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Career Development research

Focus on measuring predictors of career outcomes for graduate students & postdocs

Little is known about the career prospects of advanced degree-trained individuals, despite the considerable resources they and the institutions that train them devote to developing these scholars & scientists.

Recently, institutions have been collecting and reporting important training and outcome data.

However, more needs to be done to improve our understanding of career prospects for Masters and Ph.D. students and well as postdoctoral scholars. Such data will allow us to better prepare these talented individuals for a changing 21st Century workforce.

My research has shifted from my training in Neuroscience toward work that seeks to better understanding career outcomes of graduate students and postdocs. In addition, I seek to understand the effect professional development programming initiatives have on career outcomes.


Research Work

A survey-based analysis of the academic job market
Work conducted in collaboration with members of the Future_PI Slack Community
​Featured in Nature & Science Careers

Key Take-Home Points:
  • Analyzed 317 responses to an anonymous survey for faculty job applicants from the May 2018 - May 2019 market cycle
  • Participants:
    • Largely from North America
    • Mostly conducting research in biological/biomedical sciences
  • Participants were highly successful with 58% of applicants receiving at least one offer.
  • Traditional metrics (funding, publications, etc.) of a positive research track record above a certain threshold of qualifications were unable to completely differentiate applicants that did and did not receive a job offer.
  • Applicants’ perception of the faculty job application process as unnecessarily stressful, time-consuming, and largely lacking in feedback, irrespective of a successful outcome.
Our findings suggest that there is no single clear path to a faculty job offer and that perhaps criteria not captured by our survey may also influence landing a faculty position above a certain threshold of qualification.

We hope that this study will provide an avenue for better data-driven decision making by the applicants and search committees, better evidence-based mentorship practices by principal investigators, and improved hiring practices by institutions.
Picture
Traditional metrics of scholarly productivity were assessed against faculty offer percent (Offer % = # of offers/# applications). While continuous data was split by median for illustrative purposes, correlation analyses were also conducted and supported these relationships, or lack thereof. (Excerpt from Fig 5)

FOR FURTHER READING - KEY PUBLICATIONS IN THE EDUCATION RESEARCH & CAREER OUTCOMES SPACE

Graduate-Level Career & Professional Development Programming Impact
Measuring effects of trainee professional development on research productivity: A cross-institutional meta-analysis

Remote learning barriers and opportunities for graduate student and postdoctoral learners in career and professional skill development: A case study

A structured professional development curriculum for postdoctoral fellows leads to recognized knowledge growth

Scientific Workforce Trends & Career Motivations of Graduate Students and Postdocs
The PhD Factory: The world is producing more PhDs than ever before. Is it time to stop?

Science PhD career preferences: Levels, changes, and advisor encouragement

Why pursue the postdoc path?

The impact of postdoctoral training on early careers in biomedicine

​Career choices of underrepresented and female postdocs in the biomedical sciences​

Factors that influence the transition of university postdocs to non-academic scientific careers: An exploratory study

Skills & Experiences Needed for Career Success Post Graduate Degree
Intellectual synthesis in mentorship determines success in academic careers

Labor and skills gap analysis of the biomedical research workforce

Aligning doctoral education with local industrial employers’ needs: A comparative case study

An evidence-based evaluation of transferrable skills and job satisfaction for science PhDs

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Postdocs’ lab engagement predicts trajectories of PhD students’ skill development

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The Academic Career Readiness Assessment: Clarifying Hiring and Training Expectations for Future Biomedical Life Sciences Faculty

Measuring Career Outcomes of Graduate Students and Postdocs
The 10,000 PhDs project at the University of Toronto: Using employment outcome data to inform graduate education

An institutional analysis of graduate outcomes reveals a contemporary workforce footprint for biomedical master’s degrees

Applying inter-rater reliability to improve consistency in classifying PhD career outcomes

Visualization of gender, race, citizenship and academic performance in association with career outcomes of 15-year biomedical doctoral alumni at a public research university

    Share Studies Focused on Grad/Postdoc Professional Development & Career Outcomes Research 

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