Workshop: Support of Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Researchers in the Sciences and Engineering, June 17-18, 2004

American Association For The Advancement Of Science, Washington DC

Investigators

Abstract

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) proposes to hold a workshop addressing the issues surrounding graduate student and postdoctoral support. This event is part of a series of events co-sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) designed to examine and improve knowledge and practice in graduate education and research training. Intellectual Merit There are many who believe that the US is facing a critical shortage of citizens trained in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. This workshop will address this issue by examining the factors that lead students to pursue graduate education and postdoctoral training in STEM areas, focusing especially on the critical role that financial support and benefits play in preparing a technological workforce. AAAS will work cooperatively with the NSF Division of Graduate Education to organize a two- day workshop to be held at AAAS headquarters in Washington, DC on June 17-18, 2004. The workshop will consider the role and impact of student financial support in promoting the production of more and better prepared US citizens in STEM fields. The conference will examine the interplay between components of graduates student support such as mode, duration and amount of stipend, as well as health care and other benefits. These elements will be considered in relationship to indicators of student progress such as completion rate, time to degree and time to first position. The meeting will also explore the economic impacts of graduate and postdoctoral compensation on the research enterprise and on the domestic scientific labor market overall. The meeting will involve one hundred participants including graduate students; postdoctoral researchers; STEM faculty and deans; labor economists; and representatives from industry and research funding organizations. It will be held at AAAS Headquarters in downtown Washington, DC, for convenient access. The information shared at this meeting, combined with the policy recommendations developed, will significantly advance knowledge and practice in graduate education. A crucial group of stakeholders will be empowered to create and disseminate a set of best practices surrounding mode, duration and amount of student support. Broader Impacts The outcome of the workshop will be a set of best-practices and identification of knowledge gaps to be addressed by future research on these topics. It will also help to build a community of researchers, educators, and stakeholders who will maintain an ongoing dialogue in this critical area. AAAS will work with NSF to disseminate these findings broadly. This meeting will advance our understanding of how the many facets of graduate student support contribute to creating the US STEM workforce, and it will promote the leadership of a more knowledgeable and invested set of stakeholders. The best practices guidelines developed at this meeting will be disseminated widely by the meeting organizers and participants, and will lead to infrastructure changes that will enhance graduate education nationwide. The meeting will also address how changes in mode and amount of support may differentially affect underrepresented groups along racial, gender or socioeconomic lines.