Unspoken biases still plague review panels, says research head

Need to reach “certain stage” on career timeline remains central in assessments, conference hears

Unspoken biases continue to hamper the effectiveness and fairness of career assessment in academia, participants in a forum on research culture heard last week.

While research managers have been vocal about the need to support diversity among researchers and develop more holistic methods of evaluating them for promotions and funding, institutions and funders are not yet matching this rhetoric, according to Ulrike Felt, head of the department of science technology studies at the University of Vienna.