The Broadening Experiences in Scientific Training (BEST) program is an NIH-funded effort testing the impact of career development interventions (e.g. internships, workshops, classes) on biomedical trainees (graduate students and postdoctoral fellows). BEST Programs seek to increase trainees’ knowledge, skills and confidence to explore and pursue expanded career options, as well as to increase training in new skills that enable multiple career pathways. Faculty mentors are vital to a trainee’s professional development, but data about how faculty members of biomedical trainees view the value of, and the time spent on, career development are lacking. Seven BEST institutions investigated this issue by conducting faculty surveys during their BEST experiment. The survey intent was to understand faculty perceptions around professional and career development for their trainees. Two different, complementary surveys were employed, one designed by Michigan State University (MSU) and the other by Vanderbilt University. Faculty (592) across five institutions responded to the MSU survey; 225 faculty members from two institutions responded to the Vanderbilt University survey. Participating faculty were largely tenure track and male; approximately 1/3 had spent time in a professional position outside of academia. Respondents felt a sense of urgency in introducing broad career activities for trainees given a recognized shortage of tenure track positions. They reported believing career development needs are different between a graduate student and postdoctoral fellow, and they indicated that they actively mentor trainees in career development. However, faculty were uncertain as to whether they actually have the knowledge or training to do so effectively. Faculty perceived that trainees themselves lack a knowledge base of skills that are of interest to non-academic employers. Thus, there is a need for exposure and training in such skills. Faculty stated unequivocally that institutional support for career development is important and needed. BEST Programs were considered beneficial to trainees, but the awareness of local BEST Programs and the national BEST Consortium was low at the time surveys were employed at some institutions. It is our hope that the work presented here will increase the awareness of the BEST national effort and the need for further career development for biomedical trainees.

Graduate students and postdocs in science, technology, engineering, and math fields are faced with a wide range of career paths to employment, but they are often not trained to effectively pursue these opportunities. The lack of career management skills implies long tenures in graduate school for many students, especially as tenure-track positions in academia dwindle. At our university, we used a cohort model in which graduate students and postdocs were encouraged to apply to the Broadening Experiences in Scientific Training program (BEST under the aegis of the National Institutes of Health) that provided opportunities to gain career management skills, engage in career exploration, and complete at least one formal internship. In this interview study of the BEST trainees, we investigated the efficacy of internships as career exploration tools and associated outcomes. Our findings show that internships were seen as effective career exploration and self-development vehicles that influenced participants’ long-term career goals. Graduate students and postdocs reported gaining transferable knowledge and skills, in addition to receiving valuable industry mentoring and networking opportunities.

Aim/Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to understand doctoral and postdoctoral trainee preferences for different models of career development resources and how career-relevant social capital affects these preferences. Background: The supply and demand mismatch within the academic job market is augmented by a growing complaint that trainees are not prepared for a range of careers beyond the academic. So, trainees are often put in a position to seek out resources to navigate their career search processes, yet, the career development strategies that they pursue and the preferences that they have for different types of career development resources is not well understood. Drawing from existing higher education and social capital theory literatures, we examine how trainee preferences for career development resources are shaped by the career support received from their Principal Investigator (PI) and peers, as well as their own self-efficacy. Methodology: We focus on doctoral and postdoctoral trainees in the biomedical science and engineering disciplines at two sites (but involving three institutions) funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Broadening Experiences in Scientific Training (BEST) Program, a program designed to help prepare trainees for a broad variety of bio-medically related careers within and outside of academic research. Using a survey of both BEST and non-BEST trainees (those not formally in a BEST program), we conducted descriptive and logistic regression analyses of survey data to assess the factors affecting trainee preferences for three different types of career development models: (1) an intensive cohort career development experience (BEST “cohort”), (2) ad-hoc resources (“cafeteria”), or (3) choosing not to seek any career development resources at all. Contribution: This study contributes to the doctoral trainee research base by (1) taking a quantitative approach to cohort based interventions for career development, concepts historically largely examined by qualitative methods, (2) distinguishing among the types and sources of support to better tease out the different types of relationships trainees may have, (3) identifying these issues for both the experiences of the doctoral student and the lesser-studied postdoctoral fellow, and (4) moving beyond a single institution study context by examining data from three different university programs, which allows us to control for institutional and demographic characteristics which importantly is recognized as a significant need in cohort model research. Findings: We find that social capital in the form of a supportive environment and peer support was critical for shaping career development preferences. Cohort programs were particularly attractive to trainees interested in careers outside of academic science and who had low career self-efficacy. Trainees who reported high levels of PI support were less likely to pursue other career development resources, while students reporting low levels of PI support were more likely to choose to participate in a career development focused BEST cohort community. Trainees who reported low levels of PI, department, and peer support were less likely to participate in formal career development events or resources offered by academic institutions. Recommendations for Practitioners: These findings can inform university and career development administrators about the social context in which trainees develop and how that matters for how they prefer and value different formats and intensities of career support. Our recommendations point to the importance of developing (if possible) different models for providing career development resources, so trainees can take advantage of the ones most suitable for them. We further recommend programs consider different marketing strategies for the types of career development programs they offer in order for trainees to understand their options and engage in the resources that make the most sense for them. Highlighting the benefits of cohort based programs will help attract those trainees who desire and need that type of support. This clarity in program goals not only helps to set and manage expectations for trainees to know what the outcomes can be, it also helps to inform programs in terms of what resources to use and measure in helping move trainees along in their own career progression. Recommendation for Researchers: We recommend empirically differentiating the different types of support trainees may receive, as our results emphasized that the source of support matters. We also recommend that this study be replicated across different disciplines to assess the extent to which these findings apply universally. Impact on Society: This research is especially important for its impact for the job market and graduate higher education. With the growth in graduate career development training available across U.S. campuses, by designing and targeting the appropriate interventions for career development in academic institutions we can better prepare trainees for their next steps after training as they enter into the job market. Future Research: Future research needs to further examine the black-boxes that are the doctoral student and postdoctoral experiences. This literature is growing, but we need a more concerted effort to understand how factors like support (in its various forms) work with other factors, like career development efficacy. Within this context, future research should look at first generation trainees, as well.

A new s-triazine ring containing aromatic diisocyanate bearing a pendent alkyne group, namely, 2,4-bis(4-isocyanatophenoxy)26-(prop-2-yn-1-yloxy)21,3,5-triazine was synthesized and reacted with various diols viz., 1,10-decanediol, tetraethylene glycol and polyethylene glycols in the presence of dibutyltin dilaurate as the catalyst to obtain a series of linear polyurethanes. The selected polyurethanes possessing pendent alkyne groups were postmodified with chemically diverse azides viz., 1-(azidomethyl)benzene, 1-(azidomethyl)pyrene, and methoxy end-caped poly(ethylene glycol) azide via coppercatalysed azide-alkyne Huisgen 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition. FTIR and 1 H NMR spectra indicated quantitative click reaction. UVvis and fluorescence spectroscopic analysis confirmed complete incorporation of pyrenyl groups indicating the formation of fluorescence active polyurethane by postmodification with 1-(azidomethyl)pyrene. TG analysis of polyurethanes indicated two stage weight loss and their thermal stability, as judged by T 10 values, was governed by weight percent of urethane linkages. The water contact angle measurements revealed improved wettability with increased content of PEG either in the backbone of polyurethanes or as grafted chains. DLS and TEM studies confirmed that certain polyurethanes possessing PEG segments displayed self-assembly in aqueous solution, which was further supported by pyrene encapsulation studies using UV-vis spectroscopy.

Summary Stigmatized professions are those where physical, social, and/or moral taints are applied. Stigma theorists hold that stigma is socially communicated and changes over time, but it is unclear if stigma content can be applied to those who are seen as powerful. Two studies examined how the impact of sociopolitical discourses on policing, a profession that carries legitimate power, on the tainting of the profession and distrust in policing. In an examination of archival news media clips on policing (N = 200), results show that media coverage over time (between 2011 and 2016) has used a more negative tone in discussing police–citizen interactions, and these findings varied by conservative versus liberal media. Importantly, across media sources, taints were ascribed to policing. In a second survey study, individuals directly ascribed taints to policing (N = 169). Relative to other jobs, policing was categorized as a pervasively stigmatized job (i.e., high frequency and strong potency of taints were applied). It was also found that those who discussed media stories tended to distrust police more. Implications for efforts to recruit, select, and train officers and to improve police–community relations are discussed; findings may also generalize to other public and community facing professions.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract