STEM training is at a critical juncture in many fields, producing far more doctorates and postdoctorates than can be sustainably develop independent academic careers. Our prior work estimates that there is about 1 tenure track job for every 6.3 Ph.D. graduates in the U.S. At the same time, STEM training is increasing in importance for entrepreneurship and in industry. This confluence of trends makes it imperative to prepare STEM workers for non-academic careers. The proposed project draws together a unique interdisciplinary team to examine two questions: (1) what are the pathways that graduate students take into non-academic careers? And (2) what are the role of their training environments, including faculty sponsors and networks in guiding those pathways?
Funding:
National Science Foundation
Funding Period:
09/15/2015 to 08/31/2019