FASEB Webinar Highlights Careers Beyond the Bench

Wednesday, January 13, 2021

On Thursday, January 28 at 2 pm ET, FASEB will host a webinar, “Supporting the Whole Scientist: Careers Beyond Academia,” for graduate students and postdoctoral researchers interested in exploring career options.

With over 42,000 conferred in 2019 alone, the number of PhDs awarded in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields has progressively increased in the U.S. However, according to the 2018 National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) report, Graduate STEM Education in the 21^st Century, only 17.7 percent of STEM PhDs secured tenure-track academic positions within five years of graduating. With the number of STEM PhDs increasingly outpacing available tenure-track positions, this trend will continue. Despite this disparity, many institutions do not offer professional development resources to help trainees prepare for jobs outside of academia.

Webinar speakers will share ideas for how institutions and faculty advisors can better support trainees seeking non-academic jobs. As the Associate Dean for Graduate Biomedical Education and Professor Cell Biology at Johns Hopkins University (JHU), Peter Espenshade, PhD, will describe how JHU oversees a broad range of programs aimed at providing courses and seminars that equip trainees with the skills needed to navigate life after graduate school. Beka Layton, PhD, of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will promote awareness of additional professional development resources trainees may wish to use to fulfill individual needs. Finally, Layne Scherer, Program Officer with the Board on Higher Education and Workforce at NASEM, will review key practices and policies higher education institutions could use to overcome systemic challenges.

Registration for the webinar is free.  Visit the FASEB website for additional information on professional development resources offered by FASEB and its member societies.