Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T16:58:08.640Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Preparing Astronomy Majors for the Job Market of the New Millennium

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 March 2013

Victor Migenes*
Affiliation:
Department of Astronomy, University of Guanajuato, Apdo Postal 144, Guanajuato, GTO, CP 36000, Mexico; [email protected]
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

In the past few years the American Physical Society (APS) has conducted a number of surveys among the graduate student population in the US and also among young researchers. The purpose was to get an idea of the career expectations of the students and how these are met later on in their life. Two of the conclusions were: (1) students want to work in a research environment, preferably academic, and (2) graduate and undergraduate programs are not preparing them well for the different challenges and goals found in industry, the private sector and national laboratories. Jobs in academia, especially tenured positions, have been difficult to obtain forcing many students to give up on their goals after one or two postdoctoral positions. Some have found jobs in other sectors but others feel frustrated that their careers have not met their expectations and are poorly ‘prepared’ for other options. In the areas of Physics and Astronomy there is not much of a job market without graduate studies. So most students must continue graduate work, in these or other fields, in order to compete well in the job market. Graduate and undergraduate programs must become more responsible for the present state of affairs and for implementing improvements. This can be done by broadening the scope of the present programs so that a student is better prepared to face the challenges of other job opportunities. We present here a BSc program designed by astronomers and physicists, at the University of Guanajuato, to try to address some of these concerns and better prepare the students for either continuing with graduate studies or finding employment in an ever-changing job market.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Astronomical Society of Australia 2000

References

AIP Education and Employment Statistics Division 1995,‘Stat of the Month’, Phys. Today, 48(June), 48 Google Scholar
AIP Education and Employment Statistics Division 1997a, ‘Graduate Enrollments in Physics and Astronomy plunge’, Phys. Today, 50(June), 76 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
AIP Education and Employment Statistics Division 1997b, ‘Postgraduation Plans of the Class of 1996’, Phys. Today, 51(Aug), 52 Google Scholar
AIP Education and Employment Statistics Division 1998, ‘Physics Baccalaureates: Numbers down, Salaries up’, Phys. Today, 52(Nov), 54 Google Scholar
AIP Education and Employment Statistics Division 1999a, ‘Number of Physics Faculty is edging up’, Phys. Today, 52(July), 48 Google Scholar
AIP Education and Employment Statistics Division 1999b, ‘Salaries rise, Unemployment falls among PhD Physicists’, Phys. Today, 52(Aug), 57 Google Scholar
Cioffi, D. F. 1995a, ‘A New Program offers Expertise from Business and the Art to Science Majors’, Phys. Today, 48(June), 47 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cioffi, D. F. 1995b, ‘What Changes lie in Store for US Graduate Physics Education?’, Phys. Today, 48(Sept), 79 Google Scholar
Cioffi, D. F. 1995c, ‘Latest AIP Survey confirms Physicists Fears’, Phys. Today, 48(Oct), 56 Google Scholar
Feynman, R. P. 1985, Surely You Are Joking, Mr Feynman! (New York: Norton)Google Scholar
Griffiths, P. A. 1994, ‘Reshaping the Graduate Education of Scientists and Engineers’, US National Academy of Sciences ReportGoogle Scholar
Gruner, S. M., Langer, J. S., Nelson, P., & Vogel, V. 1995, ‘What Future will We Choose for Physics?’, Phys. Today, 49(Dec), 25 Google Scholar
Kumagai, J. 1997, ‘Survey finds Tight but Volatile Academic Market’, Phys. Today, 50(May), 54 Google Scholar
Kumagai, J. 1998, ‘Employment Outlook for New PhDs improves, as Other Fields hire More Physicists’, Phys. Today, 51(Jan), 49 Google Scholar
Kumagai, J. 1999a, ‘How will the New Engineering Education Criteria affect Physics?’, Phys. Today, 52(Jan), 59 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kumagai, J., 1999b,‘Professional Master's Degree promise Quicker Entry into Industry Jobs’, Phys. Today, 52(June), 54 Google Scholar
Macilwain, C. 1999, ‘Stability offers Unique Opportunity for Research’, Nature Suppl., 398, A4 Google Scholar
Mulvey, P. J., and Neuschatz, M. 1995, ‘Physics Enrollments drop for 2nd Straight Year’, Phys. Today, 48(April), 76 Google Scholar
Mulvey, P. J., and Neuschatz, M. 1996, ‘Physics Enrollments continue to fall’, Phys. Today, 49(May), 63 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wolf, W. P. 1994, ‘Is Physics Education adapting to a Changing World’?, Phys. Today, 47(Oct), 48 CrossRefGoogle Scholar