title: Tracking Career Outcomes for Postdoctoral Scholars: A Call to Action.
abstract: The oversupply of postdoctoral scholars relative to available faculty positions has led to calls for better assessment of career outcomes. Here, we report the results of a study of postdoctoral outcomes at the University of California, San Francisco, and suggest that institutions have an obligation to determine where their postdoc alumni are employed and to share this information with current and future trainees. Further, we contend that local efforts will be more meaningful than a national survey, because of the great variability in training environment and the classification of postdoctoral scholars among institutions. We provide a framework and methodology that can be adopted by others, with the goal of developing a finely grained portrait of postdoctoral career outcomes across the United States.
authors.affiliation: Office of Career and Professional Development, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States of America.|Graduate Division, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Elizabeth A
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-0684-9473
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.affiliation: Office for Postdoctoral Scholars, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States of America.|Graduate Division, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Des Jarlais
authors.affiliation: Office of Career and Professional Development, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States of America.|Office for Postdoctoral Scholars, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Bill
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lindstaedt
authors.affiliation: Office for Postdoctoral Scholars, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States of America.|Graduate Division, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Erik
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rotman
authors.affiliation: Graduate Division, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Elizabeth S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Watkins
mesh_terms: D002140:California; D002321:Career Choice; D004500:Education, Graduate / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004503:Education, Medical, Graduate / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004651:Employment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D014495:Universities / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000078329:Workforce