Where Do All the Postdocs Go?

S tart with a naive student enthralled with the wonders of the world and the scientific secrets that await discovery. Yearning to unlock these secrets, the student takes an initial interest in biology, chemistry, mathematics, or physics in high school. The flames of their enthusiasm are fueled by inspirational professors and captivating coursework at colleges and universities. Their next big decision is to decide where to attend graduate school and what interesting scientific questions to unravel in addition to how they will contribute to society and earn their place in the scientific community. According to the 2009 Survey of Earned Doctorates, the median length of time to complete a doctorate in the life sciences is roughly 7 years (NSB, 2010). Upon successfully defending a graduate thesis, one of the last and most important hurdles that remain is deciding where and with whom to pursue postdoctoral training. Herein lies a key decision, stay in the same field and become the expert of experts or branch out into a different field and broaden one's scientific knowledge. There are certainly advantages and disadvantages to both approaches. Postdoctoral appointments are quite common in the life sciences and have become a requirement to obtain a tenure-track faculty position at most tier one institutions. There are an estimated 89,300 postdocs in the United States and nearly half of them are in the life sciences (NSB, 2010). There is currently an inverse correlation between the number of postdocs and available positions at universities, colleges, pharmaceutical, and biotechnology companies. Widespread hiring freezes at a number of academic institutions in addition to layoffs and mergers at various pharmaceutical and biotech companies have made it difficult for postdocs to find employment. An estimated 80,000 employees were laid off by pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in 2008 (Mintz, 2009).

According to the National Postdoctoral Association (www.nationalpostdoc.com), a postdoctoral scholar is defined as “an individual holding a doctoral degree who is engaged in a temporary period of mentored research and/or scholarly training for the purpose of acquiring the professional skills needed to pursue a career path of his or her choosing” (www.nationalpostdoc.org). The key word in this definition is “temporary.” Does “temporary” mean 2–3 or 7–8 years? It is also becoming more common for individuals to do multiple postdocs. In a 2009 Science Careers survey, 76% of respondents said that their postdoc lasted from 1 to 3 years, whereas 19% stated that their postdoc lasted 4 years or longer (Bonetta, 2009). However, these data may be misleading or biased as the respondents are a self-selected group that most likely have found a position and remain in science. A number of universities have instituted time limits on postdoctoral appointments to prevent potential exploitation of postdocs. A 2005 survey conducted by the Association of American Universities revealed that 29 of the 39 responding institutions had limits on how long a person could be a postdoc (AAU, 2005). Of those 29 institutions with postdoc term limits, 80% of them had term limits of 5 years or longer (AAU, 2005). Hopefully, more academic institutions will adopt the idea of term limits for postdoctoral appointments.

A postdoctoral appointment is an opportune time to test the turbulent waters of being a professor by mentoring undergraduate and graduate students. Along with all of these possible opportunities, a postdoc is under tremendous amount of pressure to produce results in the form of publishable data while mentoring students, with the ultimate goal to publish in high-impact journals and present at meetings and conferences. All of these goals must be met despite long hours and low pay (median pay for an academic postdoc in the life sciences was $40,000 in 2006) (NSB, 2010). Despite all of these responsibilities, postdocs have a limited voice in their respective departments and teaching opportunities are scarce or nonexistent. The postdoctoral experience would be greatly enhanced if institutions provided courses in time and project management, human resources, effective mentoring, and teaching approaches. These types of courses would ease the transition from postdoc to tenure-track faculty. Many institutions and professional societies (such as Association Society Microbiology, American Society for Cell Biology, and the American Chemical Society, to name a few) offer career development workshops; however, these workshops are not always widely publicized and postdocs may fear attending these workshops, because their principal investigator (PI) does not encourage or support this activity. The federal government is doing its part to encourage postdoc career development. The America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 (an extension of the America COMPETES Act of 2007) was signed in January 2011 and mandates that all grant proposals with requested funding for postdoctoral researchers must contain a mentoring plan including but not limited to career counseling and guidance in teaching and mentoring techniques. Both the National Postdoctoral Association and Howard Hughes Medical Institute “Making the Right Moves: A Practical Guide to Scientific Management for Postdocs and New Faculty” (www.hhmi.org/resources/labmanagement/moves.html) are valuable resources for postdocs that are getting ready to make their next career move.

Female postdocs have additional constraints on their time, because they are usually the primary caregivers for children or aging parents. Striking a balance between family life and research can be quite difficult for female scientists. Women are becoming the majority of doctoral recipients in the life sciences in the United States; however, this increase does not directly translate to tenure-track faculty positions (NRC, 2009). In 2006, only 32.2% of tenured or tenure-track faculty in the life sciences were women (NSF/SRS, 2008). These female faculty members are more likely to be unmarried and less likely to have children (NSF/SRS, 2008). The gender gap not only exists in faculty appointments but in salaries as well. A male full professor in biology earned average of $101,900, whereas a female professor in biology earned $93,500, nearly 8% less than her male counterparts (NRC, 2009). Although the exact reasons for why women are underrepresented in faculty positions are unknown, several hypotheses include family responsibilities, lack of mentoring, gender bias, and chilly, unwelcoming departments (Handelsman et al., 2005; Mason et al., 2010).

Once the postdoctoral appointment has come to a conclusion, it is time to get a “real” job. For most postdocs, the logical progression is to obtain a tenure-track faculty position. In 2006, roughly 20% of doctorate recipients were in tenure-track positions at 4–6 years after matriculating (NSB, 2010). What happens if a postdoc does not get a tenure-track faculty position at a tier 1 research university? Not all hope is lost for a rewarding career in the science sector beyond this coveted tenure-track faculty position. There are employment opportunities for postdocs at private companies, nonprofit institutions, and government agencies. Additional opportunities include faculty positions at teaching institutions and community colleges or as senior lecturers at research institutions. If research and teaching positions are not the right fit, then one's scientific background can be applied to business management, intellectual property, scientific writing, editing, and consulting. In the current economic climate of state budget cuts and company layoffs, it is critical that a postdoc is able to reinvent themselves and tap into their creativity to find a position that best suits them.

What can be done to prevent the overwhelming surplus of postdocs in academia? One possibility might include limiting admissions to graduate school programs. The Survey of Earned Doctorates reported that 49,452 research doctorates were awarded in 2009, a 1.6% increase over 2008 (NSF/SRS, 2010). Graduate program coordinators should concurrently present both Master's and Ph.D. degree options to incoming graduate students. Academic institutions should provide more opportunities for postdocs to transition into permanent scientist positions. A lower turnover rate in an academic laboratory could be highly beneficial for busy tenured faculty.

In conclusion, more data need to be collected on postdoctoral appointments to accurately reflect the actual circumstances. In contrast to graduate school, a postdoc appointment does not have set start and end date, and therefore, collecting reliable and meaningful data about this population of the scientific community is more difficult. Data regarding postdoc and tenure-track appointments need to be more transparent and available to students at all levels to help guide their future career choices. As state and federal funding for universities decreases and the biotechnology sector tightens its belt, scientists will have to respond and adapt to the changing landscape of academia and industry.