Monday, September 27, 2021

Beware survivorship bias in advice on science careers

 Here's a 'career column' from Nature, with advice that I think academic advisors should keep in mind, especially in view of the growing number of attractive non-academic options for some kinds of Ph.D.s

Beware survivorship bias in advice on science careers. For objective careers advice, talk to those who left science as well as those who stayed.  by Dave Hemprich-Bennett , Dani Rabaiotti & Emma Kennedy

"A major flaw in much scientific and academic career advice is survivorship bias. This is a common logical error, involving drawing conclusions based on those who have ‘survived’ a process — and are thus more visible than those who did not. In the case of science careers advice, the bias arises because those who manage to stick to their chosen career path are there to advise the next generation of researchers on how to stay in their field.

...

"

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.