It has been said so often that it has almost become a cliché - in order to get a job you need some relevant work experience under your belt. In these tough economic times, work experience placements are hard to come by in any sector, but if you are a science graduate wanting to pursue a career in science they are like gold dust.
This is the one of the conclusions of a report commissioned by the Science Council, the umbrella organisation for scientific societies and professional bodies where I am chief executive. We commissioned the report to see whether there are sufficient opportunities for science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) students to gain practical skills and an awareness of what working in science is really like.
Unsurprisingly, the report reveals that scientific employers view work placements as a great way to increase work-related skills, such as team working and time management.
However, the results also show that there are not enough of these opportunities for science graduates and there isn't a sufficient mix. The sectors with the most internships for STEM graduates are engineering, IT and construction but these are still far outnumbered by those on offer to people who want to pursue, say, a career in the financial and business sector.
Even if you do manage to get an internship in a scientific organisation, it is more likely to be in a business and marketing orientated role rather than a scientific or technical one. This is disheartening as it is often invaluable for people considering a research career to see what it is really like to be in a routine technical role working in a lab, day in day out.
There are hardly any internships on offer in emerging sectors such as the digital or low carbon industries. Also lacking is a chance to experience what combining science with something else, such as policy, fundraising or publishing is like.
The upshot of all this is that sandwich years (where you take a year off from university study to work) or shorter work-related opportunities taken during the second or third year of university are extremely valuable. These could include a period working for a pharmaceutical or IT company, working in the National Health Service (NHS), on a large construction project, or in an energy company (however, we also found that these opportunities are heavily biased away from the sciences. Out of all the sandwich placements available in 2009, only 3.4 per cent were aimed at physical science students and 6 per cent at biological science students). ...
This is the one of the conclusions of a report commissioned by the Science Council, the umbrella organisation for scientific societies and professional bodies where I am chief executive. We commissioned the report to see whether there are sufficient opportunities for science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) students to gain practical skills and an awareness of what working in science is really like.
Unsurprisingly, the report reveals that scientific employers view work placements as a great way to increase work-related skills, such as team working and time management.
However, the results also show that there are not enough of these opportunities for science graduates and there isn't a sufficient mix. The sectors with the most internships for STEM graduates are engineering, IT and construction but these are still far outnumbered by those on offer to people who want to pursue, say, a career in the financial and business sector.
Even if you do manage to get an internship in a scientific organisation, it is more likely to be in a business and marketing orientated role rather than a scientific or technical one. This is disheartening as it is often invaluable for people considering a research career to see what it is really like to be in a routine technical role working in a lab, day in day out.
There are hardly any internships on offer in emerging sectors such as the digital or low carbon industries. Also lacking is a chance to experience what combining science with something else, such as policy, fundraising or publishing is like.
The upshot of all this is that sandwich years (where you take a year off from university study to work) or shorter work-related opportunities taken during the second or third year of university are extremely valuable. These could include a period working for a pharmaceutical or IT company, working in the National Health Service (NHS), on a large construction project, or in an energy company (however, we also found that these opportunities are heavily biased away from the sciences. Out of all the sandwich placements available in 2009, only 3.4 per cent were aimed at physical science students and 6 per cent at biological science students). ...
Diana Garnham, chief executive of the UK Science Council
15:12 11 July 2011
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