by Gamze Nur
Since my dear teacher asked me to share my experience and knowledge with you on this subject, I have been trying to analyze my feelings and thoughts which are very complicated; because I’m actually in the place where I dreamed of being after getting the bachelor’s degree, on the other hand, it involves more complex processes than it seemed to me. I think that I should begin with the prerequisites of admission for this position; the related positions are no longer announced by the Council of Higher Education (YÖK), but now are announced by ‘the state personnel presidency’ by promulgating the announcements published by the official journal. The contents of this announcement contain the necessary prerequisites and documents. This is the same procedure for both the foundation and state universities. After completion of the applications, ten candidates for each position is entitled to take the exam, those who qualify for the exam are determined by adding a certain percentage of ALES, YDS or equivalent exams and of the grade point average (GPA). At the last stage, the final score is determined by adding a certain percentage of the exam score and you learn whether you are accepted or not. Some institutions include interviews to learn more about the candidates, and I am not sure whether these interviews affect exam scores or not, the legal procedure requires not to be affected by the interviews but we cannot be sure of that.
You’ve gone through all these long and challenging stages, and you’re a research assistant at the faculty, and then? The job description of the research assistants is defined in Article 33 of Law No. 2547 of the constitution, and this statement in the constitution that ‘… carries out other related duties given by the competent authorities’ blurs the job description of the research assistants. In other words, it is not so possible to reject the incoming works by indicating that work is beyond your responsibility since it has no legal basis. In this case, the responsibilities of the research assistants are left to the initiative of institutions and individuals in the upper units of the universities such as the head of the department, dean or the assisted faculty member. The responsibilities given to the research assistants are different in each institution and even in each department. Within the framework of my own experience, I can summarize the responsibilities of a research assistant at the foundation university as follows (these responsibilities may vary according to the different faculties or even departments as I stated before); to assist some courses related to my field, to prepare course schedules and exam programs each term, to supervise exams, to provide support to the related practical courses, to manage the relevant coordinatorships (Erasmus, minor and double-major transfers, etc.), to organize various activities within the faculty or department and to carry out the processes (important days such as teachers’ day, related workshops or seminars), to be responsible for the advertisement of the university especially during the university preference periods in summer due to being a foundation (practically private) university, to be involved in the related processes of the academic publication or the refereed journal of the faculty if there is any, or conducting a wide range of other academic, administrative or technical tasks (e.g., editing of course contents as frequently modified by YÖK, translating them into English and uploading them into the online system). In this sense, being a research assistant also means involving in a variety of basic or mostly complex processes, as well as in all other academic levels; and perhaps the uncertainty of the job definition maybe leading this complexity one step further. In addition to all these administrative and technical tasks, our main task actually is to develop ourselves academically and intellectually, to make researches as scientists of the future, to improve the ability to share our knowledge and experiences effectively through the courses we involve, but also to be individuals who are involved in social service practices; however, these requirements can sometimes stay in the background because of the intensity of other tasks. Within this workload and intensity, you need to use your spare time after work and the holidays in order to improve yourself academically and at the same time increase your performance score, that you will meet as a prerequisite in many stages, by conducting research and publishing related articles. While academy is already an area of continuous self-sacrifice* you are expected to spare every moment of your day at which you do not have to sleep. This section, I believe, points out to one of the most controversial issues, and I believe that a research assistant who has chosen conducting research and producing scientific knowledge as a profession can perform those tasks only outside working hours, which is one of the most intriguing aspects of the work. The moment you accepted and stepped into the profession hosts a secret deal that you need to shape your whole life accordingly. This secret deal has been made between you and the academicians you will work with, institutions and perhaps all other academic communities. In the book I mention below, the subject is explained in more detail, the obligations that are fulfilled by continuous sacrifice without expecting much financial return put academics on a quasi-sacredness, which restrict your areas of inquiry and change.
Going back to more technical issues, we can say that being a research assistant at a foundation university may be disadvantaged than being in a state university in terms of employee personal rights (of course there are some exceptions). At the same time, your contract depends on the labor law, so you are entitled as a ‘worker’ compared to a research assistant working in the state university entitled as a civil servant; that leads to some differences; for example, a worker’s right to leave is more limited than a civil servant. Moreover, your contracts are renewed annually, the 33a positions that were formerly assured of job security are no longer available and in the 50d position, you are left with to the conscience of the institution. On the other hand, in matters of financial matters, the private institution itself decides, that is; you may be charged half or maybe twice as much as any other person who does the same work with you.
Overall, to be involved in the process of producing scientific knowledge, to work with university students and to have a continuous development orientation is a great source of happiness for myself. On the other hand, it feels like this state of happiness is sometimes abused; thus, in order to achieve this happiness making many sacrifices may lead people to burnout after a certain period of time if no measures are taken. To sum it up, I’ve had my dream, and after two years being a research assistant is still very exciting for me so I really recommend this profession for the ones who are really passionate for it. Furthermore, I believe that there should be a change in the way the academy perceives research assistantship and this change can be achieved when the individuals who agree with me and ready to take actions step into this profession. Good luck.
*You can access more detailed information on this subject in the book ‘Ne ders olsa veririz: Akademisyenin Vasıfsız İşçiye Dönüşümü’ written by Aslı Vatansever and Meral Gezici Yalçın.
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