Non-tenure-track academic researchers in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) in the United States had mixed feelings about their positions, says a survey released this month by the Center for the Education of Women at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. Respondents liked the flexibility of their positions and their freedom from the tenure process. But they were concerned about job security, generating funding, isolation on campus, unequal treatment compared to tenure-track faculty and lack of transparency about their contracts, titles and career progression. The centre interviewed 343 researchers from 12 universities. More than a third of all respondents worked in STEM.