| Title |
In Defense of an Academic Career in Microbiology
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
mSphere, May 2018
|
| DOI | 10.1128/msphere.00575-17 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Patrick D Schloss |
| Abstract |
The rise of Quit Lit describing the myriad reasons for leaving academia and constant complaining by mentors leave many trainees with little desire for an academic career. Although there are clearly structural and social problems in academia, I feel that they are outweighed by the benefits of working and living in an academic environment. Every academic values different things about their job, and here I outline the factors that keep me in academia. To make sure that our best scientists are not scared away from academia, we must provide balance to the negativity that regularly surrounds discussions of careers in academia. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 831 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 300 | 36% |
| United Kingdom | 83 | 10% |
| Australia | 42 | 5% |
| Germany | 31 | 4% |
| Canada | 31 | 4% |
| Netherlands | 16 | 2% |
| France | 12 | 1% |
| India | 12 | 1% |
| Ireland | 11 | 1% |
| Other | 93 | 11% |
| Unknown | 200 | 24% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Scientists | 470 | 57% |
| Members of the public | 323 | 39% |
| Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 19 | 2% |
| Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 18 | 2% |
| Unknown | 1 | <1% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 68 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Unknown | 68 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 17 | 25% |
| Researcher | 11 | 16% |
| Student > Doctoral Student | 6 | 9% |
| Student > Master | 5 | 7% |
| Professor > Associate Professor | 4 | 6% |
| Other | 10 | 15% |
| Unknown | 15 | 22% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 18 | 26% |
| Immunology and Microbiology | 9 | 13% |
| Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 7 | 10% |
| Environmental Science | 3 | 4% |
| Physics and Astronomy | 3 | 4% |
| Other | 9 | 13% |
| Unknown | 19 | 28% |