and support everyone who works here, regardless of their role,” says Siobhán.
“Everyone deserves to be valued and recognised for their work, and have access to development opportunities.”
Becoming a signatory gave us an opportunity to reflect on how we treat and support everyone who works here, regardless of their role. Everyone deserves to be valued and recognised for their work, and have access to development opportunities.
Siobhán Dorai-Raj
The UKRI Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) recognises the need to support research technicians and technology and skills specialists (RTPs) in academia “to maximise their research effectiveness and individual potential”.
As part of the Research Councils UK statement of expectations for technology and skills specialists, the role of funders, employers, and the individuals themselves are all considered.
This approach is helping to ensure both the growth and long-term sustainability of technical roles in research.
Funders make a commitment to provide guidance on how RTPs can be supported through grant funding - whether that’s by fully costing their contributions or allowing them to be co-applicants.
There is also a movement to increase opportunities to take part in the peer review process, which has the corollary effect of knowing your own applications have been assessed by other RTPs.
Employers have the Technician Commitment or similar initiatives to provide a framework and action plan that increases visibility, recognition, career development opportunities, and sustainability of technical roles.
And RTPs, whatever their area of specialism, are given unequivocal encouragement to take part in every part of the research experience - from pursuing development opportunities or joining panels and working groups to presenting at seminars and taking part in public engagement.
“The change in culture has been transformative,” says Fiona. “And it’s a whole system approach that’s really going to make a long-term difference for the talent and diversity of technicians.”
