Nontraditional Careers For Chemists

A Chemistry background prepares you for much more than just a laboratory career. The broad science education, analytical thinking, research methods, and other skills learned are of value to a wide variety of types of employers, and essential for a plethora of types of positions. Those who are interested in chemistry tend to have some similar personality traits and characteristics. By understanding your own personal values and interests, you can make informed decisions about what career paths to explore, and identify positions that match your needs. By expanding your options for not only what you will do, but also the environment in which you will do it, you can vastly increase the available employment opportunities, and increase the likelihood of finding enjoyable and lucrative employment. Each chapter in this book provides background information on a nontraditional field, including typical tasks, education or training requirements, and personal characteristics that make for a successful career in that field. Each chapter also contains detailed profiles of several chemists working in that field. The reader gets a true sense of what these people do on a daily basis, what in their background prepared them to move into this field, and what skills, personality, and knowledge are required to make a success of a career in this new field. Advice for people interested in moving into the field, and predictions for the future of that career, are also included from each person profiled. Career fields profiled include communication, chemical information, patents, sales and marketing, business development, regulatory affairs, public policy, safety, human resources, computers, and several others. Taken together, the career descriptions and real case histories provide a complete picture of each nontraditional career path, as well as valuable advice about how career transitions can be planned and successfully achieved by any chemist.

A Chemistry background prepares you for much more than just a laboratory career. The broad science education, analytical thinking, research methods, and other skills learned are of value to a wide variety of types of employers, and essential for a plethora of types of positions. Those who are interested in chemistry tend to have some similar personality traits and characteristics. By understanding your own personal values and interests, you can make informed decisions about what career paths to explore, and identify positions that match your needs. By expanding your options for not only what you will do, but also the environment in which you will do it, you can vastly increase the available employment opportunities, and increase the likelihood of finding enjoyable and lucrative employment. Each chapter in this book provides background information on a nontraditional field, including typical tasks, education or training requirements, and personal characteristics that make for a successful career in that field. Each chapter also contains detailed profiles of several chemists working in that field. The reader gets a true sense of what these people do on a daily basis, what in their background prepared them to move into this field, and what skills, personality, and knowledge are required to make a success of a career in this new field. Advice for people interested in moving into the field, and predictions for the future of that career, are also included from each person profiled. Career fields profiled include communication, chemical information, patents, sales and marketing, business development, regulatory affairs, public policy, safety, human resources, computers, and several others. Taken together, the career descriptions and real case histories provide a complete picture of each nontraditional career path, as well as valuable advice about how career transitions can be planned and successfully achieved by any chemist.

A Chemistry background prepares you for much more than just a laboratory career. The broad science education, analytical thinking, research methods, and other skills learned are of value to a wide variety of types of employers, and essential for a plethora of types of positions. Those who are interested in chemistry tend to have some similar personality traits and characteristics. By understanding your own personal values and interests, you can make informed decisions about what career paths to explore, and identify positions that match your needs. By expanding your options for not only what you will do, but also the environment in which you will do it, you can vastly increase the available employment opportunities, and increase the likelihood of finding enjoyable and lucrative employment. Each chapter in this book provides background information on a nontraditional field, including typical tasks, education or training requirements, and personal characteristics that make for a successful career in that field. Each chapter also contains detailed profiles of several chemists working in that field. The reader gets a true sense of what these people do on a daily basis, what in their background prepared them to move into this field, and what skills, personality, and knowledge are required to make a success of a career in this new field. Advice for people interested in moving into the field, and predictions for the future of that career, are also included from each person profiled. Career fields profiled include communication, chemical information, patents, sales and marketing, business development, regulatory affairs, public policy, safety, human resources, computers, and several others. Taken together, the career descriptions and real case histories provide a complete picture of each nontraditional career path, as well as valuable advice about how career transitions can be planned and successfully achieved by any chemist.

Chemistry graduate education is under considerable pressure. Pharmaceutical companies, long a major employer of synthetic organic chemists, are drastically paring back their research divisions to reduce costs. Chemical companies are opening new research and development facilities in Asia rather than in the United States to take advantage of growing markets and trained workforces there. Universities, especially public universities, are under significant fiscal constraints that threaten their ability to hire new faculty members. Future federal funding of chemical research may be limited as the federal budget tightens. All of these trends have major consequences for the education of chemistry graduate students in U.S. universities. To explore and respond to these intensifying pressures, the Board on Chemical Sciences and Technology held a workshop in Washington, DC, on January 23-24 2012, titled "Graduate Education in Chemistry in the Context of a Changing Environment." The workshop brought together representatives from across the chemical enterprise, representing leaders and future leaders of academia, industry, and government. The goal of the workshop was not to come to conclusions, but to have an open and frank discussion about critical issues affecting chemistry graduate education, such as the attraction and retainment of the most able students to graduate education, financial stressors on the current support model and their implications for the future model, competencies needed in the changing job market for Ph.D. chemists, and competencies needed to address societal problems such as energy and sustainability. Challenges in Chemistry Graduate Education: A Workshop Summary is organized into six chapters and summarizes the workshop on "Graduate Education in Chemistry in the Context of a Changing Environment."

This book examines common issues and concepts concerning women in non-traditional, male dominated occupations. It explores the question of whether these women are the agents of change or are instead changed themselves. It provides a statistical examination and theoretical analysis of occupational sex segregation in the UK, the rest of the European Union, and the USA. Then, it provides a more in-depth understanding of women's work lives through the experiences of the women themselves in four occupations; management, academia, engineering and the priesthood.

"This book is about building your best chemistry career"--

Why are there so few women scientists? Persisting differences between women's and men's experiences in science make this question as relevant today as it ever was. This book sets out to answer this question, and to propose solutions for the future. Based on extensive research, it emphasizes that science is an intensely social activity. Despite the scientific ethos of universalism and inclusion, scientists and their institutions are not immune to the prejudices of society as a whole. By presenting women's experiences at all key career stages - from childhood to retirement - the authors reveal the hidden barriers, subtle exclusions and unwritten rules of the scientific workplace, and the effects, both professional and personal, that these have on the female scientist. This important book should be read by all scientists - both male and female - and sociologists, as well as women thinking of embarking on a scientific career.

From core concepts to current applications, Chemistry: The Practical Science promotes an interrogative approach that develops effective problem solvers and critical thinkers for today's world. Using the text and its pedagogical features as a model, students learn to appreciate the role of questioning in the process of chemistry and begin to think like chemists. In addition, applications woven throughout the narrative, examples, and exercises present core chemical concepts in the context of everyday life. This integrated approach encourages curiosity and demonstrates the relevance of chemistry and its uses in students' lives, their future careers, and their world. Chemistry introduces new topics as an instructor would in the classroom. The authors' approach to problem solving prompts students to begin by asking questions about the topic, think critically to arrive at a solution, evaluate their answers, and uncover related information about the concepts being explored. A dynamic art program, comprehensive end-of-chapter materials, and powerful technology resources complete this innovative textbook program. Real-world applications integrated throughout the chapter-opening case studies, examples, and exercises demonstrate why chemistry matters, as well as its uses in industry, the human body, and the environment. Boxed essays explore scientific applications; connections between nano-level interactions and chemistry at the macro level; and current, controversial topics related to chemistry. In addition, Applications Icons highlight Chemical Encounters and other real-world applications in the narrative. Sample worked-out exercises complement the authors' problem-solving approach and help students develop critical-thinking skills. Each exercise begins with a Question, followed by First Thoughts to capture and maintain student interest. The worked-out Solution, accompanied by Further Insights, extends the concept. Finally, Practice problems and corresponding End-of-Chapter Exercises provide an opportunity for students to apply this approach independently. Designed for optimal student support, Here's What We Know So Far in-chapter summaries reinforce complex or important chemical concepts, and The Bottom Line end-of-chapter reviews highlight the main topics of each chapter and provide key words with definitions and page references for further review. End-of-chapter problems test students' understanding of key concepts and problem-solving skills. Organized by chapter section and in pairs, Skills Review and Chemical Applications and Practices are followed by increasingly challenging Comprehensive Problems and Thinking Beyond the Calculation exercises that involve multiple concepts. The dynamic art program promotes visual learning and resonates with students who expect exciting and appealing graphics. Molecular-level illustrations of key concepts help students connect nanoscale activity to macroscale phenomena, while electrostatic potential maps use vibrant colors to demonstrate the distribution of electrons within a molecule. For further visual learning, the HM ClassPresent CD offers scaleable, searchable animations and lab demonstration videos for use in classroom presentations. The innovative technology program reinforces concepts and allows students to practice problem-solving strategies. Interactive teaching and learning tools—from Chemwork interactive homework problems to video lessons from Thinkwell—present content in a variety of formats to meet different learning styles. Accuracy reviewers worked diligently to ensure the integrity of content, exercises, and supplements for Chemistry: The Practical Science.