Q 2011 by The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
BIOCHEMISTRY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY EDUCATION Vol. 39, No. 4, pp. 251–252, 2011
Discussion Forum Broaden Undergraduate Education Received for publication, February 25, 2011 Nathan L. Vanderford‡ From the Markey Cancer Center, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY
The necessity of having expertise in multiple disciplines is becoming more apparent as technology advances and as competition in the job market increases. An employee with a diverse set of skills and knowledge, in addition to having an area of expertise, is a more sought after individual than one that is too specialized [1]. However, most employees’ formal education is narrowly focused, and thus, individuals are not sufficiently educated for their particular career field. Over the course of several years, many employees simply gain the required experience needed to adequately perform their multidisciplinary job through work experience versus completing formal education and training. Individuals who are educated in the life sciences are certainly overspecialized and many find themselves having to complete another degree relevant to their career path or acquire sufficient skills through work experience to become high-functioning, multiskilled employees. The problem of overspecialization begins at the undergraduate level and increases in severity as students progress through graduate school and/or professional programs. Beyond general university studies coursework—such as that in the social sciences and humanities—curricula for typical undergraduate life science programs do not, in general, promote completion of courses that will directly aid in developing graduates that are skilled in several disciplines relevant to a career field. For example, most life science degree programs are not structured to promote adequate development of a prospective science writer—such a student would benefit from journalism and other specialized communication coursework—or a future medical doctor that will run a private medical practice—this type of student may benefit from business administration, accounting, finance and marketing coursework. The higher education system should be addressing the issue of overspecialization. One solution is to broaden curricula to include mandatory nonscience coursework specifically aimed at providing professional skills—such as those listed in the examples above and others including policy development and analysis, and commercializa-
‡ To whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel.: (859) 323-8775; Fax: (859) 257-8940. E-mail:
[email protected]. This paper is available on line at http://www.bambed.org
tion/technology transfer—that are required for a vast array of science-related employment positions. Such required coursework should remain flexible such that students could complete courses relevant to their career objectives. Before establishing degree programs that mandate integrated science and professional development courses, mentors/degree advisors—hereafter referred to as mentors—must take it upon themselves to encourage students to complete such coursework; mentors have a great degree of responsibility to ensure that programs produce multiskilled graduates. As we know, gauging undergraduates’ interest is a pivotal aspect of the mentoring process. Therefore, I encourage mentors to develop methods—such as entrance questionnaires and/ or surveys—that will aid in understanding their mentees’ short- and long-term objectives. Ultimately, however, mentors should have individual discussions with each mentee in regard to the importance of a broad education. Subsequent to understanding students’ particular interests, mentors should help each student develop a curriculum centered on their career objectives including coursework that will aid in gaining a strategic, multidisciplinary education. Encouraging students to pursue their academic and career objectives is critical. Mentors must help students understand the feasibility of their plans and offer advice as to how goals can be made more readily attainable. Mentors must also stand ready to direct mentees to see the benefit of broadening short-term objectives in order to maximize long-term goals. A mentor should not influence students’ goals based on his/her own self-interest but rather provide pertinent advice on how to navigate through the higher education system in a manner that provides the greatest benefit for the future. Ultimately, mentors must proactively engage mentees rather than providing rubber-stamp approval of a semester’s coursework. Through this forum and others, I encourage a discussion on innovative, formal life science curricula that provide undergraduates with professional development skills; it would be helpful to the higher education community for such programs to be extensively profiled including descriptions of curricula and the barriers that exist in creating such programs. Likewise, mentors
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DOI 10.1002/bmb.20520
252 should discuss methods outside of formal curricula that are used to persuade students to broaden their education in a manner that provides the greatest benefit to students’ long-term career goals. There is a need to comprehensively update undergraduate science curricula to include professional development coursework. Until curricula are changed, mentors should encourage students to broaden their education and I suggest that mentors draw from their own personal experiences in describing to students how diverse
BAMBED, Vol. 39, No. 4, pp. 251–252, 2011 knowledge can be beneficial. Broadening an educational background will increase students’ competiveness on the job market and/or as they apply for entry into professional programs and ultimately aid in developing talented, high-performing and multiskilled employees. REFERENCES [1] Hart Research Associates (2010) Raising the Bar: Employers’ Views on College Learning in the Wake of the Economic Downturn, The Association of American Colleges and Universities, Washington, DC.
