Tag: science careers

The big news around the ‘net today, as far as the life sciences are concerned, is the dramatic increase in the number of papers that are retracted, as documented (yet again) in this paper, and told in this NY Times piece by Carl Zimmer. (Check out some of the buzz here and here and here.) This story is primarily about the biomedical sciences, and so the question naturally arises, is the biomedical science community dysfunctional?

I’m going to say yes – but perhaps not in the way you think. As someone at a vulnerable career stage, whose future career path depends on the health of the biomedical community, I’ve experienced some of the problems in the community, and so I will offer you my opinion based on anecdotal evidence, for whatever it’s worth:

The biomedical community is dysfunctional because it has increasingly become a system based on a rigged lottery. Continue reading “Biomedical science… is there a problem?”

Carl Zimmer in the NY Times:

In 1973, more than half of biologists had a tenure-track job within six years of getting a Ph.D. By 2006 the figure was down to 15 percent.

Before actually becoming a scientist, I had a particular view of what a science career was about. Part of this view came from reading biographies of famous scientists, but a big part came from being the child of scientist who is not famous but very successful. My experiences in grad school and during my postdoc have been a great disillusionment, despite the marvelous intellectual experiences and the caring and inspiring mentors it’s been my privilege to work with. You’re probably thinking, well duh, anyone in any career hits a point of disillusionment because nothing is every as glamorous as it seems from the outside, except perhaps the life of a billionaire hedge fund manager. (If you make more than $100 million annually, I don’t want to hear any shit about your life not being as glamorous as it seems… it’s plenty glamorous.)

Back to science careers – as I’ve discussed before, there is some external evidence that my impressions aren’t simply the natural impatience of someone near the end of the long so-called training period. Here’s one more report on the issue, this time from way back in 2001, when the NIH budget was still on a path to doubling and long before R01 grant success rates hit an all-time low in 2011:

“Careers and Rewards in Bio Sciences: the disconnect between scientific progress and career progression” (PDF): Continue reading “Science career pessimism: it’s not just me”

io9 reports:

In a survey taken of over 4,000 scientists across the globe, 70% of whom were men, researchers found that people consider science a “family unfriendly” career.

The survey itself (PDF), conducted by the Association for Women in Science, summarizes the findings like this:

Attracting workers into science and technology fields could be hampered by work-life integration issues according to a new international survey. Drawing data from 4,225 publishing scientists and researchers worldwide, the Association for Women in Science (AWIS) finds that lack of flexibility in the workplace, dissatisfaction with career development opportunities, and low salaries are driving both men and women to re-consider their profession.

Continue reading “Survey says: Science careers are ‘family unfriendly’”