Becoming an Astronomer: Alternative Career Arcs

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The "Becoming An Astronomer" writing project starts out with a blog about my first impression on being an professional astronomer (here). As a second part, David and John interviewed Professor Richard Ellis about his career and profession (here and here). Professor Ellis is a well-established astronomer but what are other paths? Here is where I come in. In this post, I will examine other astronomy career arcs.

After I did some research, I struck gold! There is an article which integrate many papers published in the Newsletter of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) from May 2008 to September 2011 by the Committee on Employment. Eleven people who intended to become a tenured professor in astronomy write about their career now which is not what they expected. There simply aren't huge numbers of unemployed Ph.D. astronomers. Whether they are all working in a job related to astronomy is another matter. Each of them reflects pros and cons of different career arcs.

(1) Changing Priorities: the Hard Money Wild Card by Travis Metcalfe

          Metcalfe has a job which could be considered as "hard-money." In other words, he gets 12-month salary regardless of grants he brought in. One good thing of working at federally funded research facilities or observatories is that you can focus on your research without teaching. However, you might have to do research in some topic that is relevant to the strategic goals of the institution. It might look like a stable job, but Metcalfe states that recent economic crisis affects his budget significantly.

(2) Beyond Ivory Towers by Leila Belkora

          Right after she finished graduate school, Belkora turns into a science writer. At first, she intends to do the job for a year looking for a better one. But it turns out that scientific writing is a perfect job. She has a wide range of jobs - from an editor for the Office of Public Affairs at Fermilab, to freelance book and magazine writing. Recently, she gets a job as developing online physics courses. Having chances to communicate with public, Belkora says that one of the differences between this career path and a tenured professor is flexibility which she appreciates.

(3) Astronomers Working in Public Outreach by Liam McDaid

          McDaid works for E/PO (Education & Public Outreach) which has responsibilities involving observatory support or running planetariums. He calls his job as an astronomy coordinator - overseeing maintenance an observatory, developing new projects for classes, procuring needed equipment, running the observatory for popular public viewings, creating curricula for classes, acting as liaison with both local and regional groups on E/PO projects, and making astronomy available to public.

(4) Bush-Whacking a Career Trail by Blake Bullock

          Bullock, having degrees in Astrophysics, works as a Presidential Management Fellow. Even though he has his degree in astronomy, he was being offered jobs in areas I never expected - intelligence, federal law enforcement, and energy. He states that a perfect job is over-rated. "The best way he has learned what he wants to do is by doing. Often times the perfect job for him didn't exist until he got there."In astronomy, many people are needed to keep one mission going, including inside government, industry, academia, the media, and non-profits. Thus, Bullock, currently working as a business development manager, really enjoys working on top of everything.

(5) Science Communication as a Press Officer by Christine Pulliam

          Communication skill is a crucial part in scientific community especially in the field of astronomy. Pulliam works in the press office of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. The main role of the job is to "translate" astronomical language - Stromgren spheres and acoustic oscillations - into something that normal people can understand. Most of the work including coordination with public. To prepare for this career, classes or seminars on journalism are crucial, also dedicated programs in science writing.

(6) Jobs in Industry by Peter Williams

          At first, industry might cause a complete loss of autonomy, because of a stressful, degrading work environment with coworkers and bosses who shouldn't understand my background. However, Williams founds himself has more autonomy than before since, in industry, he has complete control of his project. "If he wants to do something, he does it. Succeed or fail, he owns it." One big good thing for industry is that it gives out a bigger check.

(7) Back to School: A Ph.D. Enters the Classroom by Joshua Roth

          After finishing Ph.D., Joshua Roth becomes a high-school physics teacher. High school teachers are articulate, engaging, quirky, intellectually rigorous, and resourceful. The fate of K-12 teacher depends on his all-important first year. Like astronomy research, K-12 teaching is an illiquid labor market - you must have a teaching license and pay and job security are primarily based upon seniority.

(8) Working at a Soft-Money Institute by Barb Whitney

          Soft-money scientists, opposed to hard-money, have to support themselves by research grants since there is no paid salary. However, they still get benefits like health insurance and retirement. Examples of soft-money scientists can be found at research universities, small colleges, observatories, government laboratories, and soft-money institutes. Another benefit for soft-money job is flexibility. As long as you bring in enough grant money, you are an employee with full benefits. However, drawbacks are the insecurity of the job.

(9) Balancing Research and Service at NOAO by Knut Olsen

          Knut Olsen works as an NOAO staff astronomer. Not only doing research, but he also has to maintain telescopes and instruments, improve user support, and assist visiting observers. Thus, he has to find a good balance between these aspects of the job. Olsen summarizes that the job has been rewarding and exciting. Also, in addition to knowledge in research, you still gain a good technical understanding of telescopes and instruments.

(10) Succeeding in a Large Research Collaboration by Andy Howell

          In astronomy, large collaborations are pretty common which also lead to discoveries. With new equipment and technology, huge piles of data are collected - too much to be analyzed and computed by an individual. Even though you have to work as a team, you still can focus on your individual research. Also, as working with other scientists, competition are encouraged which drives your research. More people means more ideas so more creativity.

(11) Preparing for the College Teaching Job Market by Luke Keller

          Luke Keller works as a professor in a small liberal art college. Instead of doing research, he prefers spending most time teaching. He also gives advices for graduate students pursuing teaching career path. For example, getting teaching experience is the most important step, offer yourself to teach the lecture, not just a lab, more than one or two semesters of teaching while in grad school is not necessary, don't afraid and listen to evaluation from your student, invite at least one faculty member to visit your class, etc. He concludes as, "if you want to be a teacher, you need to teach."