Is It Time to Redefine the “Alternative” Career Path for Ecologists?

Hansen, Gretchen J. A.; Sadro, Steven; Baustian, Melissa M.; Stauffer, Beth

doi:10.1002/lob.20142312

Cited by 9 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…The finding that the majority of ecology Ph.D.s are not on the tenure track is consistent with other studies and essays (Hansen et al. ). Based on raw data from a rigorously designed stratified random sampling effort of Ph.D. recipients across the Nation, analysis of the SDR data represents the most robust characterization of science career trends currently possible.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…Previous surveys of ecology career trends that did not use these fine‐scale data (Martin , Hansen et al. ) have revealed suggestive trends. Use of the NCSES raw data, which is collected through a stratified random sampling design, allows broader inference as well as a wealth of contextual information.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Indeed, Martin (2012) highlights ecology's need to disentangle its statistics for targeted analysis of employment trends. There is no a priori reason to expect that placement of ecologists in tenure-track academic positions is higher than that of biomedical researchers, and there are some suggestions that this placement is similarly low (Hansen et al 2014). However, jobs outside of academia probably fit a different profile for ecologists in ways that could substantially alter their trends in placement and career profiles.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Careers in ecology: a fine‐scale investigation of national data from the U.S. Survey of Doctorate Recipients

Hampton

Labou

2017

Ecosphere

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Abstract. For several decades, economists have been warning the academic community that graduate training has been too tightly focused on careers in higher education, using the apprenticeship model in which students are trained to become tenure-track faculty at research-focused institutions. These jobs are simply not growing at the same rate as graduate admissions. In biomedical research, the mismatch in supply and demand has now been widely recognized. Other disciplines have begun these discussions, but for smaller fields, employment trends are more difficult to identify because they are subsumed in aggregated national statistics. For non-biomedical biological fields in particular, such as ecology, using biology statistics may be inappropriate since trends within the field may be obscured by the strong signal from biomedical disciplines. Here, we use the 2013 Survey of Doctorate Recipients (SDR) to investigate career paths for ecology Ph.D. recipients in the United States, and present the first fine-scale national profile of careers in ecology. Our results demonstrate that while involuntary unemployment is low for ecology Ph.D. recipients (3.3%) and job satisfaction is high, the assumptions of the prevailing apprenticeship model are inappropriate: Less than 20% of employed recent ecology Ph.D. graduates are in tenure-track positions at a Ph.D.-granting university. Accordingly, proactive steps could be taken to create more realistic expectations about graduate training and preparation for diverse careers. Further, the SDR data provide demographic profiles for ecology. Ethnic diversity has remained low in ecology (7.5% non-Caucasian for Ph.D. recipients since 2000). Gender balance in career-track positions appears to have improved by multiple metrics. However, women are overrepresented in non-tenure-track academic positions, where access to resources that support professional advancement may be limited relative to tenure-track jobs, and salary disparities appear for women in private academic institutions. Thus, while there is much good news in these data, we suggest that ecology as a field would benefit from (1) a broad analysis of the training required to make Ph.D.s best prepared for jobs outside of the research-oriented tenure track and (2) continued attention to increasing diversity and equity.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Careers in ecology: a fine‐scale investigation of national data from the U.S. Survey of Doctorate Recipients

Hampton

Labou

2017

Ecosphere

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“…Early career positions often provide both intellectually stimulating and productive opportunities. However, there are many obstacles that early career scientists also face, such as the imposter syndrome (Laursen ; Woolston ), metaphorically “leaky pipes” (Mervis ; Else ), the historically low rate at which Ph.Ds obtain tenure track jobs (Hansen et al ), family planning challenges (Raper ), and poor mental health support (Pain ; Evans et al ). Whether it is the daily struggle of work‐life balance issues, finding and obtaining grant funding, weighing options among academic, industry, government, not‐for‐profit, or other professional opportunities, or just trying to get a paper published, early career scientists should know there are supportive scientific organizations and individuals.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Life in Transition: ASLO and Early Career Scientists

Rose¹,

Filstrup

Fink

et al. 2018

Limnology & Oceanogr Bull

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“…Multiple studies highlight gaps between typical graduate training and the reality of the post-Ph.D. job market. In a recent issue of this journal, Hansen et al (2014) reported that fewer than 20% of ecology graduates obtain jobs in academia within five years of obtaining their Ph.D.s. The data raise the question: are academic institutions equipped to train Ph.D. students successfully for the remaining >80% of positions in industry, consulting, government, non-profits, and anything "alternative" to the tenure-track academic route?…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%