In 2012, the National Research Council and the American Chemical Society highlighted the need for graduate students to acquire necessary knowledge and skills to perform in careers as chemists. Despite abundant suggestions and recommendations for change in graduate programs, these reports also cast doubt that graduate education in the chemical sciences adequately prepares students for these careers. Relatively few efforts have been made to discover and assess what knowledge and skills that the chemists possess in their current jobs, leaving to question what the primary goals of graduate education should be. This work expands on previous studies by identifying the knowledge and skills that are required by chemists. Thirty-one chemists in various chemistry sectors were interviewed, and the interviews were analyzed to elicit the main knowledge and skills that chemists believe to be expected in their work. Based on these qualitative results, we are in the process of developing a quantitative measurement of chemists in different positions. This inventory will be distributed to a national survey of chemists in a variety of occupations and sectors. The process of translating the qualitative data to a quantitative instrument will be the focus of this presentation, emphasizing how themes discovered in interviews will be elicited by chemists in a quantitative setting.

Identifying the knowledge and skills that chemists require in workplace

2019 Spring National Meeting

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