I had a meeting with Dr. Matyas yesterday, and I've decided my topic. My research question will be "Is a second degree worth it?" I'll look at whether or not getting a second degree (e.g. a law, business, or public health degree) on top of a graduate-level science degree, can pay off in the long run. I'll look at statistics of salary, career satisfaction, level of attainment, employment, and other such indicators of success, and weigh them against costs such as price of education, time, and familial stresses. I'll try to answer that question with regards to as many different degree and career choices as possible, in order to provide a comprehensive picture of the situation.
Why this topic? Well, the other topic, about the professional skills data, would only really have real-world implications within the American Physiological Society. This topic, on the other hand, has wide-reaching implications for a number of people in post-graduate education.
I'm still going to work on the data I have been, though, as my day job, and do research on the side. The APS has a lot of data with regard to biologists which I will be happy to use, and the professional skills data might come in handy somewhere down the line. But its use will be primarily in the workplace. I might get to be named an author on a paper detailing what I've found though, so that'd be cool.
Next blog will talk about the opening stages of my research and will include the first few items of my bibliography.
Until next time,
Thomas
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