The bench vs. the blackboard: learning to teach during graduate school

Many science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) graduate students travel through the academic career pipeline without ever learning how to teach effectively, an oversight that negatively affects the quality of undergraduate science education and cheats trainees of valuable professional development. This article argues that all STEM graduate students and postdoctoral fellows should undergo training in teaching to strengthen their resumes, polish their oral presentation skills, and improve STEM teaching at the undergraduate level. Though this may seem like a large undertaking, the author outlines a three-step process that allows busy scientists to fit pedagogical training into their research schedules in order to make a significant investment both in their academic career and in the continuing improvement of science education.     

Biomedical Science Ph.D. Career Interest Patterns by Race/Ethnicity and Gender

Increasing biomedical workforce diversity remains a persistent challenge. Recent reports have shown that biomedical sciences (BMS) graduate students become less interested in faculty careers as training progresses; however, it is unclear whether or how the career preferences of women and underrepresented minority (URM) scientists change in manners distinct from their better-represented peers. We report results from a survey of 1500 recent American BMS Ph.D. graduates (including 276 URMs) that examined career preferences over the course of their graduate training experiences. On average, scientists from all social backgrounds showed significantly decreased interest in faculty careers at research universities, and significantly increased interest in non-research careers at Ph.D. completion relative to entry. However, group differences emerged in overall levels of interest (at Ph.D. entry and completion), and the magnitude of change in interest in these careers. Multiple logistic regression showed that when controlling for career pathway interest at Ph.D. entry, first-author publication rate, faculty support, research self-efficacy, and graduate training experiences, differences in career pathway interest between social identity groups persisted. All groups were less likely than men from well-represented (WR) racial/ethnic backgrounds to report high interest in faculty careers at research-intensive universities (URM men: OR 0.60, 95% CI: 0.36–0.98, p = 0.04; WR women: OR: 0.64, 95% CI: 0.47–0.89, p = 0.008; URM women: OR: 0.46, 95% CI: 0.30–0.71, p<0.001), and URM women were more likely than all other groups to report high interest in non-research careers (OR: 1.93, 95% CI: 1.28–2.90, p = 0.002). The persistence of disparities in the career interests of Ph.D. recipients suggests that a supply-side (or “pipeline”) framing of biomedical workforce diversity challenges may limit the effectiveness of efforts to attract and retain the best and most diverse workforce. We propose incorporation of an ecological perspective of career development when considering strategies to enhance the biomedical workforce and professoriate through diversity.     

Guiding STEM graduate students to better speaking skills

Training to enhance the effectiveness of oral presentations is often neglected in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. In this article, we summarize our experience of teaching a semester-long class in speaking skills to STEM graduate students and advocate for the critical importance of these skills to professional success.     

We need to address ableism in science

In science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, disabled people remain a significantly underrepresented part of the workforce. Recent data suggests that about 20% of undergraduates in the United States have disabilities, but representation in STEM fields is consistently lower than in the general population. Of those earning STEM degrees, only about 10% of undergraduates, 6% of graduate students, and 2% of doctoral students identify as disabled. This suggests that STEM fields have difficulty recruiting and retaining disabled students, which ultimately hurts the field, because disabled scientists bring unique problem-solving perspectives and input. This essay briefly explores the ways in which ableism—prejudice against disabled people based on the assumption that they are “less than” their nondisabled peers—in research contributes to the exclusion of disabled scientists and suggests ways in which the scientific community can improve accessibility and promote the inclusion of disabled scientists in academic science.     

Scientists want more children

Scholars partly attribute the low number of women in academic science to the impact of the science career on family life. Yet, the picture of how men and women in science--at different points in the career trajectory--compare in their perceptions of this impact is incomplete. In particular, we know little about the perceptions and experiences of junior and senior scientists at top universities, institutions that have a disproportionate influence on science, science policy, and the next generation of scientists. Here we show that having fewer children than wished as a result of the science career affects the life satisfaction of science faculty and indirectly affects career satisfaction, and that young scientists (graduate students and postdoctoral fellows) who have had fewer children than wished are more likely to plan to exit science entirely. We also show that the impact of science on family life is not just a woman's problem; the effect on life satisfaction of having fewer children than desired is more pronounced for male than female faculty, with life satisfaction strongly related to career satisfaction. And, in contrast to other research, gender differences among graduate students and postdoctoral fellows disappear. Family factors impede talented young scientists of both sexes from persisting to research positions in academic science. In an era when the global competitiveness of US science is at risk, it is concerning that a significant proportion of men and women trained in the select few spots available at top US research universities are considering leaving science and that such desires to leave are related to the impact of the science career on family life. Results from our study may inform university family leave policies for science departments as well as mentoring programs in the sciences.     

Biotechnology apprenticeship for secondary-level students: teaching advanced cell culture techniques for research

The purpose of this article is to discuss small-group apprenticeships (SGAs) as a method to instruct cell culture techniques to high school participants. The study aimed to teach cell culture practices and to introduce advanced imaging techniques to solve various biomedical engineering problems. Participants designed and completed experiments using both flow cytometry and laser scanning cytometry during the 1-month summer apprenticeship. In addition to effectively and efficiently teaching cell biology laboratory techniques, this course design provided an opportunity for research training, career exploration, and mentoring. Students participated in active research projects, working with a skilled interdisciplinary team of researchers in a large research institution with access to state-of-the-art instrumentation. The instructors, composed of graduate students, laboratory managers, and principal investigators, worked well together to present a real and worthwhile research experience. The students enjoyed learning cell culture techniques while contributing to active research projects. The institution's researchers were equally enthusiastic to instruct and serve as mentors. In this article, we clarify and illuminate the value of small-group laboratory apprenticeships to the institution and the students by presenting the results and experiences of seven middle and high school participants and their instructors.     

Let's Make Gender Diversity in Data Science a Priority Right from the Start

The emergent field of data science is a critical driver for innovation in all sectors, a focus of tremendous workforce development, and an area of increasing importance within science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). In all of its aspects, data science has the potential to narrow the gender gap and set a new bar for inclusion. To evolve data science in a way that promotes gender diversity, we must address two challenges: (1) how to increase the number of women acquiring skills and working in data science and (2) how to evolve organizations and professional cultures to better retain and advance women in data science. Everyone can contribute.Every March we celebrate both International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month. These annual celebrations remind us that through our current individual and collective behavior, all stakeholders can influence how gender-diverse our future history is likely to be. This is especially important in data science, an emerging science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) field that is a critical driver for 21st century innovation.Data science focuses on the extraction of knowledge from data. It is a STEM discipline, but requires skills not yet widely taught in STEM disciplines: Skills in managing large datasets, novel analysis and inference approaches, rigorous statistical analysis, new ways to convey outcomes, and more. A recent McKinsey Report [1] indicates that the United States alone will need 1.5 million more data-savvy professionals and 140,000–190,000 more professionals with deep analytic skills by 2020. Helping to create and nurture a broad pool of individuals with data science skills is critical to addressing this growing need and will require intentional action.The emergent field of data science offers the opportunity to narrow the gender gap in STEM (in which only 13% of the engineering workforce and 25% of the computer and mathematical sciences workforce are women [2]) by making diversity a priority early on. In addition to this being the right thing to do, it is the smart thing to do: studies show that companies with employees characterized by diverse inherent traits (traits you were born with) and acquired traits (traits you gain from experience) are 45% more likely to report a growth in market share over the previous year, and 70% more likely to report capture of a new market [3]. Companies with diverse executive boards show higher returns on equity [4]. In short, diversity is a competitive asset in the private sector. In addition, increased diversity in STEM fields, including data science, is a national research and education priority [5].What better time, with increased focus on data science in the public sector, emerging educational curricula and focus within universities, and greater need within the private sector, to foster greater inclusivity and gender diversity? What can we do now to grow data science in a way that reflects the gender diversity and potential for innovation of the greater society?To evolve data science in a way that makes it a rewarding and sustainable career choice for women, we need to address two challenges: how can we increase the number of women acquiring skills and working in data science, and how can we evolve organizations and professional cultures to better retain and advance women in data science?     

Learning to lead

A successful research career requires not only an aptitude for science but also the mastering of other skills including communication, management, and grant writing. A growing number of programs at universities and research institutes aim to teach these crucial skills to graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and junior faculty.     

Graduate education and the role of the physical anthropologist in biomedical teaching and research

There is a place for the physical anthropologist in biomedical teaching and research because of the special and unique skills possessed by this individual. However, eventual success in the health sciences environment requires the student to obtain the knowledge and background for functionally oriented teaching and research. Students interested in a biomedical teaching and research career must prepare themselves methodologically and theoretically. This requires: (1) teaching qualifications, (2) an increased emphasis on methodology and technology, (3) an increased emphasis on research and experimental design, (4) appropriate interdisciplinary courses which provide the background for both teaching and research, (5) increased interaction with graduate faculty active in research, and (6) the latitude to adapt the graduate program to meet these specific needs. Students who finish their graduate training with a marketable skill, and who can apply their unique talents to a specialized area, will have broad appeal in the job market and will considerably strengthen their career opportunities.     

Use of a Grant Writing Class in Training PhD Students

A well‐written application for funding in support of basic biological or biomedical research or individual training fellowship requires that the author perform several functions well. They must (i) identify an important topic, (ii) provide a brief but persuasive introduction to highlight its significance, (iii) identify one or two key questions that if answered would impact the field, (iv) present a series of logical experiments and convince the reader that the approaches are feasible, doable within a certain period of time and have the potential to answer the questions posed, and (v) include citations that demonstrate both scholarship and an appropriate command of the relevant literature and techniques involved in the proposed research study. In addition, preparation of any compelling application requires formal scientific writing and editing skills that are invaluable in any career. These are also all key components in a doctoral dissertation and encompass many of the skills that we expect graduate students to master. Almost 20 years ago, we began a grant writing course as a mechanism to train students in these specific skills. Here, we describe the use of this course in training of our graduate students as well as our experiences and lessons learned.     

A call for transparency in tracking student and postdoc career outcomes

There is a common misconception that the United States is suffering from a “STEM shortage,” a dearth of graduates with scientific, technological, engineering, and mathematical backgrounds. In biomedical science, however, we are likely suffering from the opposite problem and could certainly better tailor training to actual career outcomes. At the Future of Research Symposium, various workshops identified this as a key issue in a pipeline traditionally geared toward academia. Proposals for reform all ultimately come up against the same problem: there is a shocking lack of data at institutional and national levels on the size, shape, and successful careers of participants in the research workforce. In this paper, we call for improved institutional reporting of the number of graduate students and postdocs and their training and career outcomes.We and our fellow postdocs across the Boston area (from institutions including Tufts, Harvard Medical School, MIT, Brandeis, and Boston University) organized the Future of Research Symposium (http://futureofresearch.org). In so doing, we sought to give young scientists in Boston a voice in discussions of fundamental challenges facing the research enterprise, such as hypercompetition, skewed incentives, and an unsustainable workforce model (Alberts et al., 2014 ). During the symposium, attendees (largely postdocs and graduate students) participated in workshops designed to identify the most pressing concerns for trainees and to solicit their thoughts on possible solutions. While the complete outcomes of those sessions are listed in our meeting report (McDowell et al., 2015 ) and the supporting data (McDowell et al., 2015 , Data set 1), the organizing committee identified three principles crucial to building a more sustainable scientific enterprise, among them transparency in collecting and sharing information on the research workforce.Our culture is affected by a deeply ingrained notion that there is a “STEM shortage”—a dearth of graduates with scientific, technological, engineering, and mathematical backgrounds— an assertion that has been repeated too many times to count (Teitelbaum, 2014 ). For example, the President''s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology called for an additional one million science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) trainees in 2012 (PCAST, 2012 ). Yet a recent report by the Center for Immigration Studies using U.S. census data is one of a chorus of recent publications asserting that STEM graduates are actually struggling to get relevant jobs (Camarota and Zeigler, 2014 ). For example, only 11% of those who hold a bachelor''s degree in science actually work in a science field (table 2 in Camarota and Zeigler, 2014 ). This rhetoric is also blatantly misleading for PhD holders in biomedical science and probably lulls students interested in this path into a false sense of job security. The number of graduate students has roughly doubled from 1990 to 2012 along with a comparable increase in the number of postdocs (figures 1 and 5 in National Institutes of Health [NIH], 2012 ). Yet there is little evidence to suggest that permanent research positions, whether in academia or industry, have increased concomitantly. The problem has been eloquently summed up by Henry Bourne, referring to the swelling postdoc pool (Bourne, 2013a ) that becomes a “holding tank” (Bourne, 2013b ) from which PhD holders find great difficulty transitioning into permanent positions. Tellingly, in the National Science Foundation''s (NSF) Science and Engineering Indicators 2014 report, the most rapidly growing reason cited for starting a postdoc is “other employment not available” (table 5-19 in National Science Board, 2014, p. 5-34 ). Recent efforts to make PhD programs broadly applicable outside academia (through the NIH BEST grants and other efforts) have bolstered the argument that a PhD in biomedical sciences is broadly applicable for many careers, but a culture still exists in academia that graduate students should be training only for academic tracks. While there may be some argument for maintaining current levels of graduate student numbers, on the condition that they receive training relevant to their own career goals, the benefits of a large postdoctoral workforce are still being called sharply into question.Despite this, many leading officials have yet to take a position on the issue of the size of the workforce. For example, Sally Rockey and Francis Collins have written that “there is no definitive evidence that PhD production exceeds current employment opportunities” (Rockey and Collins, 2013 ).Technically, this is correct, but only because there are no definitive data at all. Take, for example, a very basic metric: How many postdocs are there in the U.S. research system? This is clearly a statistic that the NIH should have on hand to make the bold assertion that PhD numbers do not exceed employment opportunities: after all, many PhDs simply transition into becoming postdoctoral researchers. Except, the NIH does not know how many postdocs there are. The Boston Globe recently reported that, “The National Institutes of Health estimates there are somewhere between 37,000 and 68,000 postdocs in the country,” a tolerance of 15,500 (Johnson, 2014 ). The NIH''s Biomedical Research Workforce Working Group Report gives no concrete numbers, and it qualifies data it does show with “the number of postdoctoral researchers … may be underestimated by as much as a factor of 2” (National Institutes of Health, 2012, p. 2 ) One estimate puts the number at a little more than 50,000 (National Research Council, 2011 ), while the NSF, using data from the Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering, estimates 63,000 postdocs, 44,000 of whom are in science and engineering (National Science Board, 2014 ). From data from Boston-area postdoctoral offices, we are certain the number of postdocs in the Boston area alone approaches 9000, and so we agree with the National Postdoctoral Association that all these estimates are too low and that the number of postdoctoral researchers in the United States is close to 90,000 (www.nationalpostdoc.org/policy-22/what-is-a-postdoc). But the fact that this number is up for debate at all speaks to a need for better accounting practices, especially since alarms have sounded at the pyramidal nature of the workforce for more than a decade (National Research Council, 1998 ; Kennedy et al., 2004 ).While data on the biomedical research workforce are still incomplete, anecdotal evidence suggests graduate students are finally becoming savvier about their professional futures. We conducted an informal poll of a dozen students from across the United States, asking them what they thought of the job market for PhDs at the time they accepted the offer to go to graduate school (Figure 1). Those who entered graduate school earlier reported not considering the job market before starting their PhD; by contrast, those who matriculated more recently reported low expectations, especially for academic careers. While our extremely small survey would suggest that some students are entering graduate school with no expectation of staying in academia whatsoever, their choices are by necessity based on hearsay rather than concrete information.Open in a separate windowFIGURE 1:Excerpted quotes from survey respondents. The question posed was “What did you think of the job market for PhDs at the time you accepted the offer to go to graduate school?” The year of matriculation is listed below each quote. Full responses are listed in Supplemental Table 1.Therefore we believe that graduate programs and postdoc offices have a moral imperative to inform students and fellows of what they are getting into. We call for increased efforts in collecting and sharing data on student and fellow demographics and career outcomes, such as by conducting thorough exit and alumni surveys. We also encourage our recently graduated peers to cooperate fully with such requests from our alma maters. In biomedical science, some institutions are leading the way on this front, with the University of California–San Francisco and Duke University''s Program in Cell and Molecular Biology posting some statistics online (UCSF Graduate Division, 2013 ; Duke University, 2015 ). We believe that there is an obligation for other institutions to follow their lead. In addition, we believe that a culture supporting transparency will ultimately strengthen the scientific enterprise.First, clear communication of career information may increase student and postdoc productivity down the road. While research shows that postdocs are able to accurately estimate their chances of attaining a faculty position (Sauermann, 2013 ), our experience suggests that many current graduate students do not gain this awareness until later in their careers. When rosy illusions are shattered only after an investment of many years, the ensuing disgruntlement can negatively impact trainees themselves, others in the lab, and even entire communities at particular institutions. Instead, making student outcomes more readily available is likely to select for students with realistic expectations of their training. Much like Orion Weiner''s finding that students with prior research experience subjectively perform better in graduate school, trainees who “know what they are getting into” may be more likely to display sustained motivation (Weiner, 2014 ).Second, disclosure of these data will act as a catalyst for change. Increased transparency of program outcomes will help hold institutions and programs accountable for the quality of training they provide. Also, increased awareness of the actual career paths chosen by trainees will encourage programs to offer training in skills apart from those required to conduct academic research. Increased instruction in writing, management, and leadership will benefit all trainees, including those who do stay in academic research.Students'' motivations for entering graduate school are already changing; academic institutions must now discard old rhetoric about the purpose of graduate school and confront this new landscape. It can no longer be acceptable to drive graduate programs purely toward academic career paths. While critics may worry that honesty could discourage some trainees from applying, it will also encourage those whose goals are better in line with their likely outcome. While the research enterprise is changing shape, students and postdocs deserve to enter it with their eyes open.     

Training the next generation of protein scientists

Carl Brändén made significant contributions in areas of protein X‐ray crystallography and science education. As the 2011 recipient of the Protein Society award honoring Carl's contributions, I had the opportunity to reflect on the undergraduate educational activities that have been practiced in my own laboratory over the past 24 years at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, an institution that emphasizes both research and undergraduate education. A system has been developed that attempts to minimize the tension that can exist between conflicting graduate research and undergraduate mentoring goals. The outcomes, as measured not only by subsequent activities of the participating undergraduates, but also by the activities of the graduate students and postdocs that worked with the undergraduates, indicate a general overall benefit for all participants, particularly for women and underrepresented minorities who are traditionally poorly retained in the sciences. Greater participation of undergraduates in research activities of active scientists who often focus primarily on graduate and postdoctoral training could have a positive impact on the leaky undergraduate science pipeline.     

Differences between African-American and Caucasian students on enrollment influences and barriers in kinesiology-based allied health education programs

Kinesiology departments have recently started to offer allied health education programs to attract additional students to teacher education units (9). Although allied health professions offer increased work opportunities, insufficient enrollment and training of minority students in these academic fields contribute to underrepresentation in the workforce (3). To improve workforce diversity, kinesiology departments must understand how enrollment influences and barriers differ by race among prospective students. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify differences in allied health education enrollment influences and enrollment barriers between minority and Caucasian students. Participants (n = 601) consisted of students enrolled in kinesiology-based allied health education programs. Multivariate ANOVA was used to compare group differences in enrollment decision making. "Personal influence," "career opportunity," and "physical self-efficacy" were all significantly stronger enrollment influences among African-American students than among Caucasian students, and "social influence," "experiential opportunity," "academic preparation," and "physical self-efficacy" were all perceived as significantly greater barriers compared with Caucasian students. Findings support the need to recruit African-American students through sport and physical education settings and to market program-based experiential opportunities.     

Will They Stay or Will They Go? International Graduate Students and Their Decisions to Stay or Leave the U.S. upon Graduation

The U.S. currently enjoys a position among the world’s foremost innovative and scientifically advanced economies but the emergence of new economic powerhouses like China and India threatens to disrupt the global distribution of innovation and economic competitiveness. Among U.S. policy makers, the promotion of advanced education, particularly in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) fields, has become a key strategy for ensuring the U.S.’s position as an innovative economic leader. Since approximately one third of science and engineering post-graduate students in the U.S. are foreign born, the future of the U.S. STEM educational system is intimately tied to issues of global competitiveness and American immigration policy. This study utilizes a combination of national education data, a survey of foreign-born STEM graduate students, and in-depth interviews of a sub-set of those students to explain how a combination of scientists’ and engineers’ educational decisions, as well as their experience in school, can predict a students’ career path and geographical location, which can affect the long-term innovation environment in their home and destination country. This study highlights the fact that the increasing global competitiveness in STEM education and the complex, restrictive nature of U.S. immigration policies are contributing to an environment where the American STEM system may no longer be able to comfortably remain the premier destination for the world’s top international students.     

Digital game design-based STEM activity: Biodiversity example

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to design a digital game design-based STEM activity for fifth-grade students learning about endangered organisms and significance of biodiversity for living. This activity was carried out with twenty students in a public school in Eastern Black Sea Region of Turkey during academic year of 2018–2019 spring term. This study planned as eight-lesson time (8?×?40?minutes) and completed at this lesson time. The students were given the digital game design challenge in real-life problem context that has been created based on design-based science learning and for which they shall use their knowledge and skills in each of the STEM disciplines. During this design challenge, students worked like a scientist and an engineer. They carried out scientific research and inquiry process in the science discipline, understood the engineering design process in the engineering discipline, established mathematical relations in the mathematics discipline, learned how to make coding in the technology discipline, and used this knowledge and skills thus acquired in their suggested solutions for the design challenge. They designed a digital game by coding and presented science knowledge and skills that acquired from inquiry process.     

Global health: a successful context for precollege training and advocacy

Despite a flourishing biomedical and global health industry too few of Washington state's precollege students are aware of this growing sector and emerging ideas on bacteria, fungi, parasites and viruses. Against the backdrop of numerous reports regarding declining precollege student interest in science, a precollege program was envisioned at Seattle Biomedical Research Institute (as of 2010, Seattle BioMed) to increase youth engagement in biomedical research and global health, increase community interest in infectious diseases and mobilize a future biomedical workforce. Since 2005, 169 rising high school juniors have participated in the BioQuest Academy precollege immersion program at Seattle BioMed. Assembling in groups of 12, students conduct laboratory experiments (e.g., anopheline mosquito dissection, gene expression informed tuberculosis drug design and optimizing HIV immunization strategies) related to global health alongside practicing scientific mentors, all within the footprint the institute. Laudable short-term impacts of the program include positive influences on student interest in global health (as seen in the students' subsequent school projects and their participation in Seattle BioMed community events), biomedical careers and graduate school (e.g., 16.9% of teens departing 2008-2009 Academy report revised goals of attaining a doctorate rather than a baccalaureate diploma). Long-term, 97% of alumni (2005-2008) are attending postsecondary schools throughout North America; eight graduates have already published scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals and/or presented their scientific data at national and international meetings, and 26 have been retained by Seattle BioMed researchers as compensated technicians and interns. Providing precollege students with structured access to practicing scientists and authentic research environments within the context of advancing global health has been a robust means of both building a future pool of talented leaders and engaged citizenry and increasing the visibility of health disparities within the community.     

Survey of Undergraduate Research Experiences (SURE): first findings

In this study, I examined the hypothesis that undergraduate research enhances the educational experience of science undergraduates, attracts and retains talented students to careers in science, and acts as a pathway for minority students into science careers. Undergraduates from 41 institutions participated in an online survey on the benefits of undergraduate research experiences. Participants indicated gains on 20 potential benefits and reported on career plans. Over 83% of 1,135 participants began or continued to plan for postgraduate education in the sciences. A group of 51 students who discontinued their plans for postgraduate science education reported significantly lower gains than continuing students. Women and men reported similar levels of benefits and similar patterns of career plans. Ethnic groups did not significantly differ in reported levels of benefits or plans to continue with postgraduate education.     

A Love Affair with Bacillus subtilis

My career in science was launched when I was an undergraduate at Princeton University and reinforced by graduate training at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. However, it was only after I moved to Harvard University as a junior fellow that my affections were captured by a seemingly mundane soil bacterium. What Bacillus subtilis offered was endless fascinating biological problems (alternative sigma factors, sporulation, swarming, biofilm formation, stochastic cell fate switching) embedded in a uniquely powerful genetic system. Along the way, my career in science became inseparably interwoven with teaching and mentoring, which proved to be as rewarding as the thrill of discovery.