FROM THE TOS PRESIDENT
Deborah Bronk

Hello TOS members!

Over the last decade there has been greater focus on the important question of how to increase access to careers in science and how to break down barriers to gaining that access. Here I’d like to focus on how we deal with the student once we get them through the door and pose a question I have been pondering for a while.

How challenging should preparation for a career in science be?

For years I’ve been hearing students complain that school is too hard. Professors expect too much. Graduate school takes too long. Undergraduate programs require too many classes. For those of you who read the Chronicle of Higher Education, this is a problem across the US, and my non-US colleagues tell me we are not alone. Post-pandemic, mental health issues like depression and anxiety seem to have skyrocketed. As a result, we try to provide more support, modify expectations, and engineer accommodations to meet students where they are.

I am supportive of all of this in spirit. Where I struggle is with the reality that a career in science is not easy. It takes grit, determination, and the ability to pick yourself up when you get knocked down—again and again. Grants don’t get funded. Reviewers can be cruel. Industry projects get cancelled. Papers get rejected. Policies fail to pass. Experiments don’t work. This is all part of the wild ride of a science career. It is not for the faint of heart.

I worry that the preparation we provide to many students does not match the level of problem-solving and emotional resilience that will be expected of them when they are out in the world. I support providing accommodations to help students think critically, to go at a speed that is challenging but realistic for them, and that there are many ways of learning. But at the end of the day—they must learn and master these skills and I am increasingly hearing colleagues in person and in the media who make excuses for why their students do not.

I have no answers, but I think all of us involved in science education should consider how easy we make the preparation for a career that can be hard.

I’m here to serve, so please reach out to me at [email protected] if you have any concerns or ideas about how TOS can better serve its members and the work they do.

STUDENT HIGHLIGHT
Benjamin Glass