Gen Z researchers on work-life, scholarly communications and AI impact: a qualitative, aerial analysis

This is the second update on the international 'Harbingers' project: Gen Z researchers’ work-life and scholarly communications. Our previous update (Nicholas et al, 2026a) provided a broad and general account, especially in respect of new methodologies for analysing qualitative data. This update, whilst yet a preliminary data analysis, provides more detailed observations and contrasts with the findings of other researchers. Interestingly, researchers in their twenties ('Gen Z') — postdocs, PhD students and ECRs — show attitudes and practices, that appear to differ from their millennial colleagues. The current phase is an exploratory nine-month study that continues our international and multi-disciplinary approach, covering 8 countries: China, Malaysia, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Russia, UK and US, and the sciences, social sciences and humanities. Our conversational, open-ended interviews gather data on work-life balance, scholarly communications and AI (artificial intelligence). Overall, we have interviewed 101 Gen Z researchers. The interviews, over an hour long, featured 50 questions, the resulting transcripts, to which we add interviewer commentary and prompts, amount to over half-million words. The use of AI (primarily Claude.ai) has been a central tool in the production of this broad overview. Indeed, it has proved more than a tool, our own developing experience in using it has provided perspective and insights to understand how these junior researchers view AI.