• Question: What type of jobs are associated with science?

    Asked by anniehoran1408 to Amy, Grant, Martin, Shawn, Usman on 13 Mar 2013.
    • Photo: Shawn Domagal-Goldman

      Shawn Domagal-Goldman answered on 13 Mar 2013:

      There are all kinds of jobs! People think about research first, and have an image of a scientist in a “white lab coat” working with chemicals and stuff. But my research all happens on a computer, and others do their research outside collecting rocks or observing wildlife.

      And broader than that, there are lots of careers in science that don’t even involve research! Lots of people teach science, and we need science administrators to help decide what research needs to be funded. We also need people that are good at communicating with others to tell non-scientists about all this amazing stuff we’re discovering!

      I tell people that if they love science, but they also love something else they should try to find a career that involves both. For example, if you really like TV or the movies, maybe you could work on science shows!

    • Photo: Grant Kennedy

      Grant Kennedy answered on 21 Mar 2013:

      Indeed there are lots. There are the “lab coat” research jobs like mine (even though I’ve never actually worn a lab coat!), but then there are tonnes of other possibilities. I’ve noted some that are the most closely related to science.

      Like other jobs some scientists get promoted to more “important” jobs that involve management but still in a sciency kind of way.

      Some people go the other way, and can help out with other people’s science as technicians.

      Other possibilities are to work for a company rather than a university, which happens for lots of kinds of science. The obvious one to me is medical science, since lots of work is needed to develop drugs. There are lots of scientists in consulting companies, which essentially do problem solving for big businesses.

      As Shawn said communicating science is really important, and there are people show are the science reporters for their newspapers, magazines, and shows on TV. Some people are kind of in the middle and are involved in the publication of our science, which we do in journals that are specifically made for other scientists.

      g

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