Return of the Revenge of the Project for Non-Academic Science

I've been doing a lot of darkness-cursing lately (mostly off-line), so we could stand to have a little candle-lighting. It's been a few years since I last did a round of profiles of scientists outside academia, so let's see if that will fly again...

So, if you 1) Have a degree in a STEM field (BA/BS, MA/MS, Ph.D., whatever), 2) Have a career that doesn't involve people calling you "Professor," and 3) Are willing to share answers to a few simple questions about how you got there and how your science background helps, drop me a line. You can leave a comment here, email me (orzelc at steelypips which is not a com but an org), or hit me on social media @orzelc on Twitter, easily searchable on Facebook and G+), and I'll send you the list of questions.

If I get a reasonable number of responses, I'll lightly edit them and post them here as a slight signal boost for cool things you can do with a science degree that don't require entering the academic rat race. If I don't get any responses, well, we'll pretend I never posted this...

More like this

In keeping with this week's unofficial theme of wibbling about academia, there's an article at The Nation about the evils of graduate school that's prompted some discussion. Sean says more or less what I would, though maybe a little more nicely than I would. I wouldn't bother to comment further,…
The discussion surrounding the recent post about jobs continues to bubble along nicely, both in the original post, and the follow-up. I love it when a plan comes together. There's been a lot of discussion of following the advice in the Katz letter and seeking non-academic careers, but Jeff F. (who…
Having spent the last couple of posts talking (in part) about the need to change academic culture, and de-stigmatize non-academic science jobs, here's an attempt to step up and do something direct and productive. No, this won't cost you anything. One of the difficulties with trying to broaden the…
(On July 16, 2009, I asked for volunteers with science degrees and non-academic jobs who would be willing to be interviewed about their careers paths, with the goal of providing young scientists with more information about career options beyond the pursuit of a tenure-track faculty job that is too…

Your readers can find plenty of examples of people who started down the academic path, but then took a right turn and ended up elsewhere, at the Astrobetter blog:

http://www.astrobetter.com/

Look for entries titled "Career Profiles".

By Michael Richmond (not verified) on 18 Nov 2014 #permalink

If you would like to hear from a pediatrician, send me the list

By Don Cotler (not verified) on 18 Nov 2014 #permalink

I'm a physician (neonatology) who started out as a high school physics teacher. Send me the questions, please.

By Rick Meidell (not verified) on 18 Nov 2014 #permalink

Hi Chad

I would be happy to take part.

Hamish

By Hamish Johnston (not verified) on 18 Nov 2014 #permalink

I am a former Physicist working as an engineer and would be happy to take part.

By Steven Olson (not verified) on 19 Nov 2014 #permalink

I would be happy to participate!

By Irene Cesa (not verified) on 19 Nov 2014 #permalink

Hi Chad,

I'd love to help.
I'm a PhD chemist working as a science teacher at the moment.

Eli.