Postdocs Organize For Changes

GRIM OUTLOOK: Postdocs need to realize that the odds of getting tenure-track academic jobs are poor, says CSPT's Catherine Gaddy. The once-predictable world of scientific postdoctoral research appears to be entering a period of transformation. Increasingly left in an employment limbo by shrinking tenure-track faculty positions at universities, science postdocs around the United States are beginning to organize and clamor for change. But for many, a nonacademic career seems unavoidable. "The c

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GRIM OUTLOOK: Postdocs need to realize that the odds of getting tenure-track academic jobs are poor, says CSPT's Catherine Gaddy.

The once-predictable world of scientific postdoctoral research appears to be entering a period of transformation. Increasingly left in an employment limbo by shrinking tenure-track faculty positions at universities, science postdocs around the United States are beginning to organize and clamor for change. But for many, a nonacademic career seems unavoidable.

"The current cohort is caught in a difficult time," acknowledges Catherine Gaddy, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Commission on Professionals in Science and Technology (CPST). "I think postdocs need information, and we're doing what we can to let them know that the odds [of obtaining a tenure-track position] are wrenching."

CPST, a participating organization of the Washington, D.C.-based American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), analyzes human resource information concerning science and technology as one of its main ...

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