Professional Development: Shaping Effective Programs for STEM Graduate Students
January 1, 2017
Most STEM PhDs and master’s degree recipients work in careers outside the academy. To improve graduate student preparation for multiple career pathways, CGS conducted a two-year project to map the landscape of STEM professional development programs with support from the National Science Foundation (#1413827). Project activities included a survey of over 900 university deans, STEM faculty, and professional development staff at 226 institutions; interviews with employers from across the STEM workforce; and a workshop of industry leaders, federal science agencies, entrepreneurs, graduate deans, researchers, and recent PhDs and postdocs.
Promising practices, common challenges, recommendations, and possible next steps toward coordinated improvements to the professional development of STEM graduate students, including PhDs, master’s degree holders, and postdoctorates are available in the report: Professional Development: Shaping Effective Programs for STEM Graduate Students. This report also includes discussion of useful tools and resources, as well as of issues that commonly arise in university discussion around professional development.
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