Proposal Title
Future-proofing science students: developing professional identity
Session Type
Plenary
Room
HSB 35
Start Date
5-7-2019 1:00 PM
Keywords
professional character, STEM education
Primary Threads
Teaching and Learning Science
Abstract
Today’s science students face the prospect of beginning careers in a workplace that is being profoundly reshaped by the integration of cognitive technologies, accelerated business cycles and the adoption of the open talent economy. For this next generation of professional scientists, work will become an ambiguous and fluid enterprise, demanding high levels of competence in innately human skills, constant retraining, and capacity for adaptation. For many in the future STEM workforce, the lack of career permanence may strain their capacity to develop and maintain a professional identity by which they derive a sense of agency through their work. The long-term cost of this looming threat is unknown, but parallels can be drawn with contemporary mental health challenges, including impostor syndrome, in undergraduate science programs.
Current undergraduate science education is heavily weighted toward developing disciplinary content mastery and focused expertise. Although these outcomes will remain vital as differentiators for work performance, are we doing enough in today’s classrooms and labs to promote the human skills and critically reflective habits of mind that will bolster our students’ autonomy and resilience throughout their careers?
This talk will explore the role modern universities play in STEM workforce training, scenarios for the future of science knowledge workers, and the necessity for professional identity development as a foundation for career fulfillment. Examples will be shown of how leader character dimensions, a science competency framework and critical reflection work have been integrated into both curriculum and counseling practice as a first step in shifting the culture of undergraduate liberal education in ways that expand learning outcomes without sacrificing content.
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Future-proofing science students: developing professional identity
HSB 35
Today’s science students face the prospect of beginning careers in a workplace that is being profoundly reshaped by the integration of cognitive technologies, accelerated business cycles and the adoption of the open talent economy. For this next generation of professional scientists, work will become an ambiguous and fluid enterprise, demanding high levels of competence in innately human skills, constant retraining, and capacity for adaptation. For many in the future STEM workforce, the lack of career permanence may strain their capacity to develop and maintain a professional identity by which they derive a sense of agency through their work. The long-term cost of this looming threat is unknown, but parallels can be drawn with contemporary mental health challenges, including impostor syndrome, in undergraduate science programs.
Current undergraduate science education is heavily weighted toward developing disciplinary content mastery and focused expertise. Although these outcomes will remain vital as differentiators for work performance, are we doing enough in today’s classrooms and labs to promote the human skills and critically reflective habits of mind that will bolster our students’ autonomy and resilience throughout their careers?
This talk will explore the role modern universities play in STEM workforce training, scenarios for the future of science knowledge workers, and the necessity for professional identity development as a foundation for career fulfillment. Examples will be shown of how leader character dimensions, a science competency framework and critical reflection work have been integrated into both curriculum and counseling practice as a first step in shifting the culture of undergraduate liberal education in ways that expand learning outcomes without sacrificing content.