Poor career prospects harm research in EU candidate countries

Citation

(2003), "Poor career prospects harm research in EU candidate countries", Career Development International, Vol. 8 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/cdi.2003.13708eab.003

Poor career prospects harm research in EU candidate countries

Poor career prospects harm research in EU candidate countries

The candidate countries for EU entry are more optimistic than the existing EU member states about the power and benefit of science, but are abandoning their research because of poor career prospects, says a Eurobarometer survey by the European Commission.

The survey asked sample questions of 12,247 people from the 13 candidate countries – Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Turkey.

The study shows that science has a good image in these countries, and that citizens believe it will help to cure illnesses such as cancer and Aids. At the same time, about 56 per cent of those questioned said they were neither interested in, nor informed about, science and technology. The highest degree of interest was found in Cyprus (58 per cent), Hungary (53 per cent), Malta (50 per cent) and Slovenia (50 per cent). The least interest was shown in Bulgaria (34 per cent) and Turkey (22 per cent). Romania scored an average 35 per cent.

Participants attributed the lack of interest among young people in the candidate countries to poor employment prospects. In general, however, EU enlargement is seen to promote the scientific potential of both the candidate and member states.

Philippe Busquin, European commissioner responsible for research, said: "The time is ripe for greater investment in research in the candidate countries as part of the enlarged EU. We must ensure that we invest now in our scientific legacy for future European generations."