Monday, June 24, 2019
By:
Two years ago I attended the APS Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics (CUWiP). A data scientist gave a fantastic plenary talk about her path from earning a PhD in Astrophysics to working in the tech industry. She provided a long list of reasons why data science was a better fit for her, and she encouraged students to explore options outside of academia. I left the talk feeling inspired. If I found that I didn’t enjoy graduate school, another option existed in which I could be successful and happy while making a positive contribution to society as this woman was doing in her career.
So as I left the auditorium, why did I see so many disapproving faces and hear so many hushed whispers from the rest of the audience? Had I missed something? “People are upset because she insulted careers in academia,” a nearby faculty member informed me. “She shouldn’t be encouraging students to give up.”
This comment disturbed me, but I didn’t think much more about the issue again until I came across the APS Career Programs Internship a few months ago and was offered the position. Finally, a chance had appeared to learn more about this problem and figure out how to address it! I was thrilled. However, when I informed my fellow physicists at my university of my summer plans, I was typically met with surprise or confusion. I found the consistency of these responses to be extremely disconcerting; was I making a bad choice to be taking a break from research to do physics career outreach when my own career goal is to go into research at a university or national lab?
I am confident that the answer to that question is a firm no.
In the last three weeks, I have spoken with a countless number of physicists. Before those three weeks, I still would have described my physicist prototype as a researcher working in a lab, but my experience with APS has turned that vision hazy. Each of the groups within the American Center for Physics includes physicists who do incredible work behind the scenes to produce programs, materials, publications, and events for physicists as well as the general public. In addition to the wonderful people I’ve met in my building, I have conducted phone interviews with six physicists so far for my project, and I have at least three more calls this week. I’ve spoken with a data scientist focusing her efforts toward locating new sustainable materials, a distance learning educator that teaches children around the world through video calls, a process technology development engineer that spent five years dedicating an intense number of hours to her job, and an IP attorney who is a part-owner of her highly successful law firm. Before this summer, I knew that options for physicists existed outside of academia, but I was completely unaware of the broadness of the extent of physics careers. The opportunities are practically endless!
According to AIP data from 2013 and 2014, 65% of physics bachelor’s degree recipients go into the private sector after graduation. So why is it that probably 95% of my previous knowledge concerning physics careers has been centered on the path to academia? Why have I been primed to believe that going into any career outside research is giving up or taking the easy way out?
The APS Career Programs team has developed amazing resources regarding physics careers both inside and outside academia to address these issues. To any physics faculty members, high school teachers, or other leaders who mentor physics students, please, please share these resources with your students. Part of our responsibility as physicists is to educate students about options for their futures so that they can choose the path that suits them best without being discouraged or made to think that their choice is lesser than another. Hopefully by becoming a professor or working at a national lab, I can use what I’ve learned this summer to play a part in reversing the bias and lack of awareness that tends to permeate physics education.
Jacqueline Blaum