title: A call for transparency in tracking student and postdoc career outcomes.
abstract: There is a common misconception that the United States is suffering from a "STEM shortage," a dearth of graduates with scientific, technological, engineering, and mathematical backgrounds. In biomedical science, however, we are likely suffering from the opposite problem and could certainly better tailor training to actual career outcomes. At the Future of Research Symposium, various workshops identified this as a key issue in a pipeline traditionally geared toward academia. Proposals for reform all ultimately come up against the same problem: there is a shocking lack of data at institutional and national levels on the size, shape, and successful careers of participants in the research workforce. In this paper, we call for improved institutional reporting of the number of graduate students and postdocs and their training and career outcomes.
authors: Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115.
authors: Jessica K
authors: JK
authors: Polka
authors: Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115.
authors: Kristin A
authors: KA
authors: Krukenberg
authors: Department of Biology, Center for Regenerative and Developmental Biology, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155 gary.mcdowell@tufts.edu.
authors: Gary S
authors: GS
authors: McDowell
mesh_terms: D035843:Biomedical Research; D002321:Career Choice; D006801:Humans; D012108:Research Personnel; D012586:Science; D013334:Students; D014481:United States