Absolutely! and in many graduate schools there is a required course, at least if one is involved with teaching. There are various other measures departments are taking (too many to list here), again in connection with improving teaching by both faculty and graduate students. I agree that generally one is not sufficiently trained in that part of the job, and has to work on intuition and instincts alone.

The image issue is more tricky business, as other threads here discussed several times, plenty of it has to do with how the media presents science and scientists. Not sure that clipping our fingernails regularly is going to help with that, but that certainly is a good start.

-cvj

You saw it here first, folks…

Um…Producers… you know my email….

-cvj

It is also true that those of us who love doing science are perpetually perplexed that so few people actually share our intellectual interests. Admittedly, there are many factors that contribute to this situation. But from personal observations I claim that a considerable disincentive for H.S./ college students to get into the sciences is the “image problem” associated with the practitioners of scientific disciplines. Therefore, making an effort to cultivate a better image is, in my humble opinion, not a frivolity but a professional service!

Well I agree a big problem is finding a market. (If it weren’t a big problem, I’d seriously be doing that now.)

I think most scientists don’t care enough to pay for that. There’s only a handful of circumstances of which I can think where an Image/Fashion Consultant for Scientists might be important:

- when science grad students/ postdocs leave the profession for something where dress is more important. I actually discussed this with a local fashion designer, and she says she meets a lot of graduating PhD students looking for a whole new wardrobe (and advice) for their new job.
- when scientists get passed up for advancement/ tenure and image plays a role. Obviously dressing well is not a requirement for becoming a tenured professor, but I think sometimes other image issues – such as looking too young to be taken seriously – can get in the way.

Personally I don’t care what other people wear so long as I don’t see body parts I’m not interested to see, even though I pay a lot of attention to my own dress myself.

But (and this topic deserves a blog post of its own) I think a lot of scientists really need to work on their communication skills. Even when they/we talk to a non-lay audience, many don’t communicate clearly. I hate going to a talk where the speaker doesn’t start by explaning the relevance of her work. Or where the speaker talks into his chin, or assumes everyone in the audience thinks about his particular topic every day. I see a big need for consultants for communication and presentation skills for scientists.

To Doran, I would caution being goal oriented when it comes to graduate school. If you can afford taking a few years for self improvement, this could be great deal of fun. If you think about it as a trade school, the dues you have to pay to become a professional, you may set yourself up for some frustrating times.

best,

Moshe

Gravity, meanwhile, is a manifestation of the curvature of spacetime, so it will always be able to “leak into” the extra dimensions whenever they are there. Randall and Sundrum (and subsequently others) have figured out clever ways to prevent that leakage from being easily noticeable.

*********************************************************

Suz, you beat me to it. Is there such a job as an IMAGE CONSULTANT to scientists?

a) If you find yourself glaring or peering short-sightedly at people, maybe you need new glasses. On the subject of eyewear, au courant frames or contact lenses help upgrade your look from the Sputnik era.

b) A daily shower and freshly laundered clothes go a long way. While you are in the shower, you may want to apply a hair product called “conditioner”. This makes your hair look neater (until you get frustrated by a problem and run your chalky fingers through it). If you can operate a particle accelerator, you can master the logistics of a hair dryer. If you have facial hair try to keep it neatly groomed. Take a few hours off from the lab/ computer and persuade a stylish friend to take you to the mall and give you a makeover.

c) Make a concerted effort to banish nervous tics like cuticle biting. Also try not to spit when you talk.

d) Learn to get an accurate reading on people’s body language/ facial expressions. Recognizing cues such as boredom or being overwhelmed is the first step in realizing that you may be not getting your message through to your audience.

I wish there had been scientist blogs 8 years ago when I was deciding what to do. At that point the university web pages where so bad that it was really hard to find out what they were doing. But I didn’t regret it one single day so far.

To me the greatest advantage of being a scientist is the reasonably flexible work hours.

The question of whether graduate school and this career path is the right choice, definitely depends on the person. It is important to grasp the nature of the obstacles, uncertainties and demands before making a decision. For some people it just won’t be the right choice. I wish you luck making it for yourself.

The career isn’t for everyone. Given the realities of the job market, and the lengthy path one must travel before even entering it, if there are other careers in which you think you’d be equally happy and which don’t have these drawbacks, then I’d advise you to aim for those.

However, if this is what you want to do, regardless of the obstacles, then what I wanted to do in this post was hopefully to reassure you that at the other end it truly is the wonderul experience it seems from afar in graduate school. Sometimes we write here about the harsh realities of academia; but we love it, and you will too if you decide it is what you want to do.

Good luck if you decide to apply. Let us know here how it goes.