![\"Lab-naturejobs-blog\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/naturejobs\/files\/2015\/04\/lab-naturejobs-blog.jpg\" "\\"Lab-naturejobs-blog\\"")
<\/a>{credit} Getty Images \\ Ryan Mcvay{\/credit}<\/p><\/div>\n
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\u201cOur results question the belief that all PhDs want faculty positions and get disillusioned when they realize they can\u2019t get them,\u201d says study co-author Michael Roach, a labor economist at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. \u201cWhile this certainly happens for some, it\u2019s not the case for many.\u201d<\/p>\n
To track students\u2019 career preferences over time, Roach and colleague Henry Sauermann, an economist at the European School of Management and Technology in Berlin, Germany, followed a cohort of 854 life-sciences, chemistry, physics, engineering and computer-science PhD students from 39 US universities. The team surveyed student academic-career interests at the beginning of their PhD and three years later.<\/p>\n
While 80% of all respondents across all fields launch doctoral programmes intent on pursuing an academic career<\/a>, the study authors found that students diverge into two groups\u2014those who remain interested in an academic career (55%) and those who lose interest altogether (25%). Furthermore, just over half of the 55% who remain interested in an academic career say that a research faculty post is their most preferred career choice. Some 15% of all respondents were never interested in an academic career in the first place. \u201cThe reality,\u201d says Roach, \u201cis that only 10-15% of PhDs will get a tenure-track academic position. \u201cIf you feel that \u2018This is not for me\u2019, you are not in the minority.\u201d<\/p>\n The study also found that respondents who said that they had lost interest in basic research also lost interest in an academic career. In addition, says Roach, many who fade on an academic career gain an interest in pursuing practical, commercial outcomes of their research. But, echoing many, he notes that a number of US universities and graduate schools do little to help trainees explore a wide range of potential career paths<\/a>.<\/p>\n Roach advises PhD students to learn about different career opportunities, including in industry. \u201cTalk to other PhD students who graduated from your programme, particularly those who found work outside of academia,\u201d he says. \u201cExplore your options early, before doing a postdoc.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s sound advice.<\/p>\n Virginia Gewin is a freelance writer in Portland, Oregon.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" US science and engineering PhD students are losing interest in academic careers because their career preferences change throughout their training, finds a study \u2013 not because of limited faculty-job availability. Read more<\/a> Continue reading