2019 Career Trajectories Keynote: The Real Story About Employment for Physics Graduates
TLDRThe speaker from the American Institute of Physics (AIP) addresses the common misconception that a career in physics is limited to academia, challenging the term 'non-traditional' when referring to physicists working in industry. Highlighting data from the AIP Statistical Research Center, she points out that a significant number of physics graduates, particularly those with PhDs, find employment in the private sector, often in roles that involve research and development. She emphasizes the value of physics graduates to industry due to their strong technical and analytical skills, and the ability to work in interdisciplinary teams. The speaker also discusses the importance of preparing physics students for a variety of career paths, not just academic ones, and the need for faculty to provide better career guidance. She suggests that students perform self-assessments, attend informational interviews, and keep a career journal to track their skills and interests. The talk concludes with a Q&A session where immigration law for non-citizen physicists and the potential for returning to academia from industry are discussed.
Takeaways
- 🎓 **Diverse Career Paths**: Physics graduates have a wide range of career options beyond academia, including data science, software development, hospitals, and management.
- 🧑💼 **Industry Opportunities**: The private sector is the largest employer of physics PhDs, offering well-paying jobs and opportunities for research and development.
- 📈 **Academic vs. Industrial Research**: While both academia and industry offer research opportunities, industry research is often more profit-driven and less focused on long-term, esoteric problems.
- 🤝 **Interdisciplinary Teams**: Physics graduates are valued in interdisciplinary teams due to their broad technical skills and ability to understand and connect different scientific concepts.
- 💡 **Innovation and Entrepreneurship**: Physicists are encouraged to consider entrepreneurship and innovation, leveraging their unique skill set to address global challenges and human needs.
- 🌐 **Global Opportunities**: Despite challenges in funding and immigration law, there are opportunities for physicists worldwide, particularly in emerging fields like quantum computing and machine learning.
- 📉 **Academic Job Market**: The supply of physics PhDs often outweighs the demand for academic positions, with a limited number of tenure-track positions available.
- 🏛️ **Non-Traditional Careers**: The term 'non-traditional' careers for physicists is being challenged, as many physics graduates find fulfilling careers in industry, which should be considered a traditional path.
- 📚 **Educational Shift**: There is a call for physics education to incorporate more about industry-relevant experiences, business concepts, and entrepreneurship to better prepare students for diverse career paths.
- 🔍 **Self-Assessment and Networking**: Students are advised to perform self-assessments, attend informational interviews, and build networks to understand and prepare for various career options.
- 📝 **Career Preparation**: Faculty can support students by providing career awareness, fostering industry connections, and integrating workforce-relevant content into the physics curriculum.
Q & A
What is the speaker's role at ApS?
-The speaker's role at ApS is to build career resources and assist students in understanding available career paths, as well as helping faculty mentors to be more well-rounded in guiding their students about future careers.
Why does the speaker challenge the term 'non-traditional' when referring to careers outside of academia for physicists?
-The speaker challenges the term 'non-traditional' because the private sector has been the largest employment base for physics PhDs for decades, making it a traditional career path for physicists.
What percentage of physics bachelor's degree holders typically go on to finish a physics PhD?
-About one in six physics bachelor's degree holders, which is approximately 17%, choose to finish a physics PhD.
What is the most common type of employment for physics PhDs in the academic sector one year after getting their degree?
-The most common type of employment for physics PhDs in the academic sector one year after getting their degree are postdoc or other temporary positions.
What percentage of physics PhD graduates expected to be in an academic position in ten years according to the speaker's data?
-46% of the 1800 physics PhDs expected to be in an academic position in ten years.
Why is the likelihood of getting a permanent or tenure-track position just with a graduate degree considered small at PhD serving institutions?
-The likelihood is small due to the high supply of qualified candidates compared to the limited number of available positions, and the fact that many positions are being replaced by full-time but temporary roles rather than tenured or tenure-track ones.
What are some of the valuable skills that physics graduates bring to the private sector?
-Physics graduates bring valuable skills such as problem-solving, data analysis, technical proficiency, programming, and the ability to work in interdisciplinary teams to the private sector.
What is the general starting salary for physics PhDs in the private sector?
-The median starting salary for physics PhDs in the private sector is around $95,000.
What does the speaker suggest students do to better prepare for a career outside of academia?
-The speaker suggests students perform a detailed self-assessment, attend informational interviews, build a network, develop a career pitch, keep a career journal, and learn how to write a resume.
What is the role of the American Physical Society (APS) in helping students and faculty with career development?
-The APS provides resources, hosts workshops, and offers programs to help students and faculty understand and prepare for a variety of career paths outside of academia, including industry and entrepreneurship.
What is the potential barrier for physicists who choose a career in industry and later decide to transition back to academia?
-The potential barrier includes maintaining a robust publication record while in industry, staying current with academic research, and the possible difficulty of readjusting to the academic culture after being in the industry.
Outlines
😀 Introduction and Career Paths for Physicists
The speaker begins by expressing gratitude for the invitation and discusses their role at ApS, which involves building career resources for students and faculty. They challenge the notion of 'non-traditional' careers for physicists, emphasizing the variety of sectors where physicists can work, such as data science, software development, and hospitals. According to statistics from the American Institute of Physics, only about 17% of physics degree holders pursue a PhD, indicating that the majority of physicists take non-academic paths. The speaker also addresses the high number of physics PhDs in the workforce and their employment types, highlighting that most academic positions are temporary postdocs or similar roles.
🎓 Postdoc Positions and Academic Career Aspirations
The paragraph delves into the reasons why many PhDs accept postdoctoral positions, with the hope of moving towards permanent employment. It outlines the expectations of postdocs regarding their future careers, with a significant number aiming for academia. However, the reality is that the transition from a postdoc to a permanent academic position is rare, particularly at PhD-granting institutions. The speaker also discusses the job market for faculty, emphasizing its stability and the preference of universities for temporary positions over tenured ones.
📈 PhD Employment in the Private Sector
This section focuses on the employment of physics PhDs in the private sector, which is revealed to be the largest employment base for physics PhDs. The speaker discusses the various fields that physicists enter, including engineering, computer science, and business, and emphasizes the high median salary for these roles. They also mention that many physicists in industry engage in research, although the nature of this research is often directed by company profit motives rather than academic inquiry.
💼 Value of Physics Graduates to Industry
The speaker explains why physics graduates are valuable to industry, particularly as part of interdisciplinary teams. Physics graduates are appreciated for their technical skills, problem-solving abilities, and familiarity with technologies used in STEM fields. The speaker also cites a study where CEOs highlighted the strengths of physicists, such as their ability to understand the larger context of their work and their adaptability to new knowledge and concepts.
📚 Skills Gaps and Career Preparedness
The paragraph discusses the skills that physics graduates may lack for industry roles, such as industrial design, multidisciplinary teamwork, and leadership skills. It emphasizes the need for better career training within academic programs and suggests that improving these skills would also benefit academic physicists. The speaker calls for a realistic training for future careers in non-academic sectors and encourages students to self-assess, network, and keep a career journal.
🤝 Networking and Faculty Roles in Career Development
The speaker advises on the importance of networking and having a clear understanding of one's career goals. They recommend that students develop different versions of their 'pitch' for various audiences and learn to write a resume tailored to specific job descriptions. The speaker also suggests that faculty can support students by broadening their career focus, inviting industry speakers, and fostering stronger industry connections. They highlight the role of professional societies in bridging the gap between academic training and industry needs.
🌐 Global Perspectives and Immigration Concerns
The final paragraph addresses questions about the mobility of physicists between academia and industry, the influence of cultural contexts on career choices, and the challenges faced by international physicists in the US, particularly regarding immigration law and visa issues. The speaker encourages physicists to pursue their desired careers without regrets and acknowledges the exploitative nature of the academic system, especially concerning funding and labor practices.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Physics PhDs
💡Career Paths
💡Academic Sector
💡Private Sector
💡Postdocs
💡Diversity in Physics
💡Networking
💡Informational Interviews
💡STEM Fields
💡Workforce-Relevant Experiences
💡Entrepreneurship
Highlights
The speaker emphasizes the broad career opportunities available to physicists beyond academia, challenging the traditional notion of 'non-traditional' careers.
Physicists with a bachelor's degree are often employed in various sectors such as data science, software, hospitals, and management, indicating a diverse job market.
Only about 17% of physics degree holders pursue a PhD, suggesting a wide array of career paths for the remaining graduates.
The U.S. continues to produce a large number of physics PhDs, with the majority entering the workforce, highlighting a continuous supply of skilled professionals.
Many physics PhDs initially take on postdoctoral or temporary positions with the hope of moving towards permanent employment.
A significant number of PhD graduates expect to be in academic positions within ten years, reflecting the aspirations of physicists towards research and teaching.
The job market for permanent academic positions is quite stable, with a limited number of new positions being created, indicating a competitive environment for physicists.
The private sector is the largest employer of physics PhDs, offering well-paying jobs and opportunities for research and development.
The speaker advocates for a more diverse representation of career paths in physics, including encouraging underrepresented groups to pursue academic careers.
Physics graduates are highly valued in interdisciplinary teams in the industry due to their strong technical and analytical skills.
The speaker suggests that physicists have a unique ability to understand and connect with professionals from other STEM fields, making them effective team members.
Despite the research opportunities in the private sector, physicists often have less decision-making power over the direction of research compared to academia.
The speaker discusses the importance of physicists having a clear understanding of their career goals and values before making decisions about their professional path.
Networking and building connections with professionals in the industry is crucial for physicists seeking careers outside of academia.
The American Physical Society offers resources and programs to help physicists explore and prepare for careers in the private sector.
Faculty members are encouraged to broaden students' career focus by inviting speakers from various sectors and normalizing industrial careers.
The speaker highlights the need for physics programs to incorporate more workforce-relevant experiences and skills, such as project management and entrepreneurship.
There is a push within the American Physical Society to evolve the discipline to include more industry-relevant content and experiences.
Transcripts
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