Broader Impact Careers for Scientists in Science Education and Communication

Abstract

Employment data from the NIH and NSF show a dramatic overproduction of scientists relative to the number of job openings for permanent positions. This has created a bottleneck where many scientists get stuck in a training whirlpool. At the Center for Translational Science Education (CTSE) at Tufts Medical School we work to bring cutting edge biomedical science education to high school students and teachers around the country, while providing scientists opportunities to explore a range of diverse careers in science education. Many graduate students and postdoctoral fellows come to the CTSE hoping to gain teaching experience or to impact the community through outreach in local high schools. Other scientist work as full time postdoctoral scholars, studying curriculum design and evaluation, as they transition to careers with broader scientific impacts, such as teaching, museum curator, K‐12 outreach project manager, or primary investigator performing science education research. In this way scientists apply their skills to solve urgent public health and science education challenges, while gaining skills and experience to better compete in a diverse range of careers in science education and communication.Funded through: NIH Grant R25OD010953‐04, a gift from Boston Scientific and a grant from Cubist Pharmaceuticals