Mind the Gap: The Mismatch Between Career Decision-Making Needs and Opportunities for Science Ph.D. Students

• In Event: Careers, Identities, and Disciplinarity in Doctoral Education

Abstract

Through an interview study of Ph.D. students and faculty in three chemistry departments, we are uncovering processes--both explicit and tacit--by which graduate students develop ideas about their profession and make choices about careers. Of particular interest is a gap between students’ career development needs and the opportunities they have. Faculty feel most prepared to offer (some) help in securing a job in a chosen field, while graduate students fail to make such choices because they lack information about careers and cannot assess their fit to various career options. We interpret this gap as a failure of professional socialization by which graduate students would become involved in their future career and mentally invested in it.

Authors

• Sandra L. Laursen, University of Colorado Boulder

• Heather L. Thiry, University of Colorado - Boulder

• Heidi G. Loshbaugh, University of Colorado - Boulder