Addressing the Nation's Changing Needs for Biomedical and Behavioral Scientists (2000) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
3. Behavioral and Social Scientists
3. Behavioral and Social Scientists
Pages 31-41
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 31... ...
Simultaneously, behavioral and social science research is increasingly interdisciplinary. The variables that affect health and illness may occur at the molecular, cellular, organ system, behavioral and psychological, and social and environmental levels.3 Recognizing these interactions often requires a broad understanding of the connections between the behavioral sciences, findings from basic biomedical laboratories (especially in pharmacology and biochemistry)
|
From page 32... ...
A PORTRAIT OF THE WORKFORCE As in the basic biomedical sciences, the behavioral and social science workforce has more than doubled since 1975, from just over 25,800 Ph.D.s to 57,800 in 1997 (see Figure 3- 1~. In contrast to the steady growth of the basic biomedical workforce during that period, most of the increase in the behavioral and social sciences occurred between 1975 and 1989, when the size 4 Sikes, Violet.
|
From page 33... ...
Postdoctoral study is not as customary for behavioral and social science Ph.D.s as for those in biomedical fields but has been slowly increasing. In many other regards, doctoral education in the behavioral and social sciences differs markedly from that in the basic biomedical sciences.
|
From page 34... ...
3,500 3,000 2 500 ~ ' ~ 2,OOO ° 1,500 E Z 1,000 500 o Men 1975 1977 1979 1981 1983 1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 1997 Year FIGURE 3-4 Ph.D.s awarded in the behavioral and social sciences in the United States by gender. SOURCE: Data are from the Survey of Earned Doctorates (see Table Gym.
|
From page 35... ...
The fraction of behavioral and social science Ph.D.s awarded to noncitizens has also increased, though not as steadily as, and much less dramatically than, in the basic biomedical sciences. The percentage of doctoral degrees in the behavioral and social sciences awarded to individuals holding temporary visas increased from 6.8 percent in 1975 to 12.9 percent in 1993.
|
From page 36... ...
40,000 35,000 30,000 o 25,000 ~ 20,000 Q ~ 15,000 By 1 0,000 5,000 O Postdoctorates . Other academics 1975 1977 1979 1981 1983 1985 FIGURE 3-6 Employment of behavioral and social scientists Recipients (see Table G-5~.
|
From page 37... ...
THE CHANGING ROLE OF THE NATIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE AWARD PROGRAM In general, the National Research Service Award (NRSA) program plays a smaller role in research training in the behavioral and social sciences than in the basic biomedical fields.
|
From page 38... ...
production that the size of doctoral programs is driven largely by departmental needs for research and teaching assistants, rather than by the labor market for Ph.D.s.~2 Unlike biomedical and clinical research training, which tends to be widely distributed among the NIH institutes, relatively few institutes are responsible for the bulk of the agency's behavioral research training. The National Institute of Mental Health supports the majority of NRSA trainees and fellows in the behavioral and social sciences (55.3 percent in 1997)
|
From page 39... ...
An interdisciplinary approach to research training will undoubtedly benefit young investigators and strengthen behavioral and social sciences research overall. Broader training will provide behavioral and social science investigators with the capacity to work in a greater variety of employment settings and apply their training to a wider range of research problems, including those that require an understanding of neuroscience (and related fields such as pharmacology and biochemistry)
|
From page 40... ...
It is unlikely, however, that the NIH could readily return to the pattern of federal research training support that existed in the mid-1970s when the NRSA program was initiated and more than 80 percent of graduate students in the behavioral sciences with NIH or other DHHS support received funding through training grants or fellowships. Instead, the committee believes that the agency should strive for a middle ground: gradually expanding the NRSA program until it accounts for at least 50 percent of the agency's funding for graduate students in the behavioral and social sciences and correspondingly limiting research assistantships and other modes of graduate student support to ensure that overall Ph.D.
|
From page 41... ...
Transforming research training in the behavioral and social sciences into a more interdisciplinary activity is likely to require a concerted effort by the NIH and changes in several facets of its research training programs. Rather than recommend a single approach, we suggest that the agency consider the following options for achieving this goal: · Gradually shift the focus of its predoctoral programs from single-discipline to interdisciplinary training.
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.