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.     

Science PhD career preferences: levels, changes, and advisor encouragement

Even though academic research is often viewed as the preferred career path for PhD trained scientists, most U.S. graduates enter careers in industry, government, or "alternative careers." There has been a growing concern that these career patterns reflect fundamental imbalances between the supply of scientists seeking academic positions and the availability of such positions. However, while government statistics provide insights into realized career transitions, there is little systematic data on scientists' career preferences and thus on the degree to which there is a mismatch between observed career paths and scientists' preferences. Moreover, we lack systematic evidence whether career preferences adjust over the course of the PhD training and to what extent advisors exacerbate imbalances by encouraging their students to pursue academic positions. Based on a national survey of PhD students at tier-one U.S. institutions, we provide insights into the career preferences of junior scientists across the life sciences, physics, and chemistry. We also show that the attractiveness of academic careers decreases significantly over the course of the PhD program, despite the fact that advisors strongly encourage academic careers over non-academic careers. Our data provide an empirical basis for common concerns regarding labor market imbalances. Our results also suggest the need for mechanisms that provide PhD applicants with information that allows them to carefully weigh the costs and benefits of pursuing a PhD, as well as for mechanisms that complement the job market advice advisors give to their current students.     

Breaking barriers? Ethnicity and socioeconomic background impact on early career progression in the fields of ecology and evolution

The academic disciplines of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) have long suffered from a lack of diversity. While in recent years there has been some progress in addressing the underrepresentation of women in STEM subjects, other characteristics that have the potential to impact on equality of opportunity have received less attention. In this study, we surveyed 188 early career scientists (ECRs), defined as within 10 years of completing their PhD, in the fields of ecology, evolutionary biology, behaviour, and related disciplines. We examined associations between ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, sex, socioeconomic background, and disability, with measures of career progression, namely publication record, number of applications made before obtaining a postdoc, type of contract, and number of grant applications made. We also queried respondents on perceived barriers to progression and potential ways of overcoming them. Our key finding was that socioeconomic background and ethnicity were associated with measures of career progression. While there was no difference in the number of reported first‐authored papers on PhD completion, ethnic minority respondents reported fewer other‐authored papers. In addition, ECRs from a lower socioeconomic background were more likely to report being in teaching and research positions, rather than research‐only positions, the latter being perceived as more prestigious by some institutions. We discuss our findings in the context of possible inequality of opportunity. We hope that this study will stimulate wider discussion and help to inform strategies to address the underrepresentation of minority groups in the fields of ecology and evolution, and STEM subjects more widely.     

Get that next job—how to break out of the postdoc trap

In the past, the majority of graduate students and postdoctoral researchers were focused on careers in academia. Times have changed, and many are now considering careers outside of academia and are aware of numerous exciting career opportunities in industry and nonprofit and government organizations. However, although it is easy to find resources about academic careers, the same cannot be said for positions outside the ivory tower. Here, on the basis of my experience as a scientist and as someone who works with graduate students and postdocs to help them enter nonacademic career paths, I provide a perspective on career development and how to find a job.     

Researchers’ Individual Publication Rate Has Not Increased in a Century

Debates over the pros and cons of a “publish or perish” philosophy have inflamed academia for at least half a century. Growing concerns, in particular, are expressed for policies that reward “quantity” at the expense of “quality,” because these might prompt scientists to unduly multiply their publications by fractioning (“salami slicing”), duplicating, rushing, simplifying, or even fabricating their results. To assess the reasonableness of these concerns, we analyzed publication patterns of over 40,000 researchers that, between the years 1900 and 2013, have published two or more papers within 15 years, in any of the disciplines covered by the Web of Science. The total number of papers published by researchers during their early career period (first fifteen years) has increased in recent decades, but so has their average number of co-authors. If we take the latter factor into account, by measuring productivity fractionally or by only counting papers published as first author, we observe no increase in productivity throughout the century. Even after the 1980s, adjusted productivity has not increased for most disciplines and countries. These results are robust to methodological choices and are actually conservative with respect to the hypothesis that publication rates are growing. Therefore, the widespread belief that pressures to publish are causing the scientific literature to be flooded with salami-sliced, trivial, incomplete, duplicated, plagiarized and false results is likely to be incorrect or at least exaggerated.     

Mentors and role models for women in academic medicine.

Senior mentors and role models have a positive influence on the career advancement of junior professionals in law, business, and medicine. In medicine an increasing number of women are pursuing academic careers, but available senior mentors to provide career guidance are often lacking. We report on the results of a national survey of 558 full-time faculty women, aged 50 years and younger, in departments of medicine in the United States, regarding their experience with role models and mentors. Women with mentors report more publications and more time spent on research activity than those without mentors. Women with a role model reported higher overall career satisfaction. This report, with illustrative examples, may be helpful to other women pursuing academic careers and to physicians who serve as mentors or role models to others.     

Creating opportunities for science PhDs to pursue careers in high school education

The United States is confronting important challenges at both the early and late stages of science education. At the level of K–12 education, a recent National Research Council report (Successful K–12 STEM Education) proposed a bold restructuring of how science is taught, moving away from memorizing facts and emphasizing hands-on, inquiry-based learning and a deeper understanding of the process of science. At higher levels of training, limited funding for science is leading PhDs to seek training and careers in areas other than research. Might science PhDs play a bigger role in the future of K–12 education, particularly at the high school level? We explore this question by discussing the roles that PhDs can play in high school education and the current and rather extensive barriers to PhDs entering the teaching profession and finally suggest ways to ease the entrance of qualified PhDs into high school education.In many K–12 classrooms, science is presented as a series of textbook facts; students are not exposed to scientific methods of inquiry and lose interest in science. At the very opposite end of the science training pipeline, life science PhDs and postdocs in the United States are experiencing difficulties in finding university jobs, a situation that will likely persist in the coming decade if research funding fails to grow; we cannot expect all PhD graduates to become principal investigators (PIs) at academic institutions.Might these two problems add up to a solution (or at least a partial solution)? Is there a place for graduates of PhD training programs in teaching K–12 science, particularly at the high school (HS) level (the focus of this article)? We argue that the answer is “yes” and that more PhDs, even if their numbers are small compared with the entire teaching pool, could have a catalytic effect on reinvigorating precollege science education. This topic is not new; the National Research Council (NRC) issued two thoughtful reports on attracting science and math PhDs to secondary school education more than a decade ago (Committee on Attracting Science and Mathematics Ph.D.s to Secondary School Teaching, National Research Council, 2000 ; Committee on Attracting Science and Mathematics PhDs to K-12 Education: From Analysis to Implementation, Division of Policy and Global Affairs, National Research Council, 2002 ). Their recommendations were not implemented, however, and the reports have largely been forgotten. Little has changed since then; the roadblocks, both in perception and logistics, that discouraged a PhD from becoming a HS teacher in the year 2000 still exist. Since the NRC reports were released, the topic of a HS teaching career option for a PhD has rarely been discussed or debated in our scientific community. We feel that it is time to reopen this discussion. The focus of this article is on PhDs entering the high school system, but much of this discussion also pertains to graduates of science master degree programs and to individuals with scientific training becoming involved in all levels of K–12 education. Our goal is to make students, postdocs, and senior scientists aware of the value of high school teaching for certain individuals as well as for our nation''s educational system. We also consider how changes at the local level (including the perception of K–12 teaching within research universities), as well as at the policy level of teacher accreditation, might facilitate this career path.     

Openness to Experience as a Predictor and Outcome of Upward Job Changes into Managerial and Professional Positions

In industrial and organizational psychology, there is a long tradition of studying personality as an antecedent of work outcomes. Recently, however, scholars have suggested that personality characteristics may not only predict, but also change due to certain work experiences, a notion that is depicted in the dynamic developmental model (DDM) of personality and work. Upward job changes are an important part of employees’ careers and career success in particular, and we argue that these career transitions can shape personality over time. In this study, we investigate the Big Five personality characteristics as both predictors and outcomes of upward job changes into managerial and professional positions. We tested our hypotheses by applying event history analyses and propensity score matching to a longitudinal dataset collected over five years from employees in Australia. Results indicated that participants’ openness to experience not only predicted, but that changes in openness to experience also followed from upward job changes into managerial and professional positions. Our findings thus provide support for a dynamic perspective on personality characteristics in the context of work and careers.     

Life Before Model Systems: General Zoology at August Weismann's Institute

SYNOPSIS. With the current interest in and criticism of ModelSystems Research in mind, I review some of the details of aresearch program at the turn of the century. I present dataabout career trajectories of the degree recipients in AugustWeismann's Institute of Zoology, in Freiburg i/Br., Germany.I ennumerate the organisms they use in their research and providesome discussion about the level of analysis performed by certainstudents bound for academic careers. I conclude that between1880 and 1912 diversity prevailed in career objectives, researchprojects, organisms investigated and levels of analysis. Thiswas the diversity of a General Zoology suited to Weismann'sprimary interests in evolution and the contemporary expectationsof academic zoology. This General Zoology contrasts with theorganism specific research prevalent at the same institute directedby Hans Spemann between 1918 and 1931. In closing I proposea sequence of historical stages which changed the General Zoologyat the beginning of the current century into Model Systems Researchat the end.     

Raissa L. Berg's contributions to the study of phenotypic integration,with a professional biographical sketch

Raissa L. Berg had a remarkable career in many respects and an impact on the study of phenotypic integration that continues to increase over 50 years after the publication of her seminal paper in that area. She was born and lived most of her life in Russia, with most of her research focused on measuring spontaneous mutation rates in Drosophila. She was forced to abandon this work during the height of Lysenko''s power in Russia, so she turned temporarily to the study of correlation patterns in plants; ironically, this work has had a more enduring impact than her main body of research. She showed that floral and vegetative traits become decoupled into separate correlation ‘pleiades’ in plants with specialized pollinators, but floral and vegetative traits remain correlated in plants that have less specialized pollination. Unfortunately, her plant work is often mis-cited as providing evidence for increased correlations among floral traits due to selection by pollinators for functional integration, a point she never made and one that is not supported by her data. Still, many studies of correlation pleiades have been conducted in plants, with the results mostly supporting Berg''s hypothesis, although more studies on species with generalized pollination are needed.     

Personality Predictors of Successful Development: Toddler Temperament and Adolescent Personality Traits Predict Well-Being and Career Stability in Middle Adulthood

The aim of the study was to predict both adaptive psychological functioning (well-being) and adaptive social functioning (career stability) in middle adulthood based on behaviors observed in toddlerhood and personality traits measured in adolescence. 83 people participated in an ongoing longitudinal study started in 1961 (58% women). Based on children’s behavior in toddlerhood, three temperamental dimensions were identified – positive affectivity, negative affectivity and disinhibition. In adolescence, extraversion and neuroticism were measured at the age of 16 years. Various aspects of well-being were used as indicators of adaptive psychological functioning in adulthood: life satisfaction, self-esteem and self-efficacy. Career stability was used as an indicator of adaptive social functioning. Job careers of respondents were characterized as stable, unstable or changeable. Extraversion measured at the age of 16 proved to be the best predictor of well-being indicators; in case of self-efficacy it was also childhood disinhibition. Extraversion in adolescence, childhood disinhibition and negative affectivity predicted career stability. Findings are discussed in the context of a theoretical framework of higher order factors of the Big Five personality constructs, stability and plasticity.     

50 Years of Women in Cell Biology: Where have we been? Where are we going?

It’s been 50 years since Women in Cell Biology (WICB) was founded by junior women cell biologists who found themselves neither represented at the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) presentations nor receiving the information, mentoring, and sponsorship they needed to advance their careers. Since then, gender parity at ASCB has made significant strides: WICB has become a standing ASCB committee, women are regularly elected president of the ASCB, and half the symposia speakers are women. Many of WICB’s pioneering initiatives for professional development, including career panels, workshops, awards for accomplishments in science and mentoring, and career mentoring roundtables, have been incorporated and adapted into broader “professional development” that benefits all members of ASCB. The time has passed when we can assume that all women benefit equally from progress. By strategically, thoughtfully, and honestly recognizing the challenges to women of the past and today, we may anticipate those new challenges that will arise in the next 50 years. WICB, in collaboration with the ASCB, can lead in data collection and access and can promote diversity, equity, and inclusion. This work will be a fitting homage to the women who, half a century ago, posted bathroom stall invitations to the first Women in Cell Biology meetup.     

It's a Wonderful Life: A Career as an Academic Scientist

Many years of training are required to obtain a job as an academic scientist. Is this investment of time and effort worthwhile? My answer is a resounding “yes.” Academic scientists enjoy tremendous freedom in choosing their research and career path, experience unusual camaraderie in their lab, school, and international community, and can contribute to and enjoy being part of this historical era of biological discovery. In this essay, I further elaborate by listing my top ten reasons why an academic job is a desirable career for young people who are interested in the life sciences.Students are attracted to careers in academic science because of their interest in the subject rather than for financial reward. But then they hear messages that make them think twice about this career choice. It is difficult to find a job: “Hear about Joe? Three publications as a postdoc and still no job offers.” The NIH pay line is low: “Poor Patricia, she is now on her third submission of her first NIH grant.” Publishing is painful: “Felix''s grad school thesis work has been rejected by three journals!” Academic jobs are demanding: “Cathy has spent her last three weekends writing grants rather than being with her family.”Such scenarios do take place, but if you think that this is what a career in academic science is about, then you need to hear the other side of the story. And this is the purpose of this article—a chance to reflect on the many good things about the academic profession. In the classic movie It''s a Wonderful Life, George Bailey is at the point of despair but regains his confidence through the wisdom and perspective of a guardian angel, Clarence. Doubt and setbacks also are bound to happen in science (as is true of other careers), but pessimism should not rule the day. It is a great profession and there are many happy endings. I would like to share my top ten reasons of why being an academic professor is a “wonderful life,” one that bright and motivated young people should continue to aspire to pursue.     

Career changes among Saskatchewan physicians.

OBJECTIVE: To determine how often Saskatchewan physicians changed career paths during medical training and practice. DESIGN: Population survey (mailed questionnaire). SETTING: Saskatchewan. PARTICIPANTS: All 1077 active members of the Saskatchewan Medical Association were sent a questionnaire; 493 (45.8%) responded. OUTCOME MEASURES: Long-term career goal or plan in next-to-last year of undergraduate medical school, probable choice of career if forced to choose at that time, and number of physicians who changed their field of training or practice at any time since graduation. RESULTS: In all, 57.8% (237/410) of the respondents were currently practising in a field different from that planned in their next-to-last year of medical school, 63.5% (275/436) were not practising in the field they would have chosen if forced to at that time, and 42.9% (211/492) had changed their field of training or practice at some time since graduation. Older physicians, those who graduated outside of Canada and specialists were the most likely to have changed career paths, family physicians, and those who graduated in Saskatchewan were the least likely to have changed. CONCLUSION: The current system of postgraduate training in Canada does not permit career changes of the sort made by most of the practising Saskatchewan physicians in the survey sample. The implications of this new system are as yet unknown but require careful monitoring.     

Demography,education, and research trends in the interdisciplinary field of disease ecology

Micro‐ and macroparasites are a leading cause of mortality for humans, animals, and plants, and there is great need to understand their origins, transmission dynamics, and impacts. Disease ecology formed as an interdisciplinary field in the 1970s to fill this need and has recently rapidly grown in size and influence. Because interdisciplinary fields integrate diverse scientific expertise and training experiences, understanding their composition and research priorities is often difficult. Here, for the first time, we quantify the composition and educational experiences of a subset of disease ecology practitioners and identify topical trends in published research. We combined a large survey of self‐declared disease ecologists with a literature synthesis involving machine‐learning topic detection of over 18,500 disease ecology research articles. The number of graduate degrees earned by disease ecology practitioners has grown dramatically since the early 2000s. Similar to other science fields, we show that practitioners in disease ecology have diversified in the last decade in terms of gender identity and institution, with weaker diversification in race and ethnicity. Topic detection analysis revealed how the frequency of publications on certain topics has declined (e.g., HIV, serology), increased (e.g., the dilution effect, infectious disease in bats), remained relatively common (e.g., malaria ecology, influenza, vaccine research and development), or have consistently remained relatively infrequent (e.g., theoretical models, field experiments). Other topics, such as climate change, superspreading, emerging infectious diseases, and network analyses, have recently come to prominence. This study helps identify the major themes of disease ecology and demonstrates how publication frequency corresponds to emergent health and environmental threats. More broadly, our approach provides a framework to examine the composition and publication trends of other major research fields that cross traditional disciplinary boundaries.     

Publication bias: evidence of delayed publication in a cohort study of clinical research projects.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the extent to which publication is influenced by study outcome. DESIGN: A cohort of studies submitted to a hospital ethics committee over 10 years were examined retrospectively by reviewing the protocols and by questionnaire. The primary method of analysis was Cox''s proportional hazards model. SETTING: University hospital, Sydney, Australia. STUDIES: 748 eligible studies submitted to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital Ethics Committee between 1979 and 1988. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Time to publication. RESULTS: Response to the questionnaire was received for 520 (70%) of the eligible studies. Of the 218 studies analysed with tests of significance, those with positive results (P < 0.05) were much more likely to be published than those with negative results (P > or = 0.10) (hazard ratio 2.32 (95% confidence interval 1.47 to 3.66), P = 0.0003), with a significantly shorter time to publication (median 4.8 v 8.0 years). This finding was even stronger for the group of 130 clinical trials (hazard ratio 3.13 (1.76 to 5.58). P = 0.0001), with median times to publication of 4.7 and 8.0 years respectively. These results were not materially changed after adjusting for other significant predictors of publication. Studies with indefinite conclusions (0.05 < or = P < 0.10) tended to have an even lower publication rate and longer time to publication than studies with negative results (hazard ratio 0.39 (0.13 to 1.12), P = 0.08). For the 103 studies in which outcome was rated qualitatively, there was no clear cut evidence of publication bias, although the number of studies in this group was not large. CONCLUSIONS: This study confirms the evidence of publication bias found in other studies and identifies delay in publication as an additional important factor. The study results support the need for prospective registration of trials to avoid publication bias and also support restricting the selection of trials to those started before a common date in undertaking systematic reviews.     

Opening new doors in autophagy research: Patrice Codogno

Patrice Codogno (Fig. 1), one of the associate editors of Autophagy since it was established, is well known in the autophagy field, and has played a particularly important role in France, serving as the first president of Club Francophone de l'AuTophaGie (CFATG). Patrice's research career spans from the predominantly biochemical analyses that were commonly used in the 1980s to the molecular studies that are the primary focus of many labs currently studying autophagy today. Anyone who has met Patrice knows that he is modest, which means his contributions to autophagy and to promoting the careers of scientists globally, are underappreciated. In addition, there is a fun-loving side to Patrice that is often hidden to the casual observer, and it is time to share some of his personality and thoughts with the rest of the autophagy community.     

Being at the right place at the right time

I am tremendously honored to receive the 2012 Women in Cell Biology Junior Award. In this essay, I recount my career path over the past 15 years. Although many details are specific to my own experiences, I hope that some generalizations can be made to encourage more women to pursue independent scientific careers. Mine is a story of choosing a captivating question, making the most of your opportunities, and finding a balance with life outside the lab.It is a great honor to have been awarded the 2012 Women in Cell Biology Junior Award from the ASCB. Looking back at the 15 years I have spent doing research in cell biology, my overwhelming feeling is that it has been and still is a lot of fun. I am extremely fortunate to have a job that I truly enjoy and that gives me complete intellectual freedom. My lab choices over the years were motivated by scientific curiosity and enthusiasm for new environments and topics, rather than by career building. It is thus truly amazing to be rewarded for (rather a lot of) work enjoyed.