The Perceived Contribution of Early-Career Researchers to Research Production in Nordic Higher Education Systems

In the global race for academic prestige, early-career researchers (ECRs) play a pivotal role in countries’ research production. The objective of this paper is to analyse the perceived contribution of ECR to research production in Nordic higher education systems (HES). Based on 56 interviews with actors from different organisations in the Danish, Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish HES, the thematic analysis suggested the contribution of doctoral students and postdocs was essential, yet there was no convergence in actors’ perspective regarding the contribution of other contract researchers. The global theme “casualisation” linked organising themes and explained the underlying dynamics between ECRs and the research production process.