2019 acs graduate Student Survey Report

3.2. Graduate Education Competencies
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine appointed the Committee on 
Revitalizing Graduate STEM Education for the 21st Century to examine the state of U.S. grad-
uate STEM education and “how the system might best respond to ongoing developments in the 
conduct of research on evidence-based teaching practices and in the needs and interests of its 
students and the broader society it seeks to serve.” The committee published its findings and 
recommendations in the National Academies Press report on Graduate STEM Education for the 
21st Century (2018).
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A critical element of the report was the articulation of the core competen-
cies that all students who have been through U.S. graduate STEM education should acquire, at 
both the master’s and the doctoral degree levels.
The 2019 ACS Graduate Student Survey examined how masters’ and doctoral degree students 
rated themselves in the competency areas described in the National Academies Press report 
on Graduate STEM Education for the 21st Century (2018).
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For masters’ degree students, core 
competencies included “Disciplinary and interdisciplinary knowledge,” “Professional compe-
Table 3.1.7. Best Time To learn About Career Areas and Opportunities for Graduate Degree 
Holders In the Chemical Sciences (n=2,580) 
 
Time frame
Before starting graduate school 
48.8
During years 1–2 of graduate school 
21.2
During years 3–4 of graduate school 
19.8
During the last two years in graduate school 
10.3
Percentage of Total 
number of records
Table 3.1.6. Usefulness of Career Resources 
Resource type 
Search engine (e.g., Google, Bing, etc.) 
55.9
Professional conferences/meetings 
48.6
Networking events outside of professional conferences/meetings 
41.0
Social media (incl. Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter) 
31.9
Career resources from a scientific or professional society/association 
29.5
Career development/counseling center at your institution 
20.8
Graduate Studies Office at your institution 
16.4
Blogs 
13.6
Webinars 
12.9
Podcasts 
8.9
Percentage marking 
“extremely/very useful”

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