NC State Education Professor and Alumna Win AERA Award for The Postdoc Landscape: The Invisible Scholars

Dr. Audrey Jaeger, Alumni Distinguished Graduate Professor at the NC State College of Education, has received the 2019 American Educational Research Association (AERA) Outstanding Publication Award in the Special Interest Group for graduate and postdoctoral education across disciplines for The Postdoc Landscape: The Invisible Scholars, a book she co-wrote with Alessandra Dinin ’17PHD.

This biannual award recognizes a publication for its work in revising the knowledge and understanding of problems in the study of graduate education.

Inspired by the experience of postdoctoral researchers and wanting to improve working conditions for them, Jaeger and Dinin offer examples, solutions and strategies for addressing the needs of postdoctoral scholars in terms of their presence in government, industry and the academy in the publication.

“Nearly half of Ph.D. recipients go on to serve as postdocs and concerns about their training continue to grow, including a lack of career development, low compensation and minimal benefits, inconsistent policies and terms of service, and limited mentoring,” Jaeger said. “Through our work on postdoctoral scholar agency, we learned that highlighting the role of the postdoc was necessary.”

Jaeger and Dinin will receive the award on Sunday, April 7, during the AERA national conference in Toronto, Canada.

“To be honored with the Outstanding Publication Award from our peers, who know the field and research best, is humbling,” Jaeger said.