WORKSHOP RECAP: JSPG, GPS-STEM & SAi Collaborative Workshop on Creating Actionable Change for STEM Education & Workforce Development

Introduction 
On November 12, 2021, the Journal of Science Policy & Governance (JSPG) in collaboration with Graduate Professional Success in STEM program (GPS-STEM) at UC Irvine and the STEM Advocacy Institute (SAi) organized a workshop on Creating actionable change for STEM education and workforce development. The workshop was focused on discussing ways to support the next generation of scientists who encounter STEM education and training, help them achieve their potential in science and utilize their talents in society. The event featured Dr. Gary McDowell, CEO of Lightoller, LLC and Co-Founder of Future of Research. Watch the event recording here. This workshop is leading up to the JSPG-Sigma Xi call for papers for a Special Issue on Re-envisioning STEM Education and Workforce Development for the 21st Century with a deadline of January 23, 2022, which is a great opportunity for the next generation to shape policy change on this topic. 

Context setting 
The U.S. prides itself on the quality of STEM education and training that it provides. But is STEM education and workforce development in the U.S. meeting society’s needs? In particular, are we focusing enough on the people in the system, as well as the outputs they produce? In this session, we wanted to reframe how we envision the future of the research enterprise, and to think more about the individuals who pass through the system who make up the STEM workforce. A NASEM committee produced the most recent report on graduate STEM education, noting that while graduate education works well for funding agencies, institutions, and professors, but that it benefits graduate students least. And while the system may to an extent benefit a proportion of graduate students who are staying in academia, it is debatable whether the system works even for those who stay. This is because the system does not train the next generation on skills they will need to run their own laboratories in the future. And while graduate and postdoctoral training is focused on getting the practical work done from trainees on grants, studies of what happens to those in training roles during and after these positions is poorly studied and unintentional (or at best passive). We need to think more deeply about how we can use the wealth of talent passing through our universities to maximize solving society’s problems while advocating for necessary systemic change.

Background 
During the registration process, we asked early career researchers (ECRs) to describe one aspect of the current STEM educational system that bothers them, and to propose some changes they would like to see as context setting for the discussion. The results are shown below in Table 1, and focus on a number of areas including the lack of career and training opportunities, lack of breadth in training for ways to address societal impact, and other issues inherent to the system itself including low salaries and issues with lack of diversity in STEM. 

TABLE 1 - PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS

Within the event itself, attendees expressed concern with the current state of affairs of STEM education and workforce development by pointing out the areas where early career researchers face challenges. These include lack of mentoring from faculty, as well as power dynamics, in addition to low salaries and lack of avenues for career and professional development (Figure 1).

Breakout summaries 
Following a presentation by Dr. Gary McDowell, in the breakout rooms, participants dissected some of these topics and discussed more in-depth the problems and solutions to the system in four different areas. The sections below summarize discussions that took place in the breakout rooms.

1. Value of STEM pipeline and potential 
Background: 

• The training one receives through a STEM education prepares them for a multitude of careers. What would the STEM workforce look like if we prioritized people and focused on helping them reach their potential? How efficient is current STEM job training?

Problems: 

• STEM training often prioritizes outputs rather than people. Producing science and literature is deemed more valuable rather than effectively training STEM professionals for a wide array of careers. 
• There is a lack of training for STEM professionals on industry-specific skills, and most STEM graduates are not ready for industry and must be retrained for their job. Education should focus on industry–specific skills to best prepare graduates for success in the field. 
• PhD STEM students are research-oriented and often lack practical skills that are essential in the workplace.

Solutions:

• STEM training should prioritize real-world skills translatable across industries, as efficient job training includes teaching STEM students skills that will be used in the workplace. 
• STEM graduates can fill local workforce gaps if trained properly. This does occur in some universities with strong connections to industry. 
• Training STEM students should include work with industry partners to help develop a strong STEM pipeline and give students practical skills.

2. Scientific literacy and how the scientific process works
Background: 

• Scientific literacy implies an understanding of the process and limitations of science along with knowledge of broad scientific ideas. To understand literacy, we must clarify the goal of science education: is it to train more scientists and/or help the public understand the relevance of science in their lives and be more engaged with science?  

Problems: 

• Science education is often de-contextualized and irrelevant to the individual. If problems do not apply to an individual's life or don't feel connected to their understanding of science and how it applies to their lives, they will not be interested in science. 
• Scientists are often separated from the general community.

Solutions:

• We need strategies to help scientists be more involved in scientific literacy, and we can increase scientific literacy by helping the general public become "competent outsiders" by increasing the relevancy of science to each individuals' daily life. 
• By helping students understand the peer review process, how scientific questions evolve, we can help students become scientifically literate. 
• Scientists could help by being more approachable, improving their communication skills, and discussing their science with the public as a process, maybe even presenting to students how scientific questions evolve by trial and error.
• Scientists should support teachers in the goal of increasing scientific literacy and understanding the process of science. We can invite teachers and students to do research in laboratories and engage with authentic questions to understand how scientific questions are developed.

3. Value of peer review and relationship to identity as a scientist
Background: 

• For many researchers, the transition in identity from “student” to “scientist” often happens during graduate school. Skills and knowledge gained during this time that facilitate this transition include conducting independent research and providing feedback on scholarly articles. 

Problems:

• Peer review is critical for their training, but lack of involvement of the next generation in peer review, or lack of recognition for such contributions need to be addressed. A recent survey of ECR peer review experiences indicates that, when carrying out journal article peer review with their principal investigator, 46% of ECRs knew that their name was withheld from the editorial staff, 23% knew their name was provided, and 32% did not know whether their name was disclosed. 
• This may impede professional development for early career researchers (ECR) and their scientific identity which may revolve around this and other academic research deliverables, such as publications and conference posters. 
• Accordingly, while ECRs may begin to identify as a scientist upon completion of these products, they may lose this identity upon leaving academia.

Solutions:

• For those ECRs wishing to continue on the academic track, postdoctoral fellowship programs that provide a pathway for transition to faculty positions can provide some stability to the postdoc outlook. 
• For scientists who choose to pursue careers in the private, nonprofit, and public sectors, staying involved in professional societies can help preserve one’s identity as a scientist by remaining connected to science.

4. Exposure of trainees to STEM for addressing societal issues 
Background: 

• Issues related to lack of exposure to STEM combine to result in a lack of clarity on the goal of STEM education. Given that less than 10% of students who begin their PhD will end up in tenure-track positions, it is unrealistic to continue training PhD students solely as if they will end up in academia. 

Problems:

• As noted in one of the NASEM reports on this topic, the training received by STEM PhD candidates largely prepares them for benchwork but not to be a faculty member or transition to any other career field. 
• The strictly skills-based technical training undergone by most PhD students does not offer support for societal engagement. 
• PhD students interested in pathways outside of academia are less frequently exposed to such opportunities or may be actively discouraged from pursuing them. Therefore, trainees also lack opportunities for societal engagement. 
• These problems are intertwined with research culture, such that if a faculty member reinforces stigma against career pathways outside of academia, this may eventually perpetuate across generations. 

Solutions:

• Engaging in advocacy for the research enterprise or even being able to think critically about it as it relates to societal relevance are both valuable goals and additions for ECRs to engage in. 
• Individual actions of PhD students in the community can raise awareness and acceptance of activities that involve societal engagement. Support networks in science policy can connect STEM students to the real world and expose them to opportunities outside the academic track. 
• Potential structural changes are beneficial, such as allocating funding based on how many PhD trainees are in a lab, as opposed to funding the faculty member, lab, or project directly, which can limit opportunities for trainees to pursue projects of interest. 
• Further, the process maintains the threat of losing funding should a trainee decide to pursue a pathway that the faculty member sees as nontraditional. This funding strategy could go hand in hand with funding targeted at trainees who need more support who may not stay in academia. 

Overall conclusions 
Many common problems and solutions have emerged from these discussions, which point to valuable changes that need to be made in the system to support the next generation. These revolve around a number of areas that point to issues related a system that does not train the next generation on ways to manage a laboratory or team of people, or budgets, or multi-personnel projects: we teach people how to do benchwork to a high degree of skill, and then expect them to just pivot to a completely different role as a faculty member. Because the unstated, but clear, goal of graduate and postdoctoral training is to get the practical work done that people have written into their grants, what happens to those in training roles during and after these positions is poorly studied and unintentional (or at best passive), meaning that we are not thinking about how we can use the wealth of talent passing through our institutions to maximize solving society’s problems. Ultimately, these discussions concluded that we need workforce development focused on the trainees as people, not just vessels for research output. The call to action includes more funding and pathways for trainees and faculty wishing to develop and pursue non academic track ventures towards social impact, such as science engagement and informal STEM initiatives that can help. But there is also a broader call to action warranted here whereas several stakeholders, including universities, need to act in ensuring that our next generation workforce is successful in society. 

Resources
For further reading or information, we have compiled a list of resources for ECRs to utilize, and for others who wish to think more about actions to take in improving the research enterprise. You can download the document below. ​

RESOURCES

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About JSPG
The Journal of Science Policy & Governance is a nonprofit organization and open-access peer-reviewed publication managed by and for students, policy fellows and young scholars in science, technology and innovation policy. JSPG publishes high-quality articles covering the widest range of topics in formats that are accessible to policymakers. Since 2011, JSPG has served as a vehicle for students and early career researchers to bolster their research and writing credentials in science policy. Visit sciencepolicyjournal.org and follow on Twitter @SciPolJournal to learn more.

About GPS-STEM
The Graduate Professional Success in STEM program (GPS-STEM) at University of California Irvine aims to better prepare graduate students and postdoctoral scholars for a variety of careers within the STEM research workforce, and empower trainees to become not only skilled scientists, but also polished professionals. The program was funded from 2014 – 2019 by the NIH-BEST (Broadening Experiences in Scientific Training) grant for providing career & professional development avenues for STEM trainees. Visit https://gps-stem.grad.uci.edu and follow on Twitter @BiomedGps to learn more. 

About SAi 
The mission of the Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM) Advocacy Institute (also known as the Science Advocacy Institute or SAi) is to provide access to research, infrastructure, mentorship, community, training, and funding to, put simply, make it easier for diverse founders and leaders to experiment, explore and ultimately build impactful and sustainable informal STEM learning (ISL) programs that strengthen the connections between people and science. Visit https://stemadvocacy.org and follow on Twitter @STEMadvocacy to learn more.  

About Lightoller LLC
Lightoller LLC is a consultancy providing research expertise on the early career researcher population. Visit https://lightoller.org and follow on Twitter @Lightoller_llc to learn more.  

This post was co-authored by Adriana Bankston (JSPG); Harinder Singh (GPS-STEM); Fanuel Muindi, Erin Saybolt, Moraima Castro-Faix, Nicole Catanzarite, Gwendolyn Bogard (SAi); and Gary McDowell (Lightoller LLC). ​