Career Planning

Return to Professional Development for Research and Career Planning

Considering Careers

There are many alternative career paths and opportunities for scientists. What you choose depends on your interests, personality and abilities. Many people these days think in terms of multiple careers and seek retraining to expand their skills and enjoyability. It is important to not shortchange yourself when considering your prior experiences. Every person brings a constellation of experiences and skills that can be transferred from career to career. When considering a career change it is smart to arrange some kind so internship or shadowing experience so that you see in detail what the new career might entail, and determine if the day to day tasks are compatible with your personality. This will help you avoid putting in a huge amount of effort to train for job that will not enjoy. As you enter a new field it is also helpful to locate one or more mentors who can guide you along the way.

Prospects for Masters

The masters is a versatile and highly employable degree. About 60% of those earning a masters in physics found STEM related employment ^[1]. Masters graduates had the highest percentage of jobs that related to their degree (44.9%)^[2]. Earning a masters gives 23% wage premium, while earning a doctorate averages in a 26% wage premium.

Teaching is a common career for masters. The there is much debate about the shortage or oversupply of science teachers^[3]. 34% of current public high school teachers expect to retire by 2010. The student population is expect to increase by 10% in the next two decades. Students are taking more science course because of graduation requirements. The Business Higher Education Forum ^[4] points to a demand for 280,000 new math and science teachers by 2015 ^[5]. Some say that there is an adequate supply of STEM teachers a failure to retain them. Job dissatisfaction is a major reason for leaving the classroom. This emphasizes the importance of internships and classroom visits before committing to a teaching career. More than 30% of school districts offer distance learning courses. There a likely demand for 165,000 for masters level specialists (instructional coordinators) to design distance learning courseware ^[6].

Prospect for Ph.D's

The economic downturn of the last few days has created a temporary surplus of Ph.D. with respect to academic positions ^[7] As a result more recent graduates are taking post doc positions than moving directly into jobs as in previous years MIT ^[8].