A gathering of leaders from industry, government labs, and academia met on December 13, 2010 in Crystal City VA to discuss the current state of Ph.D. education in chemistry, chemical engineering, and allied fields.
The focus was on whether the current model still meets the needs of the employers given that a majority of new Ph.D.s do not end up pursuing an academic career. Graduate education has, for the most part, evolved slowly in the last several decades. However, the way industrial and government labs operate has changed drastically – and incoming Ph.D. talent often has to spend significant time learning and adapting to a new culture and system before becoming a productive member of the organization. While technical training remains strong, the softer skills, such as communication, teamwork and an understanding of research in a global and rapidly changing environment, are too often lacking.
The discussion focused around two questions:
- What subject matter competencies are needed for the future? What is the right balance of breadth versus depth and how can we achieve it?
What behavioral competencies are needed for the future? How do we incorporate the soft skills into the Ph.D. training?
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