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Reflections Blog

Ph.D. Recipients' Employment Trends: Insights From National Science Foundation Data

3/25/2021

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Scientific Workforce, Ph.D. Career Pathways
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The United States' National Science Foundation (NSF) collects a large amount of data on individuals receiving their doctorate degrees from U.S. universities.

These data include:
  • Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED)
  • Survey of Doctorate Recipients (SDR)
  • Science & Engineering Indicators, published by National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics

The SED focuses on recent Ph.D. graduates from a wide range of fields (lifes sciences, physical sciences, earth sciences, engineering, education, psychology, humanities) each year while the SDR captures employment information of individuals with Ph.D.s in science, engineering, or health fields, regardless of when they received their degree. 

I referenced some of these data a year ago in my blog post:
​Post-Ph.D. Career Plans: Consider the Possibilities 


A new batch of SED data was released in December 2020 containing data reported in 2019.
​So, while this data does not yet capture the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on new Ph.D. graduates, we can still look at trends in employment, earnings, and more across a wide range of disciplines. New SDR data (from 2019) will be released in April 2021. So, stay tuned for a deeper dive into insights from that survey in a future post.
How US Ph.D. Employment Has Shifted from 1999 to 2019
The SED contains much historical data, allowing us to look at trends in Ph.D. production, employment, and more. The survey's Post-Graduation Commitments data is reported from 1999 to 2019 and we'll delve more into it below. 
Ph.D.s with Post-Graduation Commitments: Employment vs. Postdoctoral Training
The data plotted below reflects the breakdown of doctorate recipients with either employment or postdoctoral training commitments post-graduation.

​Keep in mind, though, that many recent Ph.D. recipients do not report definite commitments post-graduation in the SED survey. In the data from 1999 to 2019, the average percentage of all Ph.D. recipients reporting definite post-graduation commitments is ~60%. ​
So, the data below reflects only that ~60% segment of Ph.D. recipients and should not be interpreted as fully representative of Ph.D. recipient employment levels as commitments could have solidified for recent Ph.D. recipients after the survey collection period or participants could have chosen not to disclose their post-graduation commitments in the survey.
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For the purposes of the data plotted above, postdoctoral training and employment are separate post-graduation commitments and the percentages in these two buckets plotted in the graphs above sum to 100% within each degree field. In these data, all post-graduation commitments are categorized as either employment or postdoctoral training. 

These historical post-graduation commitments data tell us a few things:
1) Pursuing postdoctoral training is far more common in the Life Sciences and Physical (Chemistry, Physics) & Earth Sciences
2) Data collapsed across all fields show a trend toward a lower percentage of Ph.D. recipients securing employment post graduation, with particular declines in the Humanities & Arts and Psychology & Social Sciences
3) More Humanities & Arts and Psychology & Social Science Ph.D.s with post-graduation commitments are pursuing postdoctoral training, especially over the last 10 years 
4) There are trends toward greater employment pursuit and lower engagement in postdoctoral training over the last 15 years in the Life Sciences and Physical & Earth Sciences (with a hint at a "peak postdoctoral training" level in the high 60% range in the year 2004)
Again, the data plotted above reflects only those Ph.D. recipients with definite post-graduation commitments. Let's examine the trends in the percentage of Ph.D. recipients reporting definite post-graduation commitments over the same 20-year time period, below. 
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Takeaways from the graph above:
1) The "shock" of the financial crisis beginning in 2008 is evident slightly in the 2009 SED data and noticeably in the 2014 data of recent Ph.D. recipients with definite post-graduation commitments
2) While post-graduation commitment percentages recovered by 2019 in most fields, the Humanities & Arts were an exception with percentage of recent Ph.D. graduates with post-graduation commitments lower in 2019 than in 1999, 2004, or 2009
3) Mathematics & Computer Science Ph.D.s consistently experience the highest percentage of definite post-graduation commitments
​
It will be interesting to see what the SED show in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on post-graduation commitments in the coming years. 
Are We Producing Too Many Ph.D.s?
A relevant point to consider in the post-graduation commitment data is how the number of Ph.D. degrees conferred and recipients with definite commitments has changed by field over the past 20 years. Essentially, are the fields with the largest percentage of definite commitments (Mathematics & Computer Science) producing more Ph.D.s to meet "demand" and, conversely, are fields with lower post-graduation commitment levels (Humanities & Arts) titrating their Ph.D. production as a result? While many in higher education may not be fond of a supply & demand analogy, ideally programs are scaling or reducing their enrollments based on employment demand for individuals with Ph.D.s in their respective fields. 
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Overall, there has been a 35.5% increase in the number of total US doctorates awarded from 1999 (41,100 Ph.D.s) to 2019 (55,703 Ph.D.s). Education doctorates (Ed.D.s; Ph.D.s) awarded decreased by 29.3% from 1999 to 2019 while the decline was 4.2% for the Humanities & Arts. The growth in Ph.D.s awarded in other fields over this twenty year time period was staggering: a doubling of degrees (118.7% increase) awarded in Mathematics & Computer Sciences and near doubling (93.3% increase) for Engineering Ph.D.s awarded. While less dramatic, the growth of Ph.D.s awarded in the Life Sciences (55.8%), Physical & Earth Sciences (53.7%), and Psychology & Social Sciences (22.8%) was still quite robust from 1999 to 2019.

​Take-home point from the Ph.D.s conferred data:
There are a lot of Ph.D.s being produced each year and while some fields may be producing recipients with good job prospects (Mathematics & Computer Sciences, 70.2% with post-graduation commitments in 2019) others continue to produce very high levels of Ph.D.s with moderate job prospects based on the SED data (Life Sciences, 62.3% with post-graduation commitments in 2019). The Humanities & Arts field showed a plateauing to slight decrease in Ph.D.s awarded over the past 20 years, suggesting this field is responding to lower "demand" for Ph.D.s (52.3% with post-graduation commitments in 2019), though some may argue not rapidly enough.
What Sectors Employed Recent Ph.D. Recipients in 2019?
The SED data reports the US employment sector of doctorate recipients with definite post-graduation commitments. These sectors are broad and include government, industry or business, nonprofit organizations, academe (not postdoc roles), or other/unknown sector. Postdoctoral training and commitments outside the United States are not reflected in these employment numbers.
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The sector employment data make clear employment in academe has declined over the past 20 years across all doctorate recipients, though more so in some fields of study. Across all doctorate recipients, there has been a 15.4% decline in the proportion of individuals employed in academe from 1999 to 2019 while the proportion employed by industry or business grew by 40% over the same time period. 

​The Ph.D. degree areas with the largest decline in the proportion of recipients working in academe from 1999 (48.1%) to 2019 (27.5%) was Mathematics & Computer Sciences at 42.8%, followed by a decline of 24.2% in the Life Sciences - from 47.5% of recipients in 1999 to 36% in 2019. In fact, as the graph above shows, the 2019 SED data indicates a larger proportion of Life Sciences Ph.D. recipients employed in industry or business than academe, a first since the data have been collected. Again, a reminder that postdoctoral training is NOT INCLUDED in these data. Rather, the graphs above display the breakdown of 2019 Ph.D. recipients with employment post-graduation commitments by sector.

Interestingly, employment in academe remained relatively stable in the fields of Psychology & Social Sciences (51.9% in 1999 and 51.7% in 2019), declined more modestly in Humanities & Arts (10.4% decline from 80.7% of 1999 Ph.D. recipients to 72.3% in 2019), and actually increased for the field of Education (20.3% increase from 47.2% of 1999 Ph.D./Ed.D. recipients to 56.8% in 2019).

Regardless, the data make clear that employment trends for recent Ph.D. recipients, especially in the Science, Technology, Engineering, & Math (STEM) fields, have changed markedly over the past 20 years.

​These data bring to light a question that continues to be asked more and more in graduate education: Are we preparing Ph.D. students for a 21st Century career landscape or one of the past? Clearly, employment prospects in academe are shrinking. 
Sectors Employing Ph.D.s in 2019 by Degree Field
It should be noted that there are vast differences in which sectors employ Ph.D. recipients based on their field of study, as indicated in the pie charts below. 
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While not plotted above the breakdown for employment sectors for 2019 Mathematics & Computer Sciences Ph.D.s was: 64% Industry/Business, 28% Academe, 5% Government, 2% Nonprofit, & ~2% Other or Unknown. 
Clearly, being employed by industry or business sectors was the most common career path for recent Ph.D.s in STEM in 2019.
Conversely, academe is by far the largest sector employing recent Ph.D.s in Humanities & Arts, Psychology & Social Sciences, & Education.  
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Clearly, in 2019, the sectors employing Ph.D.s varied WIDELY based on Ph.D. field. These facts raise the question, are we adequately preparing all Ph.D.s for their next career step given the diversity of paths they pursue?
Post-Ph.D. Plans: Pursue a Postdoc or Not?
While I have discussed my personal perspectives on the value of doing a postdoc, including using it for career exploration and self reflection, this is often a crucial decision point for many recent Ph.D. recipients. There are clearly financial considerations as postdoctoral salaries or stipends are relatively low compared to many Ph.D. holders' earning potential (discussed in more detail, below). However, the freedom and autonomy one can have in a postdoctoral position may not be matched for the rest of one's career and it can provide a nice period of scholarly and self exploration before making your next career move in academe, industry, or beyond. 

Postdoctoral training has also become necessary in many fields to be competitive for faculty positions as this additional training allows time for Ph.D. holders to build a larger collection of scholarly work, begin to demonstrate research independence, and develop crucial skills in lab management and grant writing, among other tasks required of faculty at research-intensive institutions. Teaching postdocs have also become more common for recent Ph.D.s seeking to build pedagogical and classroom management skills as they pursue teaching-focused faculty positions. 

As mentioned above in the breakdown of post-graduation commitments of recent Ph.D. recipients over the past 20 years, postdoctoral training is the majority commitment path for many fields: 59% of Life Science Ph.D. recipients in 2019 with post-graduation commitments pursued postdoctoral training while that percentage was ~56% in the Physical & Earth Sciences. The postdoctoral path is less common in other Ph.D. fields, though. 

The sheer numbers of 2019 Ph.D. recipients (collapsed across fields) pursing postdoctoral training (12,091), though, still dwarfs employment numbers in any other single employment sector (8,019 employed in academe; 7,476 employed in industry; 3,929 employment in other sectors).

​For many a postdoc is the default "next step" in their academic training and while it may fulfill this role for some, we should be empowering Ph.D. students with the information and space to decide if a postdoc makes sense for them (whether it fits into a career plan). 
Median Salaries of US Doctorate Recipients in 2019
While others have published about the financial impact of pursuing postdoctoral training versus employment post-Ph.D., the 2019 SED data allow us to look at how salaries differ between those pursuing postdoctoral training or employment by field of study (and by sex, though not discussed in this post). 

The percentage of median postdoctoral salaries to other employment salaries for new doctorate recipients demonstrate that the salary discount for pursuing postdoctoral training various greatly by field. In the Life Sciences, median postdoctoral salary ($50,000) is 61% of the median of other employment salary ($82,000). The percentage is as low as 49% in Engineering and as high as 94% in Humanities and Arts.
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The median salary for recently employed doctorates also varies greatly by field. $53,000 was the median salary for Humanities and Arts doctorate recipients in 2019 while it was $68,000 in Psychology, $70,000 in Education, $85,000 in Biological and Biomedical Sciences, $95,000 in Chemistry, $102,500 in Engineering, and $120,000 in Mathematics and Computer Sciences. 

While these data are aggregated over many sub-fields and employment sectors and represent the median of a wide salary range, they hopefully allow Ph.D. holders to have a sense of the salaries they can obtain post-degree.

An interesting question these data cannot answer by themselves is whether there are more Ph.D.s interested in employment in certain sectors than there are positions, which affect their ability to secure employment. It is possible (and probable) that many individuals pursue a postdoc after their Ph.D. because they cannot secure other employment upon graduation. 
​
More Data to Explore
There is a wealth of data in the SED and beyond. This post has just scratched the surface. 
Next​ month I hope to touch on some of the SED data comparing temporary visa holders and US citizens and permanent residents. In addition, 2019 SDR data should be published by NSF in April, which will allow for a deeper dive into employment trends for Ph.D.-holders in the US.

​If you are interested in exploring the data that made up this post, please visit the link below.
​You can also check out all the SED data on NSF's website.  
Explore 2019 NSF SED Data
Conclusions
While the NSF SED data prompt several questions about the doctorate workforce and career pathways that remain to be interrogated, what is clear is that post-Ph.D. career pathways for doctorates issued in the United States are changing across a wide range of disciplines. Through data such as this, those of us interested in improving graduate student and postdoc career and professional development can hopefully share post-Ph.D. employment insights with a variety of stakeholders (students, postdocs, faculty, university administrators, & lawmakers) to influence the environment at our universities.

​We must be more intentional in considering what we are training Ph.D. students and postdocs for and how their employment prospects have changed. By doing so, we can hopefully build a responsive graduate-level training ecosystem at our universities that takes into account the future economic stability and prosperity of our Ph.D. students and postdocs. 
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NIH BEST Blog Rewind: Exploring a Variety of Career Paths

9/1/2020

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Career Exploration, Personal Perspective
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In Fall 2018, I started writing a series of pieces for the NIH Broadening Experiences in Scientific Training (BEST) Student/Postdoc Blog. As these pieces are no longer accessible online, I wanted to re-share them in a continuing series NIH BEST Blog Rewind. Here, I will add some additional thoughts to what was originally authored in 2018, denoted in bold (dark red) throughout the piece.

Original Publication Date: December 2018                           NEW Perspectives, Comments, & Insights
Part of a series revisiting my NIH BEST Blog pieces. ​
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A career journey is often like a winding road with unexpected turns.
In my last post, I mentioned I would talk about exploring available career paths that may interest you based on your personal skills and values. An important thing to mention up front is that I believe there isn’t one ideal, career fit for each of us. I think people can find many, relatively different careers interesting and fulfilling. I think this is a good thing as it puts less pressure on us to find that perfect career. You should rather, I believe, explore several career options and then narrow them down to the two or three that you think would fit your interests and preferences in terms of salary, work-life balance, location, etc…and then aggressively pursue them.

This brings to mind the Life Design work coming out of Stanford University. One of their main points in life design is that there are many potential "yous" out there...a variety of things you could do with your life that would be equally fulfilling. I talked a bit about the Designing Your Life book in an earlier post but you can also check out this excellent presentation from one of the book's co-authors, Bill Burnett, below.
Another key point from Life Design is to "try stuff"...which includes talking to people about their current career so you can visualize whether it might be a good fit for you (Informational Interviews). Better yet, try to intern (see also) or volunteer in an area you might be interested in moving into.
Thinking About Potential Careers
Over the past several months I have thought a lot about my career. I have considered roles in life science consulting, as a medical science liaison, in medical writing, and, most recently, in career & professional development services. In this blog post, I will focus on what I learned about these particular careers and my personal evaluation of their fit for my life. Hopefully walking through this process lets you learn a bit about these careers (which may be useful in your own exploration) as well as how I have weighed the pros and cons of each career path to narrow my options to my final two.
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Life Science Consulting
Life science consulting is a growing field that includes companies such as Clearview Healthcare Partners, Putnam Associates, L.E.K., Clarion, and Triangle Insights Group. You can read more about consulting as a career for Ph.D.s and about one Ph.D.’s journey to life science consulting here. Many of these companies hire MBA graduates, but they will often hire Ph.D.s with domain expertise. While the compensation for Ph.D. trained consultants in these companies is normally quite good ($80,000+ (in Dec 2018), now ~$90,000 according to Glassdoor), that comes with expectations of long hours and, often, a lot of traveling.
​Many Ph.D.s transition from consulting to work in the biotech or pharmaceutical industry as the hard life of a consultant is difficult to maintain for more than a few years. I think this type of career can be particularly straining on someone with a family and often is more appealing to single individuals. These impressions are my own and while the consulting life certainly can work for some people, I realized pretty early on that it wouldn’t for me. If you are interested in trying out the field, though, both Clearview & Putnam offer summer programs for Ph.D. students and postdocs to learn more about the consulting role and visit their offices.
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Medical Science Liaison
The medical science liaison (MSL) role is also a growing one for Ph.D.-trained scientists. The career involves establishing relationships with key opinion leaders (KOLs), typically clinicians, to learn more about their therapeutic needs. MSLs most often work for pharmaceutical companies and are tasked with educating KOLs on the advantages of their company’s products. While the position is not directly in “sales,” it is hard for me to disentangle the MSL role from selling a product (if only selling via education). MSLs often travel to meet with KOLs in their designated geographic area/territory and spend considerable time on the road, and the compensation is typically excellent ($90,000+).
MSL experience is highly desirable for potential employers, which brings up the Catch 22 problem of breaking into the MSL role if someone doesn’t have experience as an MSL. I think one’s first MSL job is often about therapeutic area fit. For example, if your Ph.D. and postdoctoral research have focused extensively on glioblastoma and Company X is about to launch a new drug to treat that particular type of cancer, they are more likely to hire you to be an MSL for that product.
​There are programs that will help train you in the language of the MSL field that may help you secure a position, but I can’t personally speak to their value. In the end, I found it difficult to find MSL positions that fit my research expertise in neuroscience (many pharmaceutical companies have moved out of this therapeutic area, though this appears to be changing) and also was a bit uncomfortable with the “selling” that went with the role. I know many MSLs, though, and they all seem very satisfied with the role. Check out the MSL Society’s website for more resources.
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Medical Writing
Medical writing is a diverse career field encompassing individuals focused on regulatory writing, manuscript services, and broad-based science communication. Regulatory writing for the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) and other government bodies is a niche area in high demand.
Read more about Regulatory Affairs as a career in the excellent UNC TIBBS Career Blog.
The medical writing occupation is nice due to its flexibility—many writers work from home or remotely. The average compensation for a medical writer is ~$75,000 but note there is a large range of variability in the duties and salaries associated with these roles. In my personal experience, regulatory affairs writing roles are in particularly high demand.
If you are interested in this career path, consider joining the American Medical Writers Association (AMWA), which provides a variety of useful resources, offers a very reasonably-priced student membership, and has local chapters across the country to facilitate networking.

Want to learn more about medical writing?
​AMWA's Ultimate Guide to Becoming a Medical Writer is an excellent place to start!
The key to finding a medical writing career that fits your interest is to be sure you understand how a company you are interested in views that role. For example, some companies are focused more on regulatory writing while others do more medical communications work. So, be sure to talk to medical writers who work at companies you are interested in about the duties associated with their role via informational interviews. 
​A great way to show competency as a medical writer is to get experience writing more than scientific papers. I have personally blogged for a local organization focused on advances in the healthcare industry. In addition, writing for a local newsletter on your campus or via an organization like the National Postdoctoral Association (The POSTDOCket) can give you experience preparing pieces for broader audiences and under a timeline. If you can’t work with an existing media outlet, you can publish your own articles on LinkedIn (see an example here), which is a great way to build a portfolio of expertise not just in writing but also in whatever scientific/medical area you focus on. For example, you could write about particular therapeutic areas that you want to work in as an MSL (dual-purpose activity!). After speaking with several people in the field, I have continued to pursue the medical writing career path. It sounds like a great mix of scientific rigor and work-life balance.
For another perspective on medical writing as a career, see this interview with Dee Rodeberg from the UNC TIBBS Career Blog. ​​
I am now actively involved in the Carolinas Chapter of AMWA. So, if you live in the Raleigh-Durham area and are interested in this career path, check out the events page of our website for upcoming information sessions & networking opportunities!  And find your local AMWA chapter here.
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Ph.D. Student & Postdoctoral Fellow Support & Professional Development
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Ph.D. Student & Postdoctoral Fellow Support & Professional Development is a career area that I have been pursuing of late. Individuals in this field work for universities (often in the Graduate School or Office of Postdoctoral Affairs) and assist trainees in their professional development and career exploration. A person in this role can be seen as a type of career coach and often leads workshops on using LinkedIn, resume writing, networking, and job negotiation. These roles are often multifaceted and can include liaising with faculty who have questions about the appointment process and trainee benefits as well as building connections outside the university for potential trainee internships or shadowing opportunities.
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The story of me pursuing the graduate student/postdoc career & professional development career path was born out of an email I received from someone in Vanderbilt’s BRET Office who thought a job like this would be a good fit for me. I have been very active in the Vanderbilt Postdoctoral Association and the National Postdoctoral Association (NPA) but didn’t consider working in graduate student & postdoc affairs as a reasonable career path due to what I assumed to be a small number of available jobs. While the number of jobs is small, it is a growing career field. Having a network of individuals in this area (whom I met at the NPA annual meetings and often post job opportunities on LinkedIn) also helped me learn about job openings as they become available. In addition, the Graduate Career Consortium (GCC) maintains a member area where job opportunities in the career/professional development space are shared.

Note, the GCC now has a trainee membership for graduate students and postdocs interested in being better connected with professionals working in this space.

This is a career area that I am definitely passionate about and could see as a good fit for me in terms of being a rewarding career with excellent work-life balance.
Update: I did end up moving into the graduate/postdoc career & professional development career. Since January 2019, I manage the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs at NC State University. Read more about my transition from postdoc to postdoc affairs professional in this POSTDOCket piece here.
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I have also taken on leadership positions with the NPA & GCC. Both organizations have bright futures ahead. The NPA recently announced the hire of a new Executive Director and GCC membership is rapidly growing (~15% increase in membership since 2018)...now with over 450 members. It is a great time to get involved in both organizations either as a postdoc (NPA) or budding career/development professional (GCC). 
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Final Thoughts
I will talk more about the challenges of navigating a multi-prong career search in the future.

What I will say in closing is that the keys to performing a comprehensive career exploration search are to:
  1. Start early
  2. Talk with people in the role you want via informational interviews (use LinkedIn to find these people—I love the alumni tool as you have an instant connection with alumni from your current or former school)
  3. Make use of national organizations that are focused on a career area of interest to you and go to their social events to network with and learn from professionals
  4. Stay in touch with people at companies or in careers you are interested in who may be able to let you know of job openings as they become available
  5. Keep an open mind

As mentioned earlier, there are many lives you can live and feel fulfilled. The key, then, is to realize that fact early, explore multiple career options, and find a few paths to pursue with intent. You may be surprised to discover where it all ultimately leads but by keeping a few options open, you will leave room to pursue exciting opportunities as they arise (Planned Happenstance). 
Further Reading
Career Exploration Series on PassioInventa

The Rewards of Life Sciences Consulting: A Conversation with Putnam’s Remco op den Kelder
Top 10 List Of Alternative Careers For PhD Science Graduates
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What Informational Interviews Can Do for You
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What do we know about Ph.D. scientists’ career paths?
​
       Highlighting data from the Council of Graduate Schools' PhD Career Pathways Program
Association of American Universities (AAU) PhD Education Initiative 
       Activities & Reports

From the Reflections Blog
Start Here (using Design Thinking in career exploration)
Career Exploration 101
The Future of Work (and the transferable skills you build pursuing a PhD)
​NIH BEST Blog Rewind Series
Pondering the "next step" as a late-stage postdoctoral fellow
Is a postdoc worth it?

Resources
Designing Your Life worksheets ​
(Informational) Interviewing & Networking Tips from PhD+ (UVA)
Explore Careers via Vanderbilt's Beyond the Lab Video Series
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Post-Ph.D. Career Plans: Consider the Possibilities

3/7/2020

1 Comment

 
Ph.D. Career Trends
The post originally appeared on PassioInventa, a site run by graduate students to serve as a platform for science communication. 
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Many people assume Ph.D.-trained individuals work in two predominant areas: academia or industry. Most professors have Ph.D.s, and academic careers are  considered to be the “default” or even preferred path during one’s graduate training.
The other major career bucket Ph.D.s fall into after their training is industry. What do we mean by “industry”, though? Many assume an industry Ph.D. works in pharmaceutical development or some other research and development (R&D) role, and some, indeed, do. However, there are so many additional roles Ph.D.s can fill in industry as well as in government, nonprofits, and academia that don’t fall into the neat buckets of academic or industry scientist.
What do Ph.D.s do for work? Let’s look at the data.
A wealth of career data for Ph.D. recipients is collected by the National Science Foundation (NSF) in its
Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED) and Survey of Doctorate Recipients (SDR). The SED focuses on recent Ph.D. graduates each year (Table 1) while the SDR captures employment information of individuals with Ph.D.s in science, engineering, or health fields, regardless of when they received their degree (Table 2).
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Table 1: Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED) data on primary work role for 2018 Ph.D. graduates in the life sciences, physical/earth sciences, and engineering. R&D, Research & Development
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Table 2: Survey of Doctoral Recipients (SDR) showing primary work role of individuals with life sciences, physical/earth sciences, or engineering degrees in 2017. R&D, Research & Development
The data collected by the NSF demonstrate that anywhere from 34.1% to 37.3% of science/engineering doctorates ultimately perform work beyond R&D and teaching (Table 2, Something Else column). That number might surprise current graduate students and postdoctoral trainees who often consider their career options limited.  
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Ph.D. employment trends are changing: The elephant in the room 
A great challenge in graduate education and career/professional development is ensuring Ph.D.-trained researchers understand that the “traditional path” of securing a faculty position is becoming more difficult to follow. This trend was  summed up well by Schillebeeckx et al 2013 (reproduced below), who show that the cumulative number of Ph.D.s awarded in Science & Engineering fields has grown rapidly compared to available faculty positions over the past few decades.
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This  chart includes data collected through 2011; the startling trend has unfortunately continued. More recent data can be accessed from the SDR & SED on employment trends for Ph.D.-trained scientists and these data continue to show the decline in the percentage of Ph.D.s working in tenure-track faculty positions. The trend is most apparent in the SDR data where employment in academic positions is broken down by tenured faculty, those on the tenure track, and those in positions not eligible for tenure. In addition, the data is categorized by those who received their Ph.D.s <10 years from the survey (representing early career researchers and postdocs) and those 10 or more years post-Ph.D.. The change in the academic employment landscape for these recent Ph.D. graduates (Table 3) illustrates the radical shift occurring in Ph.D. employment at 4-year educational institutions.
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Table 3: Percentage change in recent (<10 years from degree) Ph.D.s employment at 4-year educational institutions in the United States from 2010 to 2017, calculated from NSF SDR data.
Growth in non-tenure track employment among science Ph.D.s
Where are these Ph.D.-trained scientists going? While some are moving into career fields outside of academia -- in fact the 2017 SED data showed private sector employment of science/engineering Ph.D.s (42%) was
nearly on par with educational institution employment (43%) -- many are working in non-tenure track positions that could include lecturers, adjunct faculty, research faculty, or postdoctoral positions. Table 3, above, shows the 2-3x growth in these non-tenure track positions in a period of just 7 years.
​Further examination of the 2017 data showed an astounding 17.1% (~1 in 5) of those with life science Ph.D.s employed at 4-year academic institutions were postdocs.
What is a postdoc and should I pursue one? 
"A postdoctoral scholar (postdoc) is an individual holding a doctoral degree who is engaged in a temporary period of mentored research and/or scholarly training for the purpose of acquiring the professional skills needed to pursue a career path of his or her choosing."
-National Postdoctoral Association 
While completing a postdoc has been a natural step toward securing a faculty career, it has also, unfortunately, become a holding place for Ph.D.s who have not been able to secure faculty employment. In addition, remaining a postdoc for too long may have serious effects on one’s lifetime earnings potential. In fact, many Ph.D.-trained individuals should probably not pursue a postdoc but a lack of information on career opportunities for Ph.D.-holders leaves many to default to the postdoc path.
My own story navigating the academic career path
I was one of those individuals on this default postdoc path. I had a great graduate school experience at UNC Chapel Hill and felt encouraged to stay in academia and pursue a postdoc with the goal of learning a new scientific technique (PET imaging of the dopamine system). My ultimate goal was to land a tenure-track faculty job.
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Completing my graduate training in the lab of a recently-hired faculty member certainly showed me that landing the faculty job is only step one on the path to the idealized tenured professor position. An equally difficult step is being productive to obtain tenure. A faculty member who obtains tenure needs to publish papers, secure grant funding, mentor effectively, perform service for one’s home department, and often teach. 

While the public sees a faculty job as pretty cushy -- and maybe after securing tenure it gets a bit more cushy (or at least secure in terms of your salary) -- the path to obtaining that tenured position is an arduous and tenuous one. There are so many places where one can fall off this pathway of postdoc -> assistant professor (on tenure-track) -> tenured faculty.

​Collaborative work from the
Future_PI Slack group which I have been involved with shows that every year, very qualified individuals who apply for assistant professorships don’t succeed. 

The average person (and most family members of graduate students) really has no idea the challenges Ph.D.s face in launching their careers. I know I was certainly not the first person whose parents inquired when I would be “done” with training and get a “real job”. They meant well but, like many people, assumed once someone has a Ph.D., aren’t they “done” and on the quick path to fortune?
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Acknowledging my faculty career doubts and discovering alternative career paths during my postdoc 
I spent 4.5 years as a postdoc at Vanderbilt University and it was a really wonderful time. I felt I grew as a person,
contributed important work to my field of neuroscience, and gained leadership experience in the Vanderbilt Postdoctoral Association. And while I went deep down the path toward obtaining a faculty position (even getting an onsite interview back in Spring 2018), in the back of my mind I had doubts about being a faculty member; that path just didn’t feel right. Having access to career/professional development programming at Vanderbilt helped me learn about other career paths for Ph.D.s.

I now work in career and professional development helping current graduate students and postdocs at North Carolina State University. 
You can read more about my personal career exploration journey and transition to postdoc affairs in my series of NIH BEST blog posts.
Career exploration is where it all begins
Part of the search for a post-Ph.D. or post-postdoc career is a search for yourself. This sounds kind of intimidating - and it is. But trust me when I tell you people like me do make it through a challenging career search, and along the way they often discover what is most important to their wellbeing and happiness. Seems like a pretty nice outcome after navigating the hard, twisty road to a career.

For a deeper dive: Explore the NSF data referenced in this article

See my previous Blog pieces on career exploration:
Start here
career exploration 101

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    Author

    A neuroscientist by training, I now work to improve the career readiness of graduate students and postdoctoral scholars.

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