Am I too old to follow my dream and become a scientist?

[theroamingnomad]

I'm 33 and have always wanted to study Biology.

 

Back in 2004, I was enrolled in a Biology degree program back in the UK (Where I'm from originally), but had to drop out due to some family issues.

 

Life, up until now, has prevented me from getting back into the sciences. I have a wonderful wife and daughter that have given me their blessings to pursue this.

 

So far I've got the following sorted:

 

- I need to complete my GED (now living in the US) because I didn't technically complete high school.

- Have sent emails to the program heads of the courses I'm interested in (Biology BS courses)

- Been reading a whole load of journals and magazines to make sure I'm up to speed with current happenings in the science world - new Scientist, Nature, and Science to name a few...

 

Do I have a realistic chance of securing employment in the field upon graduation? Does the science world have any kind of ageism to overcome at all? Not that I mind a bit of hard work.

 

Also looking for some website references to look into scientific careers and to potentially make so good contacts?

 

Appreciate any thoughts, suggestions, or ideas to push me along in the right direction. Happy to provide more information on myself should that be necessary.

 

-Nomad

[arc]

I'm 51, so you look like your just the right age to get the education done and take it all for the serious hard work it will be. A family to support and to support you brings a sobriety to ones temperament and goals that no other impetus can match. Good luck.

[EdEarl]

As long as your mind and body are able, age is not important. Go for it.

[CharonY]

With regards to employment, the question is also what type of position you are thinking about? Academic positions are highly competitive (age or not) and securing a position there at all is tricky and it does not look that it is going to be easier any time soon. i think the first thing is to figure out what type of jobs would be interesting to you at all (as there is no such thing as a generic science job, and even biology itself has vast variety).

Getting contacts is always a good start, though I am not so sure whether websites are a good tool for that. But a quick thing to do is e.g. looking at naturejobs or the equivalent on the Science website to get some rough ideas what types of jobs there are (but also other job listings may be worthwhile).

[EdEarl]

My son-in-law recently retired from the Air Force and will get a degree to become a physicians assistant soon, he has worked hard and gotten good grades. He expects to find employment, at least in part because of job market growth in that sector.

[Nouveau]

Does ageism exist? Yes it does, but what you have to remember is that it cuts both ways as sometimes companies may actually prefer older employees.

The important thing to remember is that companies are always looking for the best possible employees, quite often they will be far less interested in a candidate's age than their abilities and achievements.

 

You may well be older than your fellow students but you can think of this as a positive aspect because it sets you apart, you can use this as a platform to build upon. When it comes to the time of applying for positions you can already show potential employers that you stand out amongst the crowd, you can show that you arn't just a "one-trick pony", that you've already had one career but are dedicated & inteligent enough to train for and be successful in another.

 

Being successful comes down to persistence and playing to your strengths, make the most of your good points and turn disadvantages to your favour and you will succeed. Anything to which you are truely passionate about you will enjoy and be naturally good at.

 

It's never to late to learn but it's really never to late to be successful, follow your dream and enjoy doing it.

[Tridimity]

Hi Nomad,

 

Well, it depends in part on what kind of a scientist you wish to be, as to how difficult your career path will be.

 

It is certainly possible to pursue Science at a later stage in life - one of the guys I used to work with is in his mid-40s, he completed his doctoral studies a little over a year ago, had a brief spell of unemployment, undertook a 1 year contract as a technician, and now is well integrated into the group as a post-doc.

 

Tbh I think interpersonal skills are more important in determining career prospects in Science, than is age - networking will get you far.

 

Personally I initially found it difficult to secure my first job in Science after completing my BSc. I used to have insatiable dreams of curing all manner of diseases and of discovering fundamental biological truths. That's all well and good until you experience the realities of work in Science - the bureaucracy, the intense competition (the people who are prepared to walk all over you in order to get to the top), the sexism, ageism, nepotism that still exist within our higher education institutions. I used to dream but now I am too damn tired. Be prepared for these realities.

[CharonY]

Networking is indeed key. One thing that I would like to add to Trimidity's anecdote, a postdoc is usually on soft money in form of grants or similar. Thus, depending on the overall lab situation losing one or two rounds of grants may result in termination. Not very attractive when you are in your 40s and have a family. In some institutions there are a handful of permanent research scientist positions, but they are very, very rare.

 

One thing to consider is also the financial situation, if it is insecure I would be careful about an academic career. I have no personal experience with the UK system and have to rely on what my colleagues from there tell me, but a PhD (which is required for an academic career), is likely to take about 8-9 years. But even so, only after the PhD the search for an academic career actually starts.

 

In biology we are looking at almost a minimum of 4 years of post-doc, usually with very low salary.

 

but even 6 to 8 years are not that uncommon to get a lecturer position.

 

In the US that would be a tenure-track position (assistant prof), from my understanding in the UK the position would be open ended.

 

So if everything works perfectly it is likely to take more than 15 years to secure a position. But one thing to keep in mind is that there are not that many positions to begin with. The majority of postdocs will not get an academic position (though luckily most eventually find other employment, e.g. in industrial positions, at least in my field). The average academic position (tenure track) has about 200 applicants, for example. In order to get that position you need more than a little bit of hard work and giant chunk of luck (though a strong network will optimize the latter).

 

I am not trying to be too negative here, but the point is that even if everything is done correctly and one graduates on top, the chances of securing a career are bad to begin with. To give a number, before the economic crisis less than 20% of all PhDs staying in academia got tenure but that number is likely to be lower by now. I would not even think that age is the biggest challenge here, although it does not make things easier.

 

 

A potentially better choice is too look for jobs outside academia on the masters level, e.g. as analyst or technician. Especially if you bring real-life experience outside of academia to the table you will look more attractive than the 20-something who has not stepped outside of school yet.

 

[Genecks]

No, you're not that old. You really just need to use the scientific method. And in relation to employment, that's a tricky issue. I've considered that unless you're leading a lab, then you may as well make more money elsewhere and do science as a side-job.

[pikardi]

Hi,

 

You should never loose your ambition and dreams.

You can find many worldwide vacancies for scientists, PhDs, Science Jobs, on internet.

 

Take a look on sciencetalents.com for the many opportunities for scientists or professionals from biological sciences, such as Biology, Microbiology, Genetics, Bioinformatics, and more