Skip to main content

BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article

Front. Educ.
Sec. STEM Education
Volume 9 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/feduc.2024.1474044
This article is part of the Research Topic Building Tomorrow’s Biomedical Workforce: Evaluation of How Evidence-Based Training Programs Align Skill Development and Career Awareness with a Broad Array of Professions View all 4 articles

Cohort-based programs facilitate skill development and community building for postdoctoral scholars: A pilot study

Provisionally accepted
Karena H. Nguyen Karena H. Nguyen *
  • Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Objective: Postdoctoral scholars ("postdocs") occupy a distinct academic stage and therefore have unique career and professional development needs. We aimed to explore whether a cohort-based program could promote skill development, support career preparation, and facilitate community building among postdocs at our institution. Methods: We applied the design thinking process, commonly used in engineering and industrial design, to create a four-month long leadership and project management program. Pre-and postsurveys with Likert-scale questions measured participants' self-confidence in and self-assessment of competencies related to leadership and project management (e.g., creating an inclusive environment, developing a project charter). Results: Fourteen postdocs from STEM and humanities disciplines participated in the pilot program. Matched responses from participants indicated an 82% positive shift in leadership self-confidence (n = 11) and a 56% positive shift in project management self-confidence (n = 9). Postdocs also showed a positive shift in all 12 competencies related to leadership (n = 11), and a positive shift in nine of 10 competencies related to project management (n = 9). In the optional open-ended questions provided in the surveys, postdocs articulated that the cohort created an environment to share experiences, safely practice new skills, and discuss their career goals. Conclusion: Applying the principles of design thinking to develop a cohort-based professional development program resulted in participant learning gains and their feedback suggests that the program supported a greater sense of belonging. Administrators could use our approach to innovate programming that meets the professional and personal needs of postdocs at their institution.

    Keywords: Postdoctoral scholar, cohort-based program, Professional Development, Community building, career preparation, Leadership, project management, design thinking

    Received: 31 Jul 2024; Accepted: 07 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Nguyen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Karena H. Nguyen, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.