IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0222422.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Can they imagine the future? A qualitative study exploring the skills employers seek in pharmaceutical sciences doctoral graduates

Author

Listed:
  • Jacqueline E McLaughlin
  • Lana M Minshew
  • Daniel Gonzalez
  • Kelsey Lamb
  • Nicholas J Klus
  • Jeffrey Aubé
  • Wendy Cox
  • Kim L R Brouwer

Abstract

Concerns about the extent to which graduate programs adequately prepare students for the workplace have prompted numerous calls for reform. Understanding what employers look for in doctoral graduates can help schools better align graduate training with workplace needs. Twelve pharmaceutical scientists across diverse specialties and career pathways described the skills considered requisite for success in today’s science economy. Depth and breadth of knowledge, communication, collaboration, adaptability, research productivity, experiential training, and motivation and drive were among the themes identified. These results can be used to inform the development of doctoral curricula in the biomedical sciences.

Suggested Citation

  • Jacqueline E McLaughlin & Lana M Minshew & Daniel Gonzalez & Kelsey Lamb & Nicholas J Klus & Jeffrey Aubé & Wendy Cox & Kim L R Brouwer, 2019. "Can they imagine the future? A qualitative study exploring the skills employers seek in pharmaceutical sciences doctoral graduates," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(9), pages 1-12, September.
  • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0222422
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0222422
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0222422
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0222422&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0222422?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Julie Gould, 2015. "How to build a better PhD," Nature, Nature, vol. 528(7580), pages 22-25, December.
    2. Hussey, Andrew, 2012. "Human capital augmentation versus the signaling value of MBA education," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 442-451.
    3. Ronald G. Ehrenberg & Panagiotis G. Mavros, 1995. "Do Doctoral Students' Financial Support Patterns Affect Their Times-To-Degree and Completion Probabilities?," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 30(3), pages 581-609.
    4. Gundula Bosch, 2018. "Train PhD students to be thinkers not just specialists," Nature, Nature, vol. 554(7692), pages 277-277, February.
    5. Michael Roach & Henry Sauermann, 2017. "The declining interest in an academic career," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(9), pages 1-23, September.
    6. Henry Sauermann & Michael Roach, 2012. "Science PhD Career Preferences: Levels, Changes, and Advisor Encouragement," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(5), pages 1-9, May.
    7. Michael Spence, 1973. "Job Market Signaling," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 87(3), pages 355-374.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Wei-Bin ZHANG, 2014. "Human Capital, Wealth, and Renewable Resources," Expert Journal of Economics, Sprint Investify, vol. 2(1), pages 1-20.
    2. Hayter, Christopher S. & Parker, Marla A., 2019. "Factors that influence the transition of university postdocs to non-academic scientific careers: An exploratory study," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(3), pages 556-570.
    3. Nathalie Duval-Couetil & Michael Ladisch & Soohyun Yi, 2021. "Addressing academic researcher priorities through science and technology entrepreneurship education," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 46(2), pages 288-318, April.
    4. Jacek Liwiński, 2017. "Premia płacowa z kształcenia na studiach podyplomowych," Gospodarka Narodowa. The Polish Journal of Economics, Warsaw School of Economics, issue 5, pages 105-127.
    5. Naven, Matthew & Whalen, Daniel, 2022. "The signaling value of university rankings: Evidence from top 14 law schools," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    6. Ana Sofia Morais & Wasilios Hariskos, 2018. "Academic coaching and decision analysis: Ways of deciding whether to pursue an academic career," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(11), pages 1-18, November.
    7. Valerie Bostwick, 2016. "Signaling In Higher Education: The Effect Of Access To Elite Colleges On Choice Of Major," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 54(3), pages 1383-1401, July.
    8. Zhang Wei-Bin, 2012. "Education and Human Capital Accumulation in a Two -Sector Growth Model with Elastic Labor Supply," Scientific Annals of Economics and Business, Sciendo, vol. 59(1), pages 289-309, July.
    9. Matthew Calver, 2015. "Closing the Aboriginal Education Gap in Canada: The Impact on Employment, GDP, and Labour Productivity," International Productivity Monitor, Centre for the Study of Living Standards, vol. 28, pages 27-46, Spring.
    10. Eric S. Lin & Shih-Yung Chiu, 2016. "Does Holding a Postdoctoral Position Bring Benefits for Advancing to Academia?," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 57(3), pages 335-362, May.
    11. Thomas O. BRODATY & Robert J. GARY-BOBO & Ana PRIETO, 2009. "Does Speed Signal Ability , A Test of Spence's Theory," Working Papers 2009-02, Center for Research in Economics and Statistics.
    12. Ambika Mathur & Annmarie Cano & Michael Kohl & Nisansala S Muthunayake & Prassanna Vaidyanathan & Mary E Wood & Mustafa Ziyad, 2018. "Visualization of gender, race, citizenship and academic performance in association with career outcomes of 15-year biomedical doctoral alumni at a public research university," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(5), pages 1-16, May.
    13. Nick Huntington-Klein, 2021. "Human capital versus signaling is empirically unresolvable," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 60(5), pages 2499-2531, May.
    14. Wei-Bin Zhang, 2018. "Dynamic Interactions Between Health, Human Capital and Wealth," Academicus International Scientific Journal, Entrepreneurship Training Center Albania, issue 17, pages 122-145, March.
    15. Matthew Calver, 2015. "Closing the Aboriginal Education Gap in Canada: Assessing Progress and Estimating the Economic Benefits," CSLS Research Reports 2015-03, Centre for the Study of Living Standards.
    16. Antonio Caparrós-Ruiz, 2019. "Time to the Doctorate and Research Career: Some Evidence from Spain," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 60(1), pages 111-133, February.
    17. Sarah W Davies & Hollie M Putnam & Tracy Ainsworth & Julia K Baum & Colleen B Bove & Sarah C Crosby & Isabelle M Côté & Anne Duplouy & Robinson W Fulweiler & Alyssa J Griffin & Torrance C Hanley & Tes, 2021. "Promoting inclusive metrics of success and impact to dismantle a discriminatory reward system in science," PLOS Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 19(6), pages 1-15, June.
    18. Marilyn Cabay & Bianca L. Bernstein & Melissa Rivers & Natalie Fabert, 2018. "Chilly Climates, Balancing Acts, and Shifting Pathways: What Happens to Women in STEM Doctoral Programs," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 7(2), pages 1-33, January.
    19. Fluet, Claude & Garella, Paolo G., 2002. "Advertising and prices as signals of quality in a regime of price rivalry," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 20(7), pages 907-930, September.
    20. Kristinn Hermannsson & Patrizio Lecca, 2016. "Human Capital in Economic Development: From Labour Productivity to Macroeconomic Impact," Economic Papers, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 35(1), pages 24-36, March.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0222422. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.