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...

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Autores principales:	Henry Sauermann, Michael Roach
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2012
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/2338497830ff4c1b8541fb6e8f3d791d
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:2338497830ff4c1b8541fb6e8f3d791d2021-11-18T07:19:53ZScience PhD career preferences: levels, changes, and advisor encouragement.1932-620310.1371/journal.pone.0036307https://doaj.org/article/2338497830ff4c1b8541fb6e8f3d791d2012-01-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/22567149/?tool=EBIhttps://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203Even 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.Henry SauermannMichael RoachPublic Library of Science (PLoS)articleMedicineRScienceQENPLoS ONE, Vol 7, Iss 5, p e36307 (2012)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Henry Sauermann Michael Roach Science PhD career preferences: levels, changes, and advisor encouragement.
description	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.
format	article
author	Henry Sauermann Michael Roach
author_facet	Henry Sauermann Michael Roach
author_sort	Henry Sauermann
title	Science PhD career preferences: levels, changes, and advisor encouragement.
title_short	Science PhD career preferences: levels, changes, and advisor encouragement.
title_full	Science PhD career preferences: levels, changes, and advisor encouragement.
title_fullStr	Science PhD career preferences: levels, changes, and advisor encouragement.
title_full_unstemmed	Science PhD career preferences: levels, changes, and advisor encouragement.
title_sort	science phd career preferences: levels, changes, and advisor encouragement.
publisher	Public Library of Science (PLoS)
publishDate	2012
url	https://doaj.org/article/2338497830ff4c1b8541fb6e8f3d791d
work_keys_str_mv	AT henrysauermann sciencephdcareerpreferenceslevelschangesandadvisorencouragement AT michaelroach sciencephdcareerpreferenceslevelschangesandadvisorencouragement
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Science PhD career preferences: levels, changes, and advisor encouragement.

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