Dear colleagues, Thank you so much for taking the time last Spring to complete the short Survey on Timeline to Tenure Track. Our objective was to better understand the career transition from PhD to tenure-track academic job and consider this timeline in the context of shifts in science career pathways. Your information helped our analysis immensely!
The results of the survey in the context of published statistics on trends in graduate education and the academic workforce are presented in the article "Is it Time to Redefine the "Alternative" Career Path for Ecologists?" in the February 2014 issue of the ASLO Bulletin: http://aslo.org/bulletin/ In short, results from the overall analysis allowed us to underscore the diminishing proportion of Ph.D. graduates obtaining academic positions in Life Sciences and Ecology, despite continued increases in the number of degrees conferred in these fields. The survey allowed us to determine that, while the transition from Ph.D. to tenure track occurs within a median of 3 years, variability in this amount of time has increased since the 1970's. Recent graduates therefore have an almost equal chance of spending 1 or 5 years as postdocs or in soft money positions. Our analysis of these trends prompted us to recommend steps that students, advisors, departments, and universities can and should take to increase transparency in career prospects and prepare graduate students for a range of career paths they may choose to pursue following completion of the Ph.D. Thank you again for your time and contribution to this effort. We look forward to continuing to Redefine the Alternative with you going forward! Sincerely, Gretchen Hansen Steven Sadro Melissa Baustian
