Non-academic Careers Research Articles

Co-op and Career Centres and Faculty Collaborating to Support Graduate Students’ Career Success

UNIVERSITY CO-OP AND CAREER CENTRES occupy a unique position as they seek to further the university's institutional goals, meet the needs of employers, and develop graduates who are successful in achieving their individual career goals. As the labour market evolves and academic positions become increasingly competitive, co-op and career centres have started to play a stronger role in supporting graduate students' career development. PhD graduates often struggle in transitioning to nonacademic careers for a number of reasons: 1) the competencies (skills, knowledge, attributes, and experience) recognized for academic and nonacademic careers are distinct, 2) the academic culture has not typically valued careers outside of academia, and 3) there is a lack of meaningful data on PhD graduate career outcomes. University career practitioners are well positioned to partner with academic units to support graduate students in achieving their career goals, which, in turn, supports graduate students' overall engagement and satisfaction with their university experience. Co-op and career centre staff have strong relationships with employers through their co-operative education programs, professional memberships, and personal industry networks. They have an understanding of what employers value, and they are experienced at coaching individuals in articulating and developing their competencies. This makes them well equipped to support graduate students in identifying and securing opportunities that will support their successful transition into the workforce. Humanities PhD graduates have broad skills sets and interests and they find work in a variety of sectors including: * The non-profit sector for roles involving: grant writing, research, fund-raising, and program development and evaluation. * Higher education administration for roles involving: coaching on writing and learning, research, communications, program development, coordination, and evaluation. * Private corporations and government for roles involving: marketing, communications, research, decision-making or policy writing or analysis, training and education, and project management. Work in these industries can offer opportunities for humanities PhD graduates to bridge their skills sets from an academic context to industry, gain new skills, and allow them to contribute to a cause, area, or community that interests them. PhD graduates have a high level of specialized training and the potential to be very attractive to employers; however, they need to demonstrate the relevance of their skill sets outside of an academic context. All employers are interested in finding skilled employees who are a good fit for their organization, and this requires that the candidate has some related experience and can clearly articulate his/her value. In the recruitment process, employers are looking for evidence that graduates have undertaken steps to tailor their experience and skills to the role for which they are applying. This can be accomplished by pursuing part-time and contract projects or full-time work terms prior to graduation. Graduate students can engage in integrated career planning pursuing career opportunities in both the academic and non-academic track simultaneously. For example, at the University of Victoria, a humanities PhD co-op student completed a four-month full-time summer work term as a researcher and proposal writer in the final year of his degree. He was committed to pursuing an academic career but acknowledged that there weren't currently many opportunities open in his field. He had a young family to consider and was interested in exploring opportunities in higher education administration as well. This experience allowed him to gain experience and skills sets that would make him more versatile in a changing labour market upon graduation. Work-integrated experiential learning opportunities like co-operative education programs allow graduate students to develop their network, build their resumes, and explore further career options. …

What Is the Relationship Between Number of Publications During Orthopaedic Residency and Selection of an Academic Career?

Although many residents partake in academic pursuits, including the publication of clinical studies, laboratory research, case reports, and review articles, it is uncertain whether such experiences are associated with a career-long interest in an academic orthopaedic career. This single-institution study was conducted with use of data from an urban academic university-based residency program. An academic career was defined as attainment of a teaching title signifying inclusion in, or affiliation with, a teaching department. Additionally, an academic career was subclassified as either full academic or semi-academic on the basis of employment characteristics. A PubMed search was conducted for publications by all 130 orthopaedic surgery residents who began their training in our residency program during the 1987-1988 through 2003-2004 academic years. An analysis was performed to determine whether the number or type of publications during residency or demographic variables were associated with selection of an academic career on completion of training. The mean total number of publications during residency was greater for individuals who chose an academic career (4.8) than for those who chose a nonacademic career (2.4). When the year of residency graduation was considered, a greater number of publications during residency correlated with a more recent year of graduation in residents who selected an academic position. There were no differences with regard to sex, possession of advanced degrees, or completion of an additional research year between individuals who selected an academic compared with a nonacademic career. Graduates of our orthopaedic residency program who pursued an academic career were likely to have published more articles during residency compared with their nonacademic peers.

Why I Love Being an Academic Psychiatrist

do physicians choose careers in academic medicine? a literature review. Acad Med 2010; 85:680–686 5. Adler DG, Hilden K, Wills JC, et al: What drives US gastroenterology fellows to pursue academic vs. non-academic careers?: results of a national survey. Am J Gastroenterol 2010; 105:1220–1223 6. LevinsonW, LinzerM:What is an academic general internist? career options and training pathways. JAMA2002; 288:2045– 2048 7. Coleman MM, Richard GV: Faculty career tracks at U.S. medical schools. Acad Med 2011; 86:932–937 8. Berthold J. Is the generation gap a growth opportunity? ACP Internist 2010; April 2008 9. American Psychiatric Association: Resident Census: Characteristics and Distribution of Psychiatry Residents in the U.S.: 2009–2010. Arlington, VA, 2010 10. Straus SE, Straus C, Tzanetos K; International Campaign to Revitalise Academic Medicine: Career Choice in Academic Medicine: Systematic Review. J Gen InternMed 2006; 21:1222–1229 11. Borges NJ, Navarro AM, Grover AC: Women physicians: choosing a career in academic medicine. Acad Med 2012; 87: 105–114 12. Borus JF: The Transition to Practice Seminar. Boston, MA, Harvard Longwood Psychiatry Residency Training Program, 2009 13. Holcombe RF: Viewpoint: who’s watching out for the clinical academician? Acad Med 2005; 80:905–907 14. Roberts LW, Hilty DM: Handbook of Career Development in Academic Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc., 2006 15. Lowenstein SR, Fernandez G, Crane LA: Medical school faculty discontent: prevalence and predictors of intent to leave academic careers. BMC Med Educ 2007; 7:37

CLARE DE GRAFFENREID AND THE ART OF CONTROVERSY: A PRIZEWINNING WOMAN ECONOMIST IN THE FIRST DECADE OF THE AMERICAN ECONOMIC ASSOCIATION

The outspoken social reformer Mary Clare de Graffenreid (born 1849, died 1921) stood out among the handful of early women members of the American Economic Association (founded 1885) as the winner of two essay competitions. In 1889, Clare de Graffrenreid’s essay shared the $100 first prize in an AEA essay competition on child labor, and appeared the following year in thePublications of the American Economic Association(1stseries, 5, 2, March 1890, pp. 194–271). In 1891 her essay “The Condition of Wage-Earning Women” (published inForum15, March 1893, pp. 68–82) won the $300 first prize in an AEA essay competition on women workers (the $200 second prize went to Helen Campbell’s “Women Wage Earners,” 1893). Her valedictory address at Wesleyan Female College in Macon, Georgia, in 1865 provided her first taste of public controversy, as the general commanding Union troops in the area responded by placing the college under guard and threatening to close it, but by far the most controversial of her twenty-seven publications was “The Georgia Cracker in the Cotton Mill” (Century Magazine, February 1891). This paper examines de Graffenreid’s career and contributions, and what her career reveals about the paths for women to participate in the AEA and the American economics profession in the late nineteenth century. After teaching Latin, literature, and mathematics for a decade at Georgetown Female Seminary, de Graffenreid had a non-academic career as an investigator with the Bureau of Labor (from 1888, Department of Labor) from 1886 until she retired in 1906. Despite her AEA prizes, her published lectures to other conferences (YWCA, National Conference of Charities and Correction), and her published testimony to the Industrial Commission on the Relations of Capital and Labor, she was never on the program of an AEA meeting. Like other women economists of her time, de Graffenreid crossed boundaries between scholarly research and social reform, and between different scholarly disciplines (e.g., publishing “Some Social Economic Problems” inAmerican Journal of Sociology, 1896). The paper examines how essay competitions provided women such as de Graffenreid and Campbell (and Julie-Victoire Daubié and Clémence Royer in France) with a voice in the predominately male economics profession of the late nineteenth century.

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.

Advanced endoscopy procedures in private practice: is the juice worth the squeeze?

Advanced endoscopy procedures in private practice: is the juice worth the squeeze?

Factors Associated With the Career Choices of Hematology and Medical Oncology Fellows Trained at Academic Institutions in the United States

Factors that influence hematology-oncology fellows' choice of academic medicine as a career are not well defined. We undertook a survey of hematology-oncology fellows training at cancer centers designated by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) to understand the factors fellows consider when making career decisions. Program directors at all NCI and NCCN cancer centers were invited to participate in the study. For the purpose of analysis, fellows were grouped into three groups on the basis of interest in an academic career. Demographic data were tested with the Kruskal-Wallis test and χ² test, and nondemographic data were tested by using the multiscale bootstrap method. Twenty-eight of 56 eligible fellowship programs participated, and 236 fellows at participating institutions responded (62% response rate). Approximately 60% of fellows graduating from academic programs in the last 5 years chose academic career paths. Forty-nine percent of current fellows ranked an academic career as extremely important. Fellows choosing an academic career were more likely to have presented and published their research. Additional factors associated with choosing an academic career included factors related to mentorship, intellect, and practice type. Fellows selecting nonacademic careers prioritized lifestyle in their career decision. Recruitment into academic medicine is essential for continued progress in the field. Our data suggest that fewer than half the current fellows training at academic centers believe a career in academic medicine is important. Efforts to improve retention in academics should include focusing on mentorship, research, and career development during fellowship training and improving the image of academic physicians.

Canada prepares grad students for nonacademic careers

Canada prepares grad students for nonacademic careers

Academic careers for graduate students: a strong attractor in a changed environment

Professorship has traditionally been the single most valued career path for graduates of PhD programs. Policies now encourage graduate students to directly or indirectly engage with non-academic organizations to encourage the next generation of researchers to explore alternative careers, including opportunities in industry and government. In this article, we use data from a survey of Quebec science and engineering graduate students to examine the impact of their participation in university-industry-government research partnerships on their professional preferences. We assess the degree to which exposure to non-academic realities through different training arrangements relates to career preferences, and how these preferences evolve over time. We show that the proportion of students who did not change their preferred career path over time is high, indicating that by the time students engage in a research-training program they already, for the most part, know what career they want to pursue. However, and although students with close ties to non-academic partners may initially be more interested in non-academic career paths, over time all categories of students become more attracted to academic careers. We conclude that faculty positions continue to dominate the professional dreams of fledgling researchers, a power of attraction that increases as students advance in their program, even when it involves industrial contacts.

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

Gastroenterology is an exciting and burgeoning field that provides an extraordinary number of career opportunities for physicians and scientists. The unique blend of intellectual and procedural-based clinical practice coupled with the excite

A positive postdoctoral experience is related to quality supervision and career mentoring, collaborations, networking and a nurturing research environment

For postdocs to have the best chances of achieving their career goals they need to not only acquire discipline-specific research experience, but also additional generic skills vital for future employment inside or outside academia. They also require access to information and mentoring that will help them strategically plan and make informed decisions about their future. Few studies have examined the variables that impact the postdoctoral experience or research productivity. Thus, a comprehensive survey was conducted to determine whether quality supervision, career mentoring, collaboration, networking and a nurturing research environment makes a positive difference in the experiences and productivity of postdoctoral researchers. Unsurprisingly, the survey revealed that job insecurity and lack of a career structure are ongoing concerns for postdocs. However, a clear association was shown between quality supervision, for example, in conveying the importance of taking responsibility for their future academic career by strengthening their track record, and the number of peer-reviewed publications produced. The findings also suggest that mentoring in non-academic career paths can be greatly improved. The results of this study have guided a research-intensive Australian University to implement initiatives and programs which enhance the postdoctoral experience. Finally this work raises awareness of the crucial contributions postdocs make to the research output and environment of universities.

What Drives US Gastroenterology Fellows to Pursue Academic vs. Non-Academic Careers? Results of a National Survey

We conducted a nationwide survey of US gastroenterology fellows to identify key demographic and job-related factors relevant to the decision between an academic and a non-academic career. A survey was e-mailed to all US GI fellowship program directors and distributed at fellows' endoscopy courses. Data were evaluated via univariate and multivariate analysis. One hundred eighty-four fellows completed surveys. Univariate analysis identified one factor that predisposed fellows to pursue non-academic practice: the perception that a non-academic salary would meet their financial needs. Four factors were identified that predisposed fellows to pursue academic practice: age>35 years, prior attainment of a master's or a PhD degree, and advanced fellowship. All factors were significant on multivariate analysis. If salaries were equal, 60% of respondents would choose academic over non-academic practice. Fellows selecting academic practice were motivated to publish and conduct research. Level of debt and a positive relationship with a mentor were not significant factors. Fellows desiring more money strongly favor non-academic practice. Fellows choosing academic practice tend to be older, plan to pursue advanced training, desire fewer work hours per week, and have a higher rate of prior graduate study. If salaries were equal in academic medicine and non-academic practice, the majority of fellows would choose academic medicine.

Factors influencing the career decisions of United States hematology oncology fellows training at NCI- and NCCN-designated cancer centers.

6144 Background: Factors influencing hematology-oncology fellows' choice of academic medicine as a career are not well defined. Moreover, it appears that trainees' interest in academic medicine wanes as they progress through fellowship training. To better understand the factors that impact on career choices we undertook a survey of hematology-oncology fellows at National Cancer Institute (NCI) and National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) designated cancer centers. Methods: Program directors at all NCI and NCCN cancer centers were emailed and invited to participate in the study. Surveys were distributed through the offices of all participating programs. Results: A total of 422 fellows were surveyed;236 responded (62.3% RR). 58% were male, 64% were PGY2 and PGY3, 46% had > $100,000 in debt, 22% had a second post-graduate degree and 15% intended to pursue an additional degree after training. 98% had participated in a research project during training; 45% in clinical research, 17% basic science research and 29% in both a clinical and a basic science research project. Fellows choosing an academic career were more likely to have presented (78% vs. 57%; p = 0.001) their research at a scientific meeting. They were also more likely to have published (78% vs. 50%; p < 0.0001). Additional factors associated with choosing an academic career included perceived status (p < 0.0001), faculty mentorship (p < 0.0001), perceived support of research interests (p < 0.000) and desire to teach (p < 0.0001). Regardless of career path fellows ranked job satisfaction, consistency with personality and experience with patients, among the most important factors in their career decisions. Fellows choosing nonacademic careers listed lifestyle factors such as on-call and work hours and time for leisure among the most important factors in their career decision. Conclusions: Strategies are needed to increase fellows' interest in pursuing academic careers. Our data suggest increased opportunities for research and publication along with improved mentorship are key factors necessary to attract fellows into academic careers. In addition, lifestyle issues, real or perceived, require more attention and study. No significant financial relationships to disclose.

My Foray into the Other Side: Preparing Students for Corporate Careers

The pervasive mistrust of "hardcore" academics toward their colleagues in applied fields and in industry is no secret. In some academic circles, the word Applied is synonymous with not serious. Academic elitists dismiss their practicing colleagues as lightweights who engage in applied research because they failed to make it in academia. The feeling is often mutual. One of the greatest insults in industry is to describe someone's work as "too academic." (In fact, one of the definitions of academic in Webster's dictionary is "having no practical or useful significance.") The mistrust between academia and industry is unfortunate because both sides have much to learn from each other. It is also counterproductive to our goal as educators to prepare our students for their future careers. We academics ignore what our practicing colleagues do at our students' perils. Let's face it: Most of our undergraduate students—and some of our graduate students—plan to pursue careers outside of academia. As responsible teachers, we need to at least understand what skills and knowledge they need to achieve their non-academic career goals. This was the conviction that led me this summer to the Advertising Educational Foundation's Visiting Professor Program (VPP) (http://www.aef.com/on_campus/professor/vpp/9000).

Whether and Whither an Applied Career Track for Doctoral Political Scientists

There is no surefire mechanism to balance the incoming flow of political science doctoral candidates with the availability of tenure-track positions upon graduation. With as many as 15% of such doctoral graduates leaving academe, it would appear time for the campus to begin mentoring its students with a seasoned understanding of the non-academic career options. A sampling of former APSA Congressional Fellow political science doctorates indicates a variety of such non-academic applied political science positions for which the graduate work was a benefit.

Japan's postdocs open to alternative work

The government and universities must highlight non-academic careers and nurture a diverse skill set, say Toshiyuki Misu and Akira Horoiwa.

Graduação em química: avaliação, perspectivas e desafios

Poor standards in schools and the increase in the number of institutions of higher education - frequently without the due control - have adversely affected the quality of university level education in Brazil. On the other hand, evaluation of undergraduate courses, which has been carried out regularly since the min 1990's allow, within certain limits, a description of the quality Brazilian higher education courses in general, and Chemistry courses in specific. This paper evaluates the results of the national examinations (2000 and 2003's ENC, and 2005's ENADE), attrition rates for the 1990's and for the 2000-2005 period, as well as the perceptions of students and instructors that took part in those exams. Furthermore, the paper also analyzes the opinions of academics and of private sector professionals about the educational system's capacity to meet the job market's demand for skilled labor force. The actual profile of Chemistry graduates is then compared to what is demanded from them by the market, revealing deficiencies in the educational system. The expected essential curricula changes that would introduce an innovative and advanced approach in the undergraduate courses have become great challenges. In this sense, the paper seeks to reflect on questions such as: How to give informative courses a formative emphasis? Which programs should be included in the curricula to involve students in activities that require initiative and decision-making, thus fostering both learning and interest in Chemistry? How to prepare instructors for schools and for higher education? How to increase instruction in related areas without expanding the curricula excessively? How to introduce entrepreneurship in the curricula and further awareness of the professional non-academic careers in the area?

Jack‐of‐all‐trades

Statistics from the USA and Europe point to the same fact: many graduate students currently embarking on PhD programmes will not pursue careers in academic research. Once they have completed their magnum opus —rarely to be read after the thesis defence—they inevitably face the realities of the job market. It quickly becomes clear that for most of them the dream that lured them into the world of research is not attainable and a job remains elusive. For those that do succeed, the position that they find is not a permanent one, but rather a modestly paid temporary appointment with insecure support for research. They might continue as postdoctoral researchers, but this by no means guarantees them an independent position in a competitive research environment—even with a good CV and strong publications. Many PhD students and postgraduates therefore come to the conclusion, at some point during their training, that the best way to find a ‘real’ job, with a reasonable level of stress, is to leave academic research altogether and look elsewhere. This is often the case when …

Professionalizing Graduate Education: The Master's Degree in the Marketplace (review)

Reviewed by: Professionalizing Graduate Education: The Master’s Degree in the Marketplace Donovan R. Walling (bio) Judith Glazer-Raymo. Professionalizing Graduate Education: The Master’s Degree in the Marketplace. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2005. 160 pp. Paper: $26.00. ISBN 0-7879-8361-6. Professionalizing Graduate Education: The Master's Degree in the Marketplace builds upon the author's 1986 work, The Master's Degree: Tradition, Diversity, and Innovation, by tracing the development of the master's degree in the contexts of professionalization and credentialism that permeate today's American society at all levels. "The master's degree exemplifies the diversity and complexity of graduate education in the twenty-first century," the author begins (p. vii). Setting a foundation for her study, she documents changes in master's education—whether as a predoctoral, intermediate, or terminal credential—in terms of the growth in numbers of degrees awarded and the diverse ends toward which master's-level studies are taken up. Professional master's programs, avers Glazer-Raymo, have grown as a result of several forces, which she identifies as "globalization, privatization, accountability, and demographic changes in the composition of graduate students" (p. 3). These forces influence both demand and supply, for she also takes the position that "the master's degree has become a pivotal force in the economic growth of the university" (p. 3). Glazer-Raymo pursues her analysis (after a helpful executive summary and introductory section) with a chapter titled, "The Evolution of the Master's Degree," in which she describes the degree as becoming "an entrepreneurial credential" with the power to alter graduate education on a broad scale. She then examines "Curricular Models of Master's Education," including sections on degree diversity and alternative delivery systems. Then follow treatments of the master's degree in several contexts: "Major Professional Programs," about business, accounting, and education; "Professionalizing Science and Engineering," with specific attention to biosciences, geosciences, chemical sciences, physics, and engineering; and "Mixed Trends in the Humanities and Social Sciences." The study is drawn together by the last major chapter, "Redesigning Master's Degrees for the Marketplace," which, although there is a brief conclusion, essentially refines Glazer-Raymo's thesis and offers a summation. The value of this book lies in Glazer-Raymo's perspective on changes in the master's degree over the past two decades. She points out that graduate education evolved over time in two distinct directions, namely the professional and the academic. "By the close of the twentieth century, however," she writes, "these paths had begun to converge" (p. 16). This convergence has given rise to redesigning the master's degree. She cogently identifies four mechanisms that are propelling this redesign: "market mechanisms triggered by a global economy, institutional competition, employer demands, and workplace [End Page 337] incentives; the convergence of academic and professional fields of knowledge across disciplinary boundaries; state oversight and assessment typified by accountability mandates, quality controls, and resource delivery; and technological advances that transform graduate study and professional practice" (p. 99). About the first of these mechanisms, Glazer-Raymo states that the master's degree has been the American university's "most successful export" (p. 99). But the United States is not without competition. As she points out, the European University Association has agreed to replace current degree programs by 2010 with "a single model combining a three-year baccalaureate and a two-year master's degree" (p. 99). Where the European university once was reserved for society's elites, the European Union is now pushing institutions toward greater inclusion and diversity, matching those of American institutions. On the second point, Glazer-Raymo states that professional master's degrees predominate, "having long since overtaken the arts and sciences as terminal credentials that connect more directly with the workplace" (p. 35). But graduate education in the arts and sciences is changing. She cites, among many examples, the professional science master's (PSM) promulgated by the Sloan Foundation. The PSM is "a freestanding terminal degree for scientists seeking nonacademic careers" (p. 59). Glazer-Raymo notes that the Sloan Foundation has funded PSM degree tracks at forty-five institutions with the motive that "gaining acceptance at the top tier of research university science...

Academic Career Selection and Retention in Radiation Oncology: The Joint Center for Radiation Therapy Experience

The United States healthcare system has witnessed declining reimbursement and increasing documentation requirements for longer than 10 years. These have decreased the time available to academic faculty for teaching and mentorship. The impact of these changes on the career choices of residents is unknown. The purpose of this report was to determine whether changes have occurred during the past decade in the proportion of radiation oncology trainees from a single institution entering and staying in academic medicine. We performed a review of the resident employment experience of Harvard Joint Center for Radiation Therapy residents graduating during 13 recent consecutive years (n = 48 residents). The outcomes analyzed were the initial selection of an academic vs. nonacademic career and career changes during the first 3 years after graduation. Of the 48 residents, 65% pursued an academic career immediately after graduation, and 44% remained in academics at the last follow-up, after a median of 6 years. A later graduation year was associated with a decrease in the proportion of graduates immediately entering academic medicine (odds ratio, 0.78; 95% confidence interval, 0.65-0.94). However, the retention rate at 3 years of those who did immediately enter academics increased with a later graduation year (p = 0.03). During a period marked by notable changes in the academic healthcare environment, the proportion of graduating Harvard Joint Center for Radiation Therapy residents pursuing academic careers has been declining; however, despite this decline, the retention rates in academia have increased.