It shouldn’t be news to anyone in the biological research community that in the United States the so-called scientific workforce “pipeline” is threatening to burst. There are far too many students going in at one end and far too few outlets where they can emerge as independent researchers after completing a postdoc. At ASCB, nothing has better captured the new reality of graduate and postdoctoral training than Jessica Polka’s infographic published last April. As the graphic shows, only 8% of graduate students entering biology training now will reach the “traditional” goal of tenure track positions as academic researchers, while 53% entering say that this is the most desired career path. In effect, the traditional career track in basic research is becoming the outlier.
Now comes a well-reported update in Nature from science writer Kendall Powell, who looks at the postdoc glut in both the United States and other countries. The section on what happened in New Zealand after funders clapped an absolute limit on postdocs is a revelation about official policy and unexpected consequences.
The Nature feature story quotes a number of ASCB members including ASCB President Shirley Tilghman and ASCB Past President Jennifer Lippincott-Schwartz. Tilghman, who has been a vocal advocate for reform of the current jam, tells Powell, “We’ve always been at risk of producing more scientists than we have places for, but the stresses and strains were not harmful in the way they are now.” Tilghman believes that major changes in the pipeline are inevitable but they should be managed with strategic intent.
Other ASCB members featured include Leslie Leinwand at the University of Colorado, Boulder, who has moved two long-term and productive postdocs to staff scientist status. “But I stay awake at night worrying about salaries,” Leinward admits. “Frankly, I can’t afford to pay them what they deserve.”
Another ASCB member quoted is Gregory Petsko of Weill Cornell Medical College. Petsko questions the continued viability of the “big” lab led by a big postdoc workforce. Petsko advocates relying more on staff scientists for basic structure while limiting the number of postdoctoral fellowships but increasing their career-launching prestige. “It should be hard to get a postdoc—harder than getting into graduate school,” Petsko told Nature.
About the Author:
John Fleischman was the ASCB Senior Science Writer from 2000 to 2016. Best unpaid perk of the job? Working with new grad students and Nobel Prize winners.
