Career In Chemistry Research Articles

Potential of Students to Become Entrepreneurs in the Chemical Industry

Chempreneurs are revolutionary entrepreneurs who have been trained at a chemistry faculty. They are expected to find innovative solutions for current challenges to the chemical industry, such as sustainability. Innovative chemical entrepreneurship is the art of commercialising innovations from chemistry for a broad audience outside the classroom. Innovative ideas that are implemented with societal relevance offer the potential for individuals/graduates to generate income and promote the economy, thus offering students the opportunity to lay the foundation for a career with innovations developed in class. The probability of a German chemistry student founding a company is 54% lower than for the average German student. Previous studies show the potential effects of social capital, the subjective norm, motives and barriers for chemistry students in Germany. In this study, we tested these hypotheses by implementing entrepreneurship education. Two surveys, one before class and one with a one-week delay, were conducted with first- and third-semester chemistry bachelor students at the Fresenius University of Applied Sciences in Idstein, Germany. We conducted the surveys to understand how students view chemistry career opportunities through entrepreneurship and how to change this mindset. Finally, we propose a pedagogy to introduce/expand entrepreneurship in chemistry and discuss approaches for future research.

Factors shaping the choice in chemistry: insights from undergraduate students within a societal context

There is a decline in recent years in the number of students studying chemistry in higher education. Many studies have been conducted on elementary and high school students' choice with fewer focusing on the factors that influence undergraduate students to choose to major in chemistry. Research also indicates that belonging to a minority group influences the choice of pursuing science. Despite a higher percentage of Israeli Arab students studying chemistry in high school compared to Israeli Jewish students, the percentage of those who continue to study chemistry in higher education is small. They also lack sufficient representation in academia and industry. Analyzing the similarities and differences in the perceptions of Israeli Jewish and Arab students may shed light on the societal aspect and its role in shaping chemistry participation. This led us to ask the following questions concerning undergraduate chemistry students: (1) What are the factors that influence undergraduate chemistry students to choose a chemistry career? (2) What are the differences between Jewish and Arab undergraduate chemistry students in choosing chemistry career, if any? (3) How do the factors that influence chemistry career choice correlate, if at all? Guided by the social cognitive career theory (SCCT), we used quantitative and qualitative methods to identify and analyze factors and categories. These factors and categories were related to personal and environmental themes and influenced third-year chemistry undergraduate students to choose a chemistry career. 117 third-year undergraduate chemistry students took part in this research. The findings indicate that there are six major factors in choosing a career in chemistry by undergraduate students, which are divided into two themes, a personal theme, and an environmental theme. Our study shows that ‘self-efficacy – scientific/chemistry learning’ is secondary to students’ desire to complete an academic degree. The influence of their friends and family and extrinsic motivation related to rewards/status/prestige are more influential as well. When exploring differences between Israeli Jewish and Israeli Arab societies, our findings revealed variations in the factors influencing career choices. Our findings have practical implications for educational institutions aiming to foster a diverse and inclusive learning environment in chemistry education.

Professors’ retrospective views on chemistry career choices with a focus on gender and academic stage aspects

A decline in studying and choosing a career in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) varies by discipline. This change has adversely affected the field of chemistry, leading the chemistry educator's community to focus on research related to chemistry career choices to overcome the shortage of next generation chemistry researchers and the underrepresentation of women in the ranks of chemistry professors. The retrospective views of chemistry professors about their career paths, choices, and retention are hardly examined empirically. These views may explain young people's early choices of chemistry-related careers. Using the social cognitive career theory (SCCT), the current study explored chemistry professors' retrospective views on their career choice and what differences exist among these professors' views based on their gender and academic stage. Qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews with 12 men and 12 women chemistry professors yielded several categories within the personal, environmental, and behavioral SCCT themes that are related to the professors' career choice. The most mentioned categories in each of the three themes, respectively, were: (a) self-efficacy for scientific/chemistry learning, (b) teachers' or lecturers' influence, and (c) overcoming barriers. Gender and career-stage patterns emerged, e.g., women related more than men to the influence of their teachers or lecturers and of their family and friends. Women and junior-intermediate level men discussed overcoming barriers more frequently than senior level men. These retrospective findings facilitate understanding of enablers and impediments of chemistry professors' career trajectories. Recommendations offered to policymakers aim to promote encouragement of junior-intermediate chemistry professors, especially women, to advance their academic career in chemistry while maintaining work-family balance.

Free and Open Source Codes for Computational Chemistry Research Initiation: A Conspectus

Computational chemistry is a field of current active research in science that can supplement and complement the regular experimental methods and validate or propose new theoretical formulations. It has contributed from basic to advanced levels of investigation in a synergistic manner. The mathematical experiments can be pursued with minimal resources and are sustainable making it a good approach for institutions with limited resources. The freely available computer programs that are suitable for solving various types of problems in chemistry and interdisciplinary areas are briefly mentioned. The general features and specificity of some selected codes that are adaptable for undergraduate and graduate-level courses and research in Nepal are highlighted. A recommendation is made for the incorporation of adequate theoretical courses and parallel laboratory sessions in the existing syllabus for obtaining a trained and skilled workforce qualified for national and global careers in computational chemistry and also for research and development in Nepal.

Computer-Aided Drug Design Project for Introductory High School Students

The pharmaceutical industry has been a major player in improving life expectancies and driving chemistry employment. While computational chemistry tools increasingly guide pharmaceutical research decisions, high school and undergraduate chemistry curricula do not reflect the prevalence of such techniques. Incorporation of computational tools into chemistry education is warranted to support industry-relevant learning experiences, student motivation to pursue chemistry careers, and public understanding of STEM careers and medicines. Therefore, this paper outlines how a computer-aided drug design (CADD) tool was introduced to high school students as a classroom project in tandem with traditional course material. Materials are provided to assist instructors in replicating this project in their own courses.

Martina Letizia Contente

Martina Letizia Contente

“Modern-Age Centaurs”: A Proposal for Case Study Based Integrative Ethics Education in Chemistry

This work is a course proposal for a stronger ethics education component for chemistry undergraduates. We propose that this course should integrate different approaches in ethics with the value-laden and scientifically complex issues that arise in chemistry. Although some programs require that students take some ethics as a core requirement, for many it is just an option among many humanities courses. Alternatively, ethics may arise passively during courses devoted primarily to chemistry. For our proposed course to be maximally effective, we believe it should integrate both ethics and chemistry, inviting students to think about complex real-world problems. This allows students to identify ethical considerations in the context of cases they might encounter as part of their careers in chemistry. It would also provide them with resources to identify the best course of action.

Apprenticeships: Europe’s talent pipeline to industry

Companies often worry that they won’t have enough workers to fill available jobs, especially in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields. That worry is especially prevalent for technical jobs that do not require a PhD. To get qualified workers, companies have largely taken two tacks. Many are using apprenticeships to train workers internally to fill the jobs they need. That model, which has a long history in Germany, is spreading across Europe, to the UK, and to the US. A second strategy, popular in the US, is partnering with local community colleges to train workers for specific industries through both associate’s degree and certificate programs (see page 25). At the BASF headquarters in Ludwigshafen, Germany, about 2,300 apprentices are taking their first steps into a chemistry career. If previous years are a guide, 90% of them will become permanent employees with the company after completing their apprenticeships. BASF has been

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A novel lesson in 1960s chemistry

Lessons in chemistry are lessons in life In Bonnie Garmus ’s debut novel Lessons in Chemistry , protagonist Elizabeth Zott makes an observation about studying chemistry that many Newscripts readers can appreciate: “Because when women understand chemistry, they begin to understand how things work.” Zott’s remark isn’t just about science. She is referring to her own life experiences as a woman trying to do chemistry during a particularly sexist time—the early 1960s. “I wanted to tell her story, about a woman trying to be taken seriously in that time frame,” Garmus says. After being forced out of both her lab and her chemistry career, Zott reluctantly agrees to host a TV cooking show. The show ends up a huge hit, and Zott uses her platform to not just teach the mainly female audience about chemistry but also how traditional gender roles are holding women back. Garmus tells Newscripts that she

Developing a skills-based practical chemistry programme: an integrated, spiral curriculum approach

Abstract Teaching practical laboratory skills is a key component of preparing undergraduate students for future careers in chemistry and elsewhere. In this paper, we present our new strategy to teach practical skills to undergraduate chemistry students. We report a Skills Inventory, a list of the suggested practical skills a graduate chemist should possess; this list was compiled by chemists across the UK. In our new practical course we begin by decoupling the practical skill from the theoretical background, compelling students to first master the basic processes needed to carry out a specific technique. In what we have termed a ‘spiral curriculum’ approach, skills are revisited on multiple occasions, with increasing complexity and greater emphasis on underlying theory. The new course makes links across traditional subdisciplines of chemistry to avoid compartmentalisation of ideas.

Is knowledge of evolution useful? A mixed methods examination of college biology students’ views

ABSTRACT This mixed methods study explores college biology students’ perceptions of the utility of evolution knowledge. In Phase I, 14 college biology students from an upper-level Evolution course were interviewed about their evolution acceptance and perceptions of the utility of evolutionary knowledge. In Phase II, findings from Phase I were used to develop a 28-item quantitative Usefulness of Evolution Knowledge Survey. Then, 472 college biology students enrolled in three biology courses were given the Usefulness of Evolution Knowledge survey to identify (1) evolution topics that have the highest utility value for evolution learners, (2) careers for which evolution knowledge is deemed most useful, and (3) relationships among evolution utility value and other constructs. The most useful evolutionary topics were genetic variation and adaptations of particular organisms to particular environments. Evolutionary knowledge was deemed most useful for conservation careers, with less utility for medical and forensic careers, and far less utility for careers in physics or chemistry. Significant relationships were found between perceptions of the usefulness of evolution and evolution acceptance, understanding of evolution, and intended career. Findings are discussed within the framework of the Expectancy Value Theory, and implications for future pedagogical interventions and associated research are provided.

Undergraduate chemistry and biochemistry majors' perceptions of careers in chemistry

In recent years there has been an increased emphasis on recruiting and retaining STEM students in order for the United States to retain its position as a leader in STEM fields (President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, (2012), Report to the president, engage to excel: Producing one million additional college graduates with degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics; Chen, X. (2013), STEM attrition: College students’ paths into and out of STEM fields). Knowing that choice of major and choice of career are closely related (Negru-Subtirica O. and Pop E. I., (2018), Reciprocal associations between educational identity and vocational identity in adolescence: a three-wave longitudinal investigation, J. Youth Adolesc., 47, 703–716; Negru-Subtirica et al. (2018), Good omens? The intricate relations between educational and vocational identity in adolescence, Eur. J. Dev. Psychol., 15(1), 83–98), it is important that we understand what students know about careers available in the field of chemistry as well as what they know about what those careers are like. In this study, qualitative methodology was utilized using narrative inquiry and case study analysis methods in order to capture the lived experiences of six senior-status chemistry and biochemistry majors at a mid-sized, Midwestern university. Participants were interviewed, narratives were constructed from their interview transcripts, and the narratives were used as case studies that were compared to one another. It was found that students are not fully aware of the careers available to them with a degree in chemistry or biochemistry or what the career options they did identify were like on a day-to-day basis. It was also noted that resources are not distributed evenly to all students and that there were resources that were missing that students would have liked to have access to. Suggestions for improvement in chemistry career education are discussed along with limitations of the study and ideas for future work.

Chemistry Careers in Africa: Progress and Perspectives

Chemistry Careers in Africa: Progress and Perspectives

Examining relationships between chemistry anxiety, chemistry identity, and chemistry career choice in terms of gender: a comparative study using multigroup structural equation modelling

Although there are numerous chemistry-related careers within the STEM fields, chemistry-related careers are not well regarded. High school is a critical time for developing students’ career choices. Previous studies suggest that anxiety and identity may be predictors of career choice. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of high school students’ chemistry anxiety (learning anxiety and test anxiety) and chemistry identity (competence/performance beliefs, interest, external recognition, and holistic impression on identity) on chemistry career choices. Guided by the possibility of different hindrances to chemistry career choice for males and females, the study further detected gender-specific patterns of relations between variables. The results of multigroup structural equation modeling firstly showed that different constructs of chemistry identity were positive and significant predictors of chemistry career choice but varied by gender. Specifically, competence/performance beliefs and holistic impression on identity were significantly associated with females’ chemistry career choices. In contrast, interest, external recognition, and holistic impression on identity motivated males’ chemistry career choices. Secondly, the effects of chemistry learning anxiety and test anxiety on chemistry career choice were completely mediated by chemistry identity, whereas the pathways and strength of mediation differed between females and males.

The perfect career panel

We’ve all been to boring career panels with four versions of the same story. It’s either “I went to graduate school, then a postdoc, and now I’m a professor” or “I went to graduate school, and I’ve been working at the same R&D department for the last 10 years.” But career panels don’t have to be this way. In fact, these events should be especially engaging because they address an extremely important question: What does the future look like for chemists? Many career panels end up being a combination of old friends and regular business contacts of the organizer, which is a quick and easy approach. But just because people are chemists does not mean that they are representative of careers in the chemistry community. Instead, a career-panel organizer should be asking, “What is the best way to teach young people about the wide range of careers in chemistry?” Who

Cultivating a New “SEED”: From an On-Ground to Online Chemistry Summer Camp

The American Chemical Society (ACS) Project SEED (Summer Experiences for the Economically Disadvantaged) program has been exposing students to chemistry-related research for over half a century. The program was created and designed to recruit and prepare high school students from economically challenged households to explore and build their confidence in chemistry and STEM, enter college, and hopefully pursue a STEM career. Historically, the students engaged in a summer research experience on college campuses, industrial laboratories, or government facilities, working alongside a scientist mentor. However, the 2020 summer on-campus experiences were not possible due to COVID-19 mitigation efforts. Thus, even after the program planning and recruitment for the experience was well underway, the program pivoted to a virtual camp. The camp’s format was substantially different from the on-campus experiences, with 291 students nationwide participating in webinars, small group discussions, and completing assignments based on a schedule with due-dates. Gathering a combination of quantitative and qualitative data before and after the camp revealed increases in the students’ professional skills, STEM identity, and college preparation. We failed to find a change in their professional identity. We determined that students participating in future Project SEED programming could benefit from engaging in a combination of on-campus and online events to experience authentic laboratory research and gain a more global perspective of chemistry careers and the potential for extended networking with other Project SEED participants and alumni.

Unwise Relationships and an Unsound Valence Theory: The Chemical Career of Robert Fergus Hunter (1904–1963)

The life of the Imperial College-trained Robert Fergus Hunter (1904–1963) was a Bildungsroman of a gifted chemist who appeared destined for a prominent academic career in organic chemistry. Two circumstances spoiled his chances. In the first place, he became associated with the declining fortunes of the weekly Chemical News. More seriously, as a professor at the Aligarh Muslim University in British India (1930–1936), he published papers on valence theory with the German-Jewish physicist Rudolf Samuel that fatally destroyed his chance of further academic preferment. Instead he became a research chemist in the food and plastics industries. The paper critically assesses Hunter's work on valence and also provides new light on science in India during the 1930s.

A sizzling biotech job market is streamlining the course to a career in chemistry

A sizzling biotech job market is streamlining the course to a career in chemistry

Coaching strategies in vocational orientation for promoting young women’s self-concept and career aspirations in chemistry

Abstract Females and students of non-dominant ethnicity are less likely to aspire to science careers. However, overcoming discrimination in science and chemistry is a challenging task, especially in vocational orientation. Thus, there is a need for strategies to support young women in their identity formation in science and chemistry. This article presents a scheme for supporting young women’s science identity formation in conversations about vocational orientation. The goal is to support young women in developing a positive attitude towards careers in chemistry. This attitude is part of cultural chemistry capital. The scheme was developed based on a study conducted as part of the project DiSenSu. Here, coachings for vocational orientation for young women in science and chemistry are provided, following the idea of Science in Public. In the coaching, the attitudes towards science and chemistry were determined using quantitative data. Based on these results, coaches conducted conversations with the participants. Qualitative analysis of 11 conversations revealed strategies coaches used to support young women in their vocational orientation. The study shows how the participants’ attitude towards careers in chemistry is used as a starting point for coachings. Also, it provides strategies that can be used to promote young women’s cultural chemistry capital.