Career Options After Academia
The September 20th issue of Science had a news article that I hope Bitesize Bio readers didn’t miss. In case you do however, the article was And Then There Was One:
A decade after 26 members of the entering class of 1991 earned their Ph.D.s from Yale’s elite molecular biophysics and biochemistry program, only one holds a tenured faculty position. But is an exodus from academia a bad thing?
It’s a good article. But what really makes it a must-read for students thinking about grad school is the fact that these 26 one-time grad students have ended up in a truly diverse range of careers. Only a handful are actually in the tenure-track path, some are in industry, and a bunch aren’t even molecular biologists and biochemists anymore.
The attitudes and ethics of those 26 former Yale students are also portrayed - a PhD creates as many career problems as they solve, with the successful researcher “doing whatever it takes,” and at times, learning from some tough choices. Check it out.
About the Author
Dan Rhoads
Dan is an American working in industry in a small Mediterranean country. He has a BSc in Molecular Biology and a PhD in Cancer Pharmacology and Biochemistry.
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