The Delicate Art of Balancing Serendipity and Planfulness in an Academic Career

Why Do Women Choose to Enter Academic Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery?

There is increasing evidence that science & engineering PhD students lose interest in an academic career over the course of graduate training. It is not clear, however, whether this decline reflects students being discouraged from pursuing an academic career by the challenges of obtaining a faculty job or whether it reflects more fundamental changes in students’ career goals for reasons other than the academic labor market. We examine this question using a longitudinal survey that follows a cohort of PhD students from 39 U.S. research universities over the course of graduate training to document changes in career preferences and to explore potential drivers of such changes. We report two main results. First, although the vast majority of students start the PhD interested in an academic research career, over time 55% of all students remain interested while 25% lose interest entirely. In addition, 15% of all students were never interested in an academic career during their PhD program, while 5% become more interested. Thus, the declining interest in an academic career is not a general phenomenon across all PhD students, but rather reflects a divergence between those students who remain highly interested in an academic career and other students who are no longer interested in one. Second, we show that the decline we observe is not driven by expectations of academic job availability, nor by related factors such as postdoctoral requirements or the availability of research funding. Instead, the decline appears partly due to the misalignment between students’ changing preferences for specific job attributes on the one hand, and the nature of the academic research career itself on the other. Changes in students’ perceptions of their own research ability also play a role, while publications do not. We discuss implications for scientific labor markets, PhD career development programs, and science policy.

There is increasing evidence that science & engineering PhD students lose interest in an academic career over the course of graduate training. It is not clear, however, whether this decline reflects students being discouraged from pursuing an academic career by the challenges of obtaining a faculty job or whether it reflects more fundamental changes in students’ career goals for reasons other than the academic labor market. We examine this question using a longitudinal survey that follows a cohort of PhD students from 39 U.S. research universities over the course of graduate training to document changes in career preferences and to explore potential drivers of such changes. We report two main results. First, although the vast majority of students start the PhD interested in an academic research career, over time 55% of all students remain interested while 25% lose interest entirely. In addition, 15% of all students were never interested in an academic career during their PhD program, while 5% become more interested. Thus, the declining interest in an academic career is not a general phenomenon across all PhD students, but rather reflects a divergence between those students who remain highly interested in an academic career and other students who are no longer interested in one. Second, we show that the decline we observe is not driven by expectations of academic job availability, nor by related factors such as postdoctoral requirements or the availability of research funding. Instead, the decline appears partly due to the misalignment between students’ changing preferences for specific job attributes on the one hand, and the nature of the academic research career itself on the other. Changes in students’ perceptions of their own research ability also play a role, while publications do not. We discuss implications for scientific labor markets, PhD career development programs, and science policy.

David P. Zgarrick .<i>Getting Started as a Pharmacy Faculty Member</i>. Washington, DC: American Pharmacists Association; 2010. 136 pages, $29.95 (softcover) ISBN 978-1-58212-149-9.

Underrepresentation of minorities within academic surgery is an ever present problem with a profound impact on healthcare. The factors influencing surgery residents to pursue an academic career have yet to be formally investigated. We sought to elucidate these factors, with a focus on minority status. A web-based questionnaire was sent to all administered to all ACGME-accredited general surgery programs in the United States. The main outcome was the decision to pursue a fully academic versus non-academic career. Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify characteristics impacting career choice. Of the 3,726 residents who received the survey, a total of 1,217 residents completed it - a response rate of 33%. Forty-seven percent planned to pursue non-academic careers, 35% academic careers, and 18% were undecided. There was no association between underrepresented minority status and academic career choice (Odds Ratio = 1.0, 95% Confidence Interval 0.6 - 1.6). Among all residents, research during training (OR=4.0, 95% CI 2.7-5.9), mentorship (OR=2.1, 95% CI 1.6-2.9), and attending a residency program requiring research (OR=2.3, 95% CI 1.5-3.4) were factors associated with choosing an academic career. When the analysis was performed among only senior residents (i.e., 4th and 5th year residents), a debt burden >$150,000 was associated with choosing a non-academic career (OR=0.4, 95% CI 0.1-0.9). Underrepresented minority status is not associated with career choice. Intentional recruitment of minorities into research-oriented training programs, increased mentorship and research support among current minority residents, and improved financial options for minorities may increase the number choosing an academic surgical career.

Medical schools have the responsibility of producing future leaders in academic medicine, yet few students choose academic medicine as a career. In 2009, the American Medical Student Association (AMSA) and the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences joined forces to provide students with a comprehensive introduction to careers in academic medicine through the redesign of an existing annual summer program for medical students. Since 2004, AMSA had hosted the Medical Education Leadership Institute, a weeklong program that attracted medical students from across the country who were interested in gaining teaching skills. In the redesigned sixth annual program, the authors expanded the curriculum to include principles of leadership, of medical education scholarship (or project development), and of academic medicine career-building. The purpose of this article is to describe the features of this comprehensive program and to share the lessons learned from its development and implementation. The authors also describe the multifaceted approach they used to evaluate the program, which featured a rubric they derived from social cognitive career theory.

Gastroenterology: A Field With Endless Career Opportunities for Physicians and Scientists

Pursuing a career in academia: Perceptions of pharmacists and student pharmacists

In this paper I tried to examine the academic and occupational career of high school graduatse (25 years old at the time of survey) in relation to the influences of schooling. In the analysis of the data, a technique of “log-linear model” was used to clarify the inner structure among the qualitative variables. The following results are obtained.First, academic careers (college attendance) of high school graduates are mostly determined by the course they completed in high school.Secondly, on the other hand, occupational careers are determined by the course they attended in high school and the academic career they took after high school. These two variables are persistently independent to each other. For example, for the graduates of vocational courses, the course is more determinative than the academic career, and for the graduates of general course an inverse relationship is found. These findings suggest that the graduates of a general course are strongly motivated to enter college for the purpose of acquiring specific skills necessary for professional occupations.Thirdly, according to the same analysis applied to the consciousness in the workplace, one's occupation or job is a more determinative factor than the high school course or the academic career. That is to say, effects of schooling are not beyond the effects of occupation.Fourthly, however, college education enhances one's motivation to learn on the job, and discourages the feeling of one's solidality. This feature of college education might be understood more clearly through contrasting the job searching behavior of college students and the actual relationship between education and occupation.

Previous authors have investigated many factors that predict an academic neurosurgical career over private practice, including attainment of a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) and number of publications. Research has yet to demonstrate whether a master's degree predicts an academic neurosurgical career. This study quantifies the association between obtaining a Master of Science (MS), Master of Public Health (MPH), or Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree and pursuing a career in academic neurosurgery. Public data on neurosurgeons who had graduated from Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME)-accredited residency programs in the period from 1949 to 2019 were collected from residency and professional websites. Residency graduates with a PhD were excluded to isolate the effect of only having a master's degree. A position was considered "academic" if it was affiliated with a hospital that had a neurosurgery residency program; other positions were considered nonacademic. Bivariate analyses were performed with Fisher's exact test. Multivariate analysis was performed using a logistic regression model. Within our database of neurosurgery residency alumni, there were 47 (4.1%) who held an MS degree, 31 (2.7%) who held an MPH, and 10 (0.9%) who held an MBA. In bivariate analyses, neurosurgeons with MS degrees were significantly more likely to pursue academic careers (OR 2.65, p = 0.0014, 95% CI 1.40-5.20), whereas neurosurgeons with an MPH (OR 1.41, p = 0.36, 95% CI 0.64-3.08) or an MBA (OR 1.00, p = 1.00, 95% CI 0.21-4.26) were not. In the multivariate analysis, an MS degree was independently associated with an academic career (OR 2.48, p = 0.0079, 95% CI 1.28-4.93). Moreover, postresidency h indices of 1 (OR 1.44, p = 0.048, 95% CI 1.00-2.07), 2-3 (OR 2.76, p = 2.01 × 10-8, 95% CI 1.94-3.94), and ≥ 4 (OR 4.88, p < 2.00 × 10-16, 95% CI 3.43-6.99) were all significantly associated with increased odds of pursuing an academic career. Notably, having between 1 and 11 months of protected research time was significantly associated with decreased odds of pursuing academic neurosurgery (OR 0.46, p = 0.049, 95% CI 0.21-0.98). Neurosurgery residency graduates with MS degrees are more likely to pursue academic neurosurgical careers relative to their non-MS counterparts. Such findings may be used to help predict residency graduates' future potential in academic neurosurgery.

Medicine has different pathways in which physicians pursue their vocation. Clinical practice, research, and academia are common paths. The authors examined the literature to identify research-based factors influencing physicians to choose a career path in academic medicine. In the fall of 2006, the authors searched the PubMed database from 1960 to 2006 using the term career academic medicine. Review of articles resulted in the identification of nine themes relating to academic medicine career paths. The authors summarized the important and relevant articles to capture what the literature contributed as a whole to the larger question, "How, when, and why do physicians choose an academic career in medicine?" A synthesis of articles revealed that (1) values are essential to understanding the decision to enter a career in academic medicine, (2) factors associated with academic medicine career choice include research-oriented programs, gender, and mentors and role models, (3) an obstacle to pursuing this career path is loss of interest in academic careers during residency as residents learn about factors associated with academic careers in medicine, and (4) debt may be a barrier to choosing an academic career in medicine for some individuals in some specialties. Despite the study findings, the larger question (stated above) remains essentially unanswered in the literature. The authors propose a call to action by various professional groups and organizations to use rigorous and complex research efforts to seek answers to this very important question.

Introducing the American Journal of Surgery Virtual Research Mentor: A primer for aspiring surgeon-scientists

Purpose This study examines how Vietnamese universities report and portray gender equality policies and initiatives on their websites. It aims to: (1) identify reported initiatives and the values behind their portrayals, (2) explore how these narratives reinforce or challenge traditional gender norms and “conditional inclusion” and (3) assess their alignment with global standards of academic excellence and career success. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on organisational impression management theory and feminist critical discourse analysis, this study analyses 21 university web publications (UWPs) from ten Vietnamese universities. Findings Vietnamese UWPs demonstrate alignment with state logics, rhetorical commitments to gender equality and the gendered burden of “well-rounded excellence” for women academics. Research limitations/implications This study relies on UWPs (Dec 2024), possibly omitting earlier or informal practices. Future research should incorporate stakeholder perspectives and cross-national comparisons to capture broader gender equality dynamics. Practical implications This study suggests that Vietnamese universities should harness state logics, move beyond superficial rhetorical commitments, and critically re-evaluate the ideal of “well-rounded excellence” in order to advance the equitable development of women’s academic careers. Originality/value This study shows how Vietnamese UWPs engage in dual impression management – outwardly demonstrating positive public signalling of gender equality while simultaneously concealing hidden barriers to women academics’ career advancement.

Introduction: Understanding Change in the Academic Profession through the Perceptions of Academics and Institutional Leadership. Tatiana Fumasoli, Gaele Goastellec, and Barbara M. Kehm -- The Rocky Road to Tenure: Career Paths in Academia. Angelika Brechelmacher, Elke Park, Gulay Ates, and David F. J. Campbell -- The Changing Paths in Academic Careers in European Universities: Minor Steps and Major Milestones. Marek Kwiek and Dominik Antonowicz -- Global Models, Disciplinary and Local Patterns in Academic Recruitment Processes. Tatiana Fumasoli and Gaele Goastellec -- Changing Employment and Working Conditions. Timo Aarrevaara, Ian R Dobson, and Janne Wikstrom -- Academics’ Perceptions of Their Professional Contexts. Marie Clarke, Jonathan Drennan, Abbey Hyde, and Yurgos Politis -- Academics and Community Engagement: Comparative Perspective from Three European Countries. Bojana Culum, Marko Turk, and Jasminka Ledic -- Implementation of Quality Assurance Systems in Academic Staff Perspective: an Overview. Luminita Moraru, Mirela Praisler, Simona Marin, and Corina Bentea -- Academics and New Higher Education Professionals: Tensions, Recipro-cal Influences and Forms of Professionalization. Barbara M. Kehm -- Academic Careers and Work in Europe: Trends, Challenges, Perspectives. Tatiana Fumasoli, Gaele Goastellec, and Barbara M. Kehm.

To quantify interest in an academic career at the dermatology resident and residency applicant level. Cross-sectional survey. Dermatology residents attending a basic science course and residency applicants applying to a single residency program. Self-reported level of interest in an academic dermatology career, reasons for losing interest in academics, and area of desired primary academic contribution. One hundred nine of 230 dermatology applicants and 130 of 190 dermatology residents completed the survey. Seventy-nine applicants (72.5%) and 48 residents (36.9%) were interested in an academic career. Thirty-three of 47 residents (70.2%) and 63 of 79 applicants (79.8%) interested in an academic career hoped to make their primary academic contribution as teacher-clinicians, while only 7 residents (14.9%) and 15 applicants (19.0%) planned to primarily contribute through basic or clinical research. Thirty-eight resident respondents (29.2%) reported losing interest in academics for the following primary reasons: bureaucracy, 24 (63.2%); salary differential/financial issues, 20 (52.6%); lack of effective mentorship, role model, or professional guidance, 19 (50.0%); and location or practice environment, 10 (26.3%). Many residents report losing interest in pursuing a career in academic dermatology. Many reasons for this are not easy to correct. However, half of those residents primarily lose interest because of a lack of mentors, role models, and career guidance. Methods to improve this perception and experience should be sought. Strategies should also be developed to cultivate future teacher-clinicians, where most of the interest lies.