Saturday, October 29, 2011

Other Careers For Science Grads?

OMG, So Many Science Careers
By Adam Ruben
October 28, 2011

Sometimes it seems that grad school mentors convince their young science students that they have only two career options: They can become academics, or they can become disappointments.

Last month, I spoke on two different career panels to roomfuls of young scientists. Every time a student raised a hand to speak, I noticed they all had the same question about jobs in science: “May I have one, please?”

As general as the panelists tried to keep their advice, the questions had a predictable undercurrent: Those aspiring young scientists didn’t just want to find out what it was like to work in science. They wanted us to say, “Okay. You win. I’ve got 50 open positions, and I’ll offer them to all of you today. Who wants health insurance?”

Rest of the Article.

3 comments:

  1. This article is an exercise in irony, right? It's nothing more than a list of hypothetical things you can do in science. Don't you learn all that while you're taking your courses? (Or at least from watching tv?) You need this Kindergarteny Career Day article to literally list things you can do in science because your big bad advisors are just telling you it's academics or you failed?

    My advisor said academics was a life of heartache and if I wanted it to go for it. So I don't know who is telling their students otherwise. But I've been TRYING to get out, and those jobs just don't exist.

    I know they don't exist in Humanities either, but what's the point of this?

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  2. God, this is how I feel every single time I talk to someone from a school that still offers tenure. Please. Please mention that next year you'll be hiring for ____ in my field..

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  3. Funny stuff, and from a scientist!

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