The survey was sent to 819 UKTMN members and 433 responses were received. Thirteen responses were received by non-members of UKTMN, possibly due to the survey link being forwarded by members; their data were not included in analyses and thus data is presented on 420 participants (figure 1).
Limited data is collected at the time of applying for UKTMN membership, however, some comparisons between UKTMN members’ characteristics and survey respondents could be made: characteristics of survey respondents reflect that of the overall UKTMN membership for geographical spread across the UK and job titles, though there were slightly more responses from respondents who identified as a Senior Trial Manager (93/420, 22.1%) compared to UKTMN membership (109/819, 13.3%) (Table 1).
Table 1 – characteristics of survey respondents
Characteristic
|
n=420 (%)
|
Overall UKTMN membership n=819 (%)
|
Gender
|
|
Female
Male
Prefer not to say
|
364 (86.7)
53 (12.6)
3 (0.7)
|
Data unavailable
|
Based in a UKCRC registered CTU
|
|
Yes
No
|
317 (75.5)
103 (24.5)
|
464 (56.7)
355 (43.3)
|
Location of CTU n=317
|
|
London
West Midlands
Scotland
Oxfordshire
Yorkshire and the Humber
North West
South West
East Midlands
South East
Wales
East of England
South Central
Northern Ireland
North East
|
49 (15.5)
44 (13.9)
38 (12)
35 (11)
29 (9.2)
29 (9.2)
22 (6.9)
17 (5.4)
15 (4.7)
14 (4.4)
14 (4.4)
7 (2.2)
3 (1.0)
1 (0.3)
|
145 (17.7)
87 (10.6)
86 (10.5)
129 (15.8)
66 (8.1)
66 (8.1)
73 (8.9)
41 (5.0)
34* (4.2)
28 (3.4)
42 (5.1)
34* (4.2)
6 (0.7)
16 (2.0)
|
Employment status
|
|
Full-time
Part-time
Missing
|
313 (74.7)
106 (25.3)
1 (0.2)
|
Data unavailable
|
Organisation type
|
|
University
NHS
Charity/Not for Profit
|
356 (84.8)
60 (14.3)
4 (0.1)
|
729 (89.0)
86 (10.5)
4 (0.5)
|
NHS Grade/pathway n=60
|
|
Administrative/clerical
Managerial
Clinical
Nursing/healthcare professional
Research
|
35 (58.3)
19 (31.7)
1 (1.7)
4 (6.7)
1 (1.7)
|
Data unavailable
|
Academic Grade/pathway n=356
|
|
Professional/Administrative/Managerial/Academic-related
Research
Not known
Academic/Academic-related (research)
|
267 (75.1)
67 (18.9)
20 (5.1)
2
|
Data unavailable
|
Length of time in a trial management role
|
|
<1 year
1-2 years
3-5 years
6-10 years
>10 years
|
32 (7.6)
66 (15.7)
126 (30)
89 (21.2)
107 (25.5)
|
Data unavailable
|
Funding for current position
|
|
Grant/research funding
Combination of core/grant funding
Core-funded
Don’t know
Institute-funding (based in a Charity)
No salary – honorary research fellow
|
278 (66.2)
77 (18.3)
41 (9.8)
22 (5.2)
1 (0.2)
1 (0.2)
|
Data unavailable
|
Highest educational qualification
|
|
PhD
Masters or other post-graduate qualification
Undergraduate degree
A levels or equivalent
GCSEs or equivalent
Vocational qualifications
None of the above
|
111 (26.4)
138 (32.9)
147 (35)
16 (3.8)
6 (1.4)
1 (0.2)
1 (0.2)
|
Data unavailable
|
Current job title
|
|
Trial manager
Senior trial manager/team lead
Trial coordinator
Trial administrator/assistant
Other
Project Manager
Operations Manager
Research Assistant/Associate/Fellow
Assistant/Associate Trial Manager
Senior Trial Coordinator
Senior Research Fellow/Associate
Programme Manager
Data Manager
Head of trial management
Assistant Professor of Clinical Trials
Compliance Manager
Research Facilitator
Senior Research Manager
Senior Research Midwife
TMF Manager
Trial Director
Trial Management Director
|
176 (41.9)
93 (22.1)
77 (18.3)
9 (2.1)
65 (15.5)
11
11
11
6
6
4
3
3
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
|
380 (46.4)
109 (13.3)
174 (21.2)
22 (2.7)
134 (16.4)
|
Current salary range (full time equivalent)
|
|
<£18,000
£18,000-£21,999
£22,000-£24,999
£25,000-£26,999
£27,000-£31,999
£32,000-£34,999
£35,000-£39,999
£40,000-£43,999
>£44,000
Prefer not to say
|
1 (0.2)
1 (0.2)
8 (1.9)
17 (4.1)
70 (16.7)
65 (15.5)
114 (27.1)
67 (16.0)
61 (14.5)
16 (3.8)
|
|
Ever experienced a promotion/progression to more senior role
|
|
Yes
No
|
224 (53.3)
196 (46.7)
|
Data unavailable
|
Reason for no experience of promotion/progression n=196
|
|
No career pathway in my organisation
Not in role long enough for this to be relevant
Never been given the opportunity
Not wanted to
|
66 (33.7)
62 (31.6)
50 (25.5)
18 (9.2)
|
Data unavailable
|
If promoted/progressed, how this happened n=224
|
|
Via application to new/vacant position outside your organisation
Via a promotional pathway in your organisation
|
159 (71)
65 (29)
|
Data unavailable
|
Importance of career development
|
|
Very important
Quite important
Not very important
Not important at all
|
276 (65.7)
125 (29.8)
18 (4.3)
1 (0.2)
|
Data unavailable
|
* South East and South Central are counted together at time of UKTMN membership and therefore cannot be reported separately in this table – they are shown twice for transparency.
There were also a higher number of responses from staff based in registered CTUs (317/420, 75.5%) compared with UKTMN membership (464/819, 56.7%). 356/420 (84.8%) of responders were based in Universities, with the remaining mainly based in the NHS, and almost all respondents were on a non-academic pay scale. Surprisingly, of individuals based in an academic-setting (i.e. University), only a quarter were on a research-type contract, with the majority being employed on a professional/administrative/managerial contract. Just under a third of participants had worked in a trial management role for between 3 and 5 years, with a further 20% with 6-10 years’ experience. 278/420 (66.2%) participants were funded via grant or research funding with 41/420 (9.8%) being core-funded and 77/420 (18.3%) funded by a combination of the two. Almost all participants (396/420, 94.3%) were educated to at least undergraduate degree level, with 111/420 (26.4%) having a PhD and 138/420 (32.9%) having a masters or other postgraduate qualification. 176/420 (41.9%) participants referred to themselves as a trial manager, with other participants having a wide range of job titles. Nearly one third (114/420) had a salary between £35,000 and £39,999. Just over half of participants (224/420) answered yes to the question “have you ever experienced a promotion/progression to a more senior role”. For the 196 participants who had never progressed, the main reason stated was “no career pathway in my organisation” (66/196, 33.7%) and 62/196 (31.6%) participants stated they had “not been in the role long enough for promotion to be relevant”. For the 66/196 respondents who had not progressed because there was no career pathway in their organisation, just under half (30/66, 45.5%) were based in a registered CTU. For participants who had progressed (224/420), 29% had done this via a promotional pathway in the organisation, with the remaining 71% doing this via an application to a new or vacant position outside of the organisation. 401/420 (95.4%) considered career development as either ‘very’ or ‘quite’ important.
Opportunities
From a list of twelve potential opportunities considered important to career development, participants were asked to rate each one between 0 and 10 (0 being not important, 10 being the most important) (Table 2).
Table 2: Professional development opportunities
Opportunities that are considered important – mean (SD)
|
All
|
Length of time in a trial management role
|
Salary scale
|
Previous promotion
|
Based in a registered CTU
|
Academic Grade/Pathway2
|
<1-5 y
|
6->10 y
|
<£35,000
|
>£35,000
|
Yes
|
No
|
Yes
|
No
|
Prof
|
Research
|
n=420
|
n=224
|
n=196
|
n=1621
|
n=2421
|
n=224
|
n=196
|
n=317
|
n=103
|
n=267
|
N=67
|
To attend relevant training courses
To help in the design of trials
To undertake qualifications applicable to trial mgmt
To contribute to academic writing and publication
To join committees/ groups related to trials
To assist with obtaining funding for trials
To work on more complex trials
To work in a variety of clinical areas
To contribute to methodological studies/SWATs
To present work at conferences
To work on trials outside the UK
to work on larger (sites and participants) trials
|
8.3 (1.8)
7.7 (2.4)
7.5 (2.6)
7.3 (2.7)
7.0 (2.9)
7.0 (2.5)
6.5 (2.6)
6.4 (2.7)
6.1 (3.0)
6.1 (3.0)
5.5 (3.2)
5.4 (2.9)
|
8.4 (1.8)
7.5 (2.5)
7.8 (2.5)
7.1 (2.7)
6.9 (2.5)
6.6 (2.9)
6.6 (2.5)
6.6 (2.5)
5.8 (2.9)
6.0 (2.9)
5.4 (3.3)
5.7 (2.7)
|
8.2 (1.9)
8.0 (2.2)
7.2 (2.7)
7.5 (2.6)
7.2 (2.4)
7.4 (2.8)
6.4 (2.8)
6.2 (2.8)
6.5 (3.0)
6.1 (3.1)
5.5 (3.2)
5.1 (3.0)
|
8.4 (1.8)
7.4 (2.6)
7.9 (2.5)
6.9 (2.8)
6.8 (2.6)
6.5 (2.8)
6.5 (2.5)
6.9 (2.4)
5.9 (3.0)
5.7 (3.1)
5.7 (3.3)
5.7 (2.8)
|
8.3 (1.8)
7.9 (2.2)
7.3 (2.5)
7.4 (2.6)
7.2 (2.3)
7.3 (2.8)
6.5 (2.5)
6.1 (2.8)
6.3 (3.0)
6.2 (2.9)
5.3 (3.2)
5.2 (3.0)
|
8.3 (1.9)
7.8 (2.3)
7.3 (2.8)
7.3 (2.7)
7.0 (2.5)
7.3 (2.7)
6.5 (2.8)
6.3 (2.7)
6.2 (3.0)
6.2 (2.9)
5.6 (3.2)
5.3 (3.0)
|
8.4 (1.8)
7.6 (2.4)
7.8 (2.4)
7.3 (2.7)
7.1 (2.4)
6.6 (3.0)
6.6 (2.5)
6.6 (2.6)
6.0 (3.0)
6.2 (2.9)
5.3 (3.3)
5.6 (2.8)
|
8.4 (1.8)
7.8 (2.3)
7.4 (2.7)
7.4 (2.6)
7.0 (2.4)
7.1 (2.8)
6.6 (2.6)
6.5 (2.7)
6.3 (2.9)
6.1 (3.0)
5.5 (3.2)
5.3 (2.9)
|
8.1 (1.9)
7.4 (2.6)
7.8 (2.3)
6.8 (2.9)
7.0 (2.6)
6.5 (3.0)
6.5 (2.7)
6.1 (2.6)
5.7 (3.0)
5.9 (3.0)
5.3 (3.4)
5.7 (3.0)
|
8.3 (1.9)
7.7 (2.4)
7.5 (2.7)
7.2 (2.7)
7.0 (2.5)
7.0 (2.9)
6.5 (2.8)
6.4 (2.7)
6.3 (3.0)
6.0 (3.0)
5.8 (3.2)
5.5 (2.9)
|
8.3 (1.8)
8.2 (1.9)
7.7 (2.2)
8.6 (1.7)
7.2 (2.1)
7.8 (2.4)
6.5 (2.3)
6.1 (2.9)
6.7 (2.7)
7.1 (2.8)
5.0 (3.3)
5.1 (2.7)
|
1 for salary scale, the 16 respondents who answered “prefer not to say” were not included in this analysis.
2 for Academic Grade/Pathway, only responses from respondents based in a University are included. Prof = “Professional/Administrative/Managerial/Academic-related”. Twenty respondents are not included since contract type was unknown.
The top three perceived most important opportunities were; 1) to attend relevant training courses (mean 8.3, SD 1.8), 2) to help in the design of trials (mean 7.7, SD 2.4) and to undertake relevant qualifications applicable to trial management (mean 7.5, SD 2.6). The most important opportunity, for almost all groups, irrespective of possible associations previously described, was “to attend relevant training courses”. The top three opportunities by the characteristics described above are shown in Table 3. Participants were also asked to state any other opportunities they considered important with respect to career development; there were 35 responses in total, many of which were covered by the list of opportunities given, though several responses stated they would like the opportunity to develop leadership and line management responsibilities.
Table 3: Top 3 perceived enablers of career development
|
Top three professional development opportunities
|
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
All respondents
|
Training
|
Trial design
|
Qualifications
|
Length of time in a trial management role
|
<1-5 years
|
Training
|
Qualifications
|
Trial design
|
6->10 years
|
Training
|
Trial design
|
Qualifications
|
Salary scale
|
<£35,000
|
Training
|
Qualifications
|
Trial design
|
>£35,000
|
Training
|
Trial design
|
Academic writing
|
Previously promoted
|
Yes
|
Training
|
Trial design
|
Qualifications, Academic writing, Assist with funding
|
No
|
Training
|
Qualifications
|
Trial design
|
Based in a registered Clinical Trials Unit
|
Yes
|
Training
|
Trial design
|
Qualifications, Academic writing
|
No
|
Training
|
Qualifications
|
Trial design
|
Academic Grade/Pathway
|
|
|
|
Professional
|
Training
|
Trial design
|
Qualifications
|
Research
|
Academic writing
|
Training
|
Trial design
|
Full wording for each opportunity as follows: “Training” – to attend relevant training courses; “Trial design” – to help in the design of trials; “Qualifications” – to undertake qualifications applicable to trial management; “Academic writing” – to contribute to academic writing and publications; “Assist with funding” – to assist with obtaining funding for trials.
Barriers
Participants were asked to select perceived barriers to career development from a list of nine, with the option of giving additional barriers not included in the list (Table 4). The top three perceived barriers were “funding” (256/420, 61%), “few opportunities to get involved in other activities aside from managing a clinical trial(s)” (249/420, 59.3%) and “unclear career pathway within the organisation” (247/420, 58.8%).
Table 4: Perceived barriers to professional development
Perceived barriers to career development
|
All responses
|
Length of time in a trial management role
|
Salary scale
|
Previous promotion
|
Based in a registered CTU
|
Academic Grade/Pathway2
|
<1-5 years
|
6->10 years
|
<£35,000
|
>£35,000
|
Yes
|
No
|
Yes
|
No
|
Prof
|
Research
|
n=420 (%)
|
n=224 (%)
|
n=196 (%)
|
n=1621 (%)
|
n=2421 (%)
|
n=224(%)
|
n=196 (%)
|
n=317
|
n=103
|
n=267
|
n=67
|
Funding
Few opportunities aside managing a trial(s)
Unclear career pathway in organisation
Recognition of role
Lack of time
Training
Geographical location
Size of organisation
No barriers perceived
|
256 (61.0)
249 (59.3)
247 (58.8)
237 (56.4)
223 (53.1)
155 (37.0)
63 (15)
54 (12.9)
10 (2.4)
|
132 (58.9)
123 (54.9)
122 (54.5)
106 (47.3)
114 (50.9)
94 (42.0)
31 (13.8)
32 (14.3)
6 (2.7)
|
124 (63.3)
126 (64.3)
125 (63.8)
131 (66.8)
109 (55.6)
61 (31.1)
32 (16.3)
22 (11.2)
4 (2.0)
|
103 (63.6)
98 (60.5)
84 (51.9)
84 (51.9)
84 (51.9)
82 (50.6)
22 (13.6)
25 (15.4)
3 (1.9)
|
141 (58.3)
141 (58.3)
151 (62.4)
142 (58.7)
129 (53.3)
66 (27.3)
37 (15.3)
28 (11.6)
6 (2.5)
|
136 (60.7)
138 (61.7)
124 (54.9)
135 (60.3)
136 (60.7)
77 (34.4)
36 (16.1)
25 (11.2)
4 (1.8)
|
120 (61.2)
111 (56.6)
124 (63.3)
102 (52.0)
87 (44.4)
78 (39.8)
27 (13.8)
29 (14.9)
6 (3.1)
|
186 (58.7)
192 (60.6)
170 (53.6)
178 (56.2)
178 (56.2)
113 (35.7)
45 (14.2)
37 (11.7)
7 (2.2)
|
70 (67.8)
57 (55.3)
77 (74.8)
59 (57.3)
45 (43.7)
42 (40.8)
18 (17.5)
17 (16.5)
3 (2.9)
|
163 (61.1)
161 (60.3)
154 (57.7)
156 (58.4)
142 (53.2)
99 (37.1)
42 (15.7)
27 (10.1)
8 (3.0)
|
35 (52.2)
39 (58.2)
36 (53.7)
36 (53.7)
39 (58.2)
20 (29.9)
5 (7.5)
12 (17.9)
1 (1.5)
|
1 for salary scale, the 16 respondents who answered “prefer not to say” were not included in this analysis.
2 for Academic Grade/Pathway, only responses from respondents based in a University are included. Prof = “Professional/Administrative/Managerial/Academic-related”. Twenty respondents are not included since contract type was unknown.
The top three barriers to career development, by the characteristics previously described, are shown in Table 5. Other barriers perceived, not included in the pre-populated list, included fixed-term contracts; line managers’ insistence on the need to focus on “delivery of trials”; an assumption by the academic community that academic qualifications are needed to progress, when experience is often just as valuable and the job title ‘trial manager’ can imply an administrative, rather than professional role to many.
Table 5 – Top 3 perceived barriers to career development
|
Top three perceived barriers to career development
|
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
All respondents
|
Funding
|
Few opportunities
|
Unclear career pathway
|
Length of time in a trial management role
|
|
|
|
<1-5 years
|
Funding
|
Few opportunities
|
Unclear career pathway
|
6->10 years
|
Recognition
|
Few opportunities
|
Unclear career pathway
|
Salary scale
|
|
|
|
<£35,000
|
Funding
|
Few opportunities
|
Unclear career pathway, recognition, lack of time
|
>£35,000
|
Unclear career pathway
|
Recognition
|
Funding, few opportunities
|
Previously promoted
|
|
|
|
Yes
|
Few opportunities
|
Funding, lack of time
|
Recognition
|
No
|
Unclear career pathway
|
Funding
|
Few opportunities
|
Based in a registered Clinical Trials Unit
|
|
|
|
Yes
|
Few opportunities
|
Funding
|
Recognition, lack of time
|
No
|
Unclear career pathway
|
Funding
|
Recognition
|
Academic Grade/Pathway
|
|
|
|
Professional
|
Funding
|
Few opportunities
|
Recognition
|
Research
|
Few opportunities, lack of time
|
Recognition, unclear career pathway
|
Funding
|
Full wording for each barrier as follows: “Funding” – funding; “Few opportunities” – few opportunities aside managing a trial(s); “unclear career pathway” - unclear career pathway in organisation; “recognition” – recognition of role; “lack of time” – lack of time.
Participants were asked to report how well supported they felt, with respect to professional development, by their line manager, department/unit (within the organisation) and the organisation itself. Nearly half of participants (194/420, 46.2%) felt “very well supported” by their line manager, though only a quarter (103/420, 24.5%) felt the same about their department/unit and less for their organisation (67/420, 16.0%).
115/420 (27.4%) participants provided free-text comments on other areas they felt related to career development for trial managers that hadn’t been covered by previous questions. The main themes identified from free-text responses were 1) lack of recognition, understanding and value of the role of trial manager, 2) fixed/short-term contracts and funding, 3) lack of training and clear career pathway 4) disparity between organisations and 5) lack of time and capacity to focus on career development. Comments reflected the quantitative data and are shown in Table 6.
Table 6 – Themes identified from free-text comments
Theme
|
Example quotes
|
Lack of recognition, understanding and value of the role of trial manager
|
“trial managers are seen as less important than academics in the university setting”
|
“I don’t think trial management is seen as a professional career in the academic community”
|
“there is a significant problem with recognising the contribution a trial manager makes to the team”
|
“I was once called a glorified administrator by an academic”
|
Fixed/short term contracts and funding
|
“Short term funding is the key barrier to career development”
|
“Although I work in a large registered CTU, I do not feel that the training is given to support the move to the next level within the unit”
|
Lack of training and clear career pathway
|
“there is no guidance out there about what training would be best for career progression”
|
“the role feels very much like a dead-end job with no official training or career pathway”
|
“I would like to be able to send the staff on more external development opportunities, but it is difficult to see where that funding would come from”
|
Disparity between organisations
|
“Having worked on trials in different organisations and worked with colleagues who have also worked on trials in other trials units I think there are discrepancies across the country in terms of grading of trial manager and senior trial manager positions”
|
“Huge disparity between organisations on how the role is treated and valued”
|
“Lack of consistency between units - the name of roles is not consistent”
|
Lack of time and capacity to focus on career development
|
“Your whole time is taken up with the demanding work of keeping your trial running”
|
“I think time and money are the biggest factors affecting career development”
|
“There is lack of funding to provide time to develop outside the immediate delivery of the trial”
|