WEBVTT

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Who of you was born between
the 1980s and the early 2000s?

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Right, most of us ...

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So most of us here, including me,

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are part of the generation of millennials,

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or “generation Y.”

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I suspect this “Y” stands for
“'Why' are we so misunderstood?”

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(Laughter)

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A stereotype about the millennials
is that we were told at an early age

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that we could be whatever we wanted to be.

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Contrary to our parents'
and grandparents' generations,

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we millennials were privileged enough

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not to have to struggle
with war, or recession,

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or to have to emigrate
in order to find a job.

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No, life was finally relatively stable,

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so we were raised to be high achievers.

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"The sky is the limit.

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The world is your playground."

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So,

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by the time I was 17 years old,

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I was finishing high school in Brazil,

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my country of origin,

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struggling with the question
many millennial teenagers struggled with:

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“What do I want to do when I grow up?”

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Knowing I would probably not be able
to answer that at such an early age,

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I figured I’d settle for answering
a smaller question instead at that point:

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“What do I want to study
at university next year?”

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Then, once I’m at university,
I'll ask myself what I want to do next,

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then do that again, step by step.

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It sounded like a good plan.

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And have you always known,
since you were little,

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what you wanted to study at university?

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If so, I envy you,

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but my thought process was more like this:

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"OK, I like biology in school,

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but to be honest,

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I’ve got no interest
in studying plants or insects,

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and I don’t really want
to become a medical doctor."

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So I thought I’d start
a bachelor's in Biomedical Sciences,

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to study human biology.

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That seemed to fit well.

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And soon after I started,

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I saw that my suspicion
from high school was true:

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Science was awesome!

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The human body works in ways
that seem out of this world!

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It’s unbelievable how much goes on
inside one tiny cell in our body.

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So I was really enjoying
the subjects in my bachelor’s,

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and I was getting pretty good grades.

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So I thought: "I must be doing
something right."

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But there was still
something bothering me.

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Now the time had come
to ask myself what I would do next.

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But everyone who I asked what my options
were for after getting the degree

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would tell me the same thing:

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“There are no 'options.'

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There is 'one' option:

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After your bachelor’s, you do a master’s;

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after your master’s, you do a PhD;

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for the ultimate goal is to become
a university professor and researcher.”

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Everyone would tell me that
because that’s all they knew.

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But wait, what do you mean,
“there’s only one option”?

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I’m a millennial; I was told
the sky is the limit.

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Doing a master’s and a PhD
was OK with me.

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I loved science and wanted
to get deeper into it

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and keep doing
some cool things in the lab.

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But the last part about becoming
a professor really concerned me

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because back then I already knew
I didn’t want to do research forever.

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So I did my master’s and my PhD,

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still in love with science,

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but always feeling like the black sheep
in my graduate program,

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the one that doesn’t share
the dream of a professorship,

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the odd one out.

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And so I went on, at first mostly alone,

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almost embarrassed, almost apologetic,

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trying to find the answer
to my new question:

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what kinds of jobs could I have
that don’t involve me doing experiments,

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but are still related to science?

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So I spent years doing my own research,

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having my own little side project
in parallel to my thesis,

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reading and talking to a lot of people.

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I started coming across
more and more colleagues

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who were looking for the answer
to the same question.

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It turns out I wasn’t alone.

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There were a few other
black sheep like me.

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And I found that there are
so many kinds of jobs one could have

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with a science or technology background.

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you can work with business consulting,

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project management, science journalism,

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digital health and science technology,

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editorial of a scientific journal,

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public policy,

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patent protection
and intellectual property,

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public health;

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entrepreneurship,
starting yourown company ...

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Just to name a few.

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I suddenly went from "worried
that there won’t be any options"

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to "overwhelmed with all the
dozens of possibilities."

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And I asked myself,

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"Why is it that not all
graduate students know that?"

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Why did it take me so long
to find out the truth?

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And I realized that it's because
the academic world is a bubble.

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Sometimes it feels like people
who are in that bubble

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don’t have so much contact
with the outside world.

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There’s little space for sunshine
or vacation in that bubble.

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That’s why graduate students look so pale.

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A diet based on instant noodles
and coffee doesn’t help either.

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I know, because I lived
in that bubble for 10 years,

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and I noticed that my lack of access

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to information coming
from outside the bubble

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was due to the academic culture.

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One of the core aspects
of the academic culture

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is that most people still believe

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the main purpose of doing a PhD
is to become a university professor

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and researcher.

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Now, historically, this is true
this used to be the case in the past

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it was like that in my
grandparents’ generation.

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And it’s still true that if you want
to be a professor today,

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you have to do a PhD.

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And a post-doc.

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And a second post-doc.

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And sometimes a third one ...

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But you don’t necessarily have to become
a lifelong academic researcher

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just because you did a master’s and a PhD.

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In fact, most PhDs -

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90 to 99%, depending on the country -

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end up elsewhere, outside academia,
after their studies.

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So, becoming a professor is not
the "classical path" anymore.

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It has become the "alternative path."

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But even though doing something else
is the most common path,

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there is still a culture of discouragement
if you want to leave academia,

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which contributed to making me feel
like a black sheep during my studies.

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I’ve heard academics call those
who leave the academic bubble four things.

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"Time-waster."

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They say by leaving academia

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you’re throwing out of the window
all the time and effort

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you put into learning
science all those years.

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But pursuing a career
unrelated to academia

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does not mean "unrelated to research."

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You’re also called a "traitor."

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My personal favorite.

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"The University invested
so much money in training you,

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and now you’re turning your back
on academic research."

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I mean, we should be forever grateful
to our graduate programs,

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but I don’t remember ever signing
a lifelong contract to stay in research.

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You’re also called a "failed scientist."

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Ouch.

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Yeah, if you’re leaving
the academic bubble,

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it must mean you were not
good enough to make it in it.

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I’ve even heard a professor say,
almost mourning:

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"I once had such a brilliant student

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who later went to work
in the private sector ...

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I don’t know where I went wrong."

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Well, maybe that student left
because he or she wanted to?

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Not because they had to?

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And finally, you're called "greedy."

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Yeah, because the industry
pays better than academia.

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Well, actually the industry
pays reasonable salaries,

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appropriate for highly
educated professionals.

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It’s academia that underpays.

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I personally don’t get it,
why academics get so defensive

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about graduate students
leaving for non-academic jobs.

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There are not enough jobs
in academia anyway!

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The number of fresh PhDs has gone up
tremendously over the years,

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while the number of new faculty positions
has stayed roughly the same.

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The universities right now
just cannot accommodate that many PhDs

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as permanent researchers.

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So, you see,

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if you want to leave academia,

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you’re a greedy, failed,
time-wasting Judas.

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But if you actually want to stay,

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there’s no job for you!

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To solve this academic paradox,
there are a few options.

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One is to limit the amount of students
being admitted into graduate programs,

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to try to control the number
of new PhDs getting a degree,

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but I personally
don't really like the idea

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of restricting access to education.

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A second, obvious way is to create
more researcher positions,

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hire more people as permanent scientists.

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This would already help a lot,
but it wouldn’t be enough.

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So, we really have to face the facts

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and approach the issue
from a different angle.

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Graduate programs have to start
preparing their students

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for tasks they will actually
be doing in the future.

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Companies want to hire PhDs
for their deep knowledge of science

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and their ability to solve
problems and learn fast.

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And students right now are being trained
to become excellent investigators,

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which is great,

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but if most of them will end up
working in the private sector,

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they should also be trained
to become excellent administrators,

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negotiators,

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communicators,

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leaders.

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Graduate programs have to start teaching,
at least as an option,

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courses on business concepts,

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entrepreneurship,

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project management, marketing, finance ...

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It’s time we bring
a bit of the MBA into the PhD.

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On top of that,

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graduate students also need to receive
more career support and guidance.

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Many of them are not even aware


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that their chances of getting
a professorship are minimal.

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Right from the start of their programs,

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they must be constantly
exposed to, not hidden from,

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all their possibilities
beyond the academic bubble,

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so they can make an informed
career decision and prepare for it,

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and not just take anything
that comes their way.

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So they really only go on
to do a post-doc

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if they actively decided for it,

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not because they didn’t know
what else to do

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and turned on the autopilot mode.

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And students should also be more active
in getting career information.

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I know it’s hard ...

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We don’t have time for anything
other than our theses,

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and most of the time

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we just prefer to avoid
thinking about the future altogether.

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But, you know,

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it will come anyway.

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Your university education
is not your whole career;

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it is your background.

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No bachelor’s, master’s
or PhD lasts forever,

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even though it might feel like it
most of the time.

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They are all temporary positions,

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and we’ll soon have to figure
out our next move.

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And you don’t have to do it alone.

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You can team up with colleagues
who are in the same boat.

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That’s how we’ve established
the Career Development Initiative,

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the CDI, here in Berlin,

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which is entirely organized
by students, alumni

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and one professor who acknowledges
the need for a culture change.

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They are still rare, but they exist.

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Together, we use the time
none of us have -

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evenings, weekends -

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to put together events,
training programs and internships

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to help students find jobs
where they feel fulfilled and recognized,

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inside or outside the bubble.

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I’m happy to share with current students

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what I’ve learned
about career options after a PhD,

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so they don’t feel
like black sheep themselves.

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For all of this to work,

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for graduate students
to get more information and training

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to become prepared
for a transition into the job market,

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the professors who supervise them
need to support them.

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If you're a professor
and can’t be a career mentor yourself -

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because, after all,
you’re also in the bubble -

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at least do not discourage
your students from doing this.

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Let them take part in courses
and extracurricular activities

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even if they're not
directly related to research.

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It most likely won’t interfere
with the quality of their theses,

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and it might make a huge
difference for their future.

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Let’s keep in mind that most graduates
will leave for non-academic jobs

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and that it is not a sign of failure.

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And I know that if you’re not
in the academic bubble yourself,

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you might be thinking:

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“OK, so life for graduate
students is hard.

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Cry me a river."

00:14:59.173 --> 00:15:02.063
“It was their own choice
to go down that road.”

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“I’m a lawyer, why should I care?”

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I’ll tell you why you should care.

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Most of innovation,
of ideas that improve society -

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be they cures for diseases,

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or solutions for world hunger,

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or the latest technologies -

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are born in universities.

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And most of the people working on this
are graduate students.

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Sure, professors manage
and supervise everything,

00:15:31.761 --> 00:15:36.721
but the everyday,
hands-on, "dirty work"

00:15:36.751 --> 00:15:38.901
is done by the students.

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If research is like
constructing a skyscraper,

00:15:42.822 --> 00:15:45.692
they are the thousands of bricklayers.

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If it’s a war, they are the army.

00:15:49.782 --> 00:15:51.982
If it’s Game of Thrones,

00:15:52.018 --> 00:15:53.838
they are the white walkers.

00:15:54.784 --> 00:15:56.759
They even look just as pale.

00:15:56.789 --> 00:15:58.209
(Laughter)

00:15:58.239 --> 00:16:03.409
The progress of science and innovation
depends on graduate students.

00:16:05.072 --> 00:16:07.012
So let’s take care of them,

00:16:07.452 --> 00:16:11.622
value them and give them
career guidance and mental support.

00:16:12.079 --> 00:16:15.669
Let’s encourage them
to be the best version of themselves.

00:16:16.382 --> 00:16:17.762
Science is amazing,

00:16:17.792 --> 00:16:22.622
and it can do so much for our lives
if done out of passion and not pressure.

00:16:24.230 --> 00:16:27.150
We need a change in the academic culture.

00:16:27.180 --> 00:16:29.610
First of all, let’s stop thinking:

00:16:29.640 --> 00:16:31.090
"Hmm ... Things are not great,

00:16:31.120 --> 00:16:33.930
but that’s just how it is
and has always been."

00:16:34.320 --> 00:16:36.960
No, after we leave here today,

00:16:36.990 --> 00:16:40.460
let’s not again reproduce
the century-old speech

00:16:40.490 --> 00:16:44.310
that a PhD is a one-way ticket
to "Professorland,"

00:16:44.340 --> 00:16:46.350
and let’s start opening our eyes

00:16:46.380 --> 00:16:49.730
to all the things a millennial
with a degree can do -

00:16:50.370 --> 00:16:52.960
if he or she ever gets off that phone.

00:16:55.639 --> 00:17:00.119
Academics should start reaching out more
to people outside the bubble

00:17:00.149 --> 00:17:02.649
and be supportive of their colleagues.

00:17:03.358 --> 00:17:06.408
Graduate programs have
to listen more to their students

00:17:06.438 --> 00:17:08.638
and adapt to their needs.

00:17:09.567 --> 00:17:13.697
Let’s burst that bubble and bring
academia to the twenty-first century.

00:17:16.106 --> 00:17:17.126
Most of all,

00:17:17.156 --> 00:17:20.236
it’s essential that we become
aware of these issues

00:17:20.266 --> 00:17:22.846
and talk about them,
like we’re doing here.

00:17:23.608 --> 00:17:27.308
Let’s keep a critical eye
on the system we live in,

00:17:27.338 --> 00:17:30.338
and yes, change it,
if it needs improvement.

00:17:31.636 --> 00:17:33.106
After all ...

00:17:34.089 --> 00:17:36.829
that’s what university taught us to do.

00:17:38.954 --> 00:17:40.354
(Applause)