What leads people to a career in scientific discipline?

It's an important question because the road to a successful career in science – as with technology, technology and mathematics, the other Stalk fields – can be challenging, frequently requiring a Ph.D. or other postgraduate training. And one time in their fields, at that place can be political and economic pressures with which to contend. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects workforce shortfalls for many scientific discipline fields, though the projected needs differ across the life, concrete and natural sciences.

Some 55% of working Ph.D. scientists belonging to the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) who we surveyed in 2014 said this was mostly a good time for their scientific specialty, while 44% said it was a bad time. And while most half (47%) said it was a adept or very good time to begin a career in their field, 53% said information technology was a bad time to first out in their field.

So, what draws people into these careers? Roughly one-third (32%) of working Ph.D. scientists said a chief motivator for their career path was a lifelong involvement in science and desire for intellectual challenge, according to the 2014 survey.

Many of these scientists reported an interest and curiosity in science or the natural world starting in early childhood. For some 12% their curiosity was fostered by parents and other family members who brought them in contact with scientists and science labs, nature or science and engineering science museums. Others (27%) remembered effective mentoring and encouragement from teachers whether in elementary school, graduate schoolhouse or somewhere in between. And some 17% talked about the importance of lab and field piece of work, often at the high schoolhouse and college levels, which spurred their involvement in a science career.

Men and women in this group of working Ph.D. scientists mentioned similar kinds of influences on their career selection. Women were slightly more likely than men to say that lab and internship experiences played a significant part in guiding their career path (23% of women scientists vs. xiv% of men scientists). And scientists of all ages tend to cite like kinds of influences.

Here are some of their stories:

In 2nd grade, I read a scientific caption of something I experienced every day. That flash of insight stimulated an intense marvel of how things work. I knew from then on that I would be a scientist.
– Molecular biologist, man, age 60

I've had a passion for science ever since I can think, from historic period four or and then. My second grade teacher was a big influence on edifice that passion. She was an amateur naturalist and taught us a lot about ecology and the natural world. In high school, I discovered my passion for molecular biology. I call back learning of the [Meseleson-Stahl] experiment in my AP Biology grade, and I remember thinking, "Yeah, this is exactly the kind of thing I want to sympathise."
– Microbiologist, woman, age 50

I constitute science interesting. Growing up, I had a chemistry set and telescope (afterwards edifice my ain), and because of these, read a lot near chemistry and astronomy. My father took me rock collecting and brought chemicals home for me to clarify. Those experiences led to a degree (BS and MS) in Physics and a Ph.D. and career in Geophysics.
– Geophysicist, human being, age 65

My father is a physicist. When I was young (I probably was 4 or 5), nosotros would go to his building after dinner and run around the corridors and labs. I retrieve one of the grad students tipping a [vacuum flask] of [liquid nitrogen] to create a fog cloud – very impressive.
– Materials Scientist, woman, age 49

My interest in scientific discipline was commencement piqued equally a seven-yr-old observing a full moon through the telescope of a friend. A couple of years later, my interest in space and the possibility of space exploration was promoted by the showtime of the manned launches into space in the early 1960s, and in a written essay in quaternary or 5th grade I fifty-fifty expressed involvement in science as one of three possible career paths ….
– Medical Physicist, human, age 63

My entire childhood was steeped in experiences in the natural earth and in scientific observation/experimentation. Both my parents are scientists. Ane retentivity that stands out in item is of a canoe trip to the boundary waters in northern Minnesota when I was near 12, where I saw carnivorous plants in the wild for the get-go fourth dimension – beautiful, huge, floating mats of pitcher plants ….
– Ecologist, adult female, age 35

While many scientists mentioned childhood experiences facilitated by their families, some vi% said science media was particularly influential in their career path. These scientists mentioned a range of media including books such as Microbe Hunters; magazines such as National Geographic and Scientific American; TV programming on PBS and commercial stations such as NOVA, Carl Sagan's Creation, Mr. Wizard and Beak Nye the Science Guy.

Ane scientist noted:

When I was a child, my exposure through media of what scientific discipline was and what scientists did influenced my career decisions. My grade school education in science was very poor, which increased the importance of the media exposure.
– Biotechnologist, woman, age 54

Scientists' reflections often touched on multiple themes; some emphasized their curiosity almost the world and others emphasized the role of people in their lives who fostered their interests. As ane scientist put information technology: "I dearest puzzles and to me, science is the ultimate puzzle."

Cary Funk is manager of science and guild research at Pew Research Middle.

Meg Hefferon is a quondam research analyst focusing on science and society research at the Pew Research Middle.