Nature: young academic dreamers should be prepared to leave the "ivory tower"

Not every graduate of a football school will get a career contract Similarly, not all young scientists will be engaged in research for life Before writing his doctoral dissertation, British sociologist Chris Platts surveyed more than 300 young players aged 17 or 18 in football schools of British clubs, all of whom wanted to be professional players Recently, Platts said in an interview with the guardian that only four of these players have been awarded professional contracts That is to say, the elimination rate is close to 99% Nature's career column last week conducted a survey of more than 5700 young scientists worldwide, three quarters of whom said they would seek to embark on the path of career research after graduation According to the survey data, these young academic dreamers are more likely to embark on a career path than football school graduates There is no global data available from the survey Data from the UK show that three to four out of every 100 doctoral students can get tenure in universities In short, most PhD students need to plan outside of academia In this regard, it may be necessary for the doctoral supervisor to make a thorough understanding with his students and prepare them psychologically Over the years, the number of doctoral students trained in the world of internal medicine has exceeded the demand of the academic system Most of the young scientists involved in the survey may never be able to enter academia Even for many young people who enter the academic world, they will be waiting for them to move from one short-term contract to another, and finally have the idea of changing careers It's also a great choice for doctoral students and postdoctors to enter other industries if they don't follow the academic path Many people will meet similar challenges and incentives in industry and academia Moreover, it is beneficial for science and society as a whole that a large number of scientists who have received good education and academic training enter the industry and bring their scientific spirit and respect for evidence into society It's good for young scientists to take a more pragmatic attitude in the early stages of career development, because they still have time to adjust their goals Nature's survey shows that one-third of the respondents are not efficient in professional communication with their doctoral supervisors When they discuss the possibility of future development, non academic work is rarely discussed and seems to be less important Nearly a third of the students chose "disagree" or "strongly disagree" when "their tutors give useful advice on non academic careers" Mentors are busy people, but they are usually the "faces" of universities or academic systems in front of students Therefore, when students seek guidance, they will surely think of mentors At the very least, mentors should also ask students to go to the university career service center, and the organization should also pay more attention to career choices outside the academic community It is not just undergraduates who benefit from the rich possibilities In fact, graduate students may need more attention and advice, because many people, including graduate students themselves, believe that they are firmly bound to take the academic path Another key issue in this survey is mental health More than a quarter of students list mental health as a concern, and 45 percent say they have sought help with anxiety or depression caused by a doctoral degree problem One third of them received useful help from their institutions (which means, of course, that two-thirds did not) However, 5% also said they could not get help anywhere, because in many countries, getting mental health support is generally difficult This shows that young people in the education system may receive better mental health services than others outside the system If the prospects of young scientists in academia are mixed, fortunately, most people do not seem to give up hope In fact, it's worth noting that nearly 80% of respondents said they were satisfied with their decision to pursue a doctorate It reflects that many of them have great opportunities, access to good facilities and are satisfied with the guidance they receive Just like football players, only a part of them will enter the professional league, this part of them will enter the academic field to develop their own career, and will find that their choice is rewarding and satisfying But for another group of young scientists, maybe someone should tell them what will happen next.