What's It Like To Have a STEM Career in Different Types of Universities?

Online Resources

Making the Right Moves: A Practical Guide to Scientific Management for Postdocs and New Faculty. Second Edition.
http://www.hhmi.org/resources/labmanagement/moves.html

This book is a collection of practical advice and experiences from veteran biomedical investigators.

Burroughs Welcome Fund. Staffing the Lab: Perspectives From Both Sides of the Bench.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/2544488/Staffing-the-Lab-Perspectives-from-Bot...

This career development guide is intended to help researchers build their first strong research team. Reading this will help you understand what the employer is looking for in a candidate and will walk you through the probable interview procedures.

Levine, I.S. (2007, March 02). Making the Leap to Independence.
http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_development/previous_issues/articles/2007_03_02/caredit_a0700029/%28parent%29/

This article explains the challenges and the characteristics of achieving independence in a scientific research setting.

Kaplan, K. (2011, September 7). Academia: Small-School Science. Naturejobs.com.
http://www.nature.com/naturejobs/2011/110908/full/nj7363-239a.html?WT.ec_id=NATUREjobs-20110915

This article explains the virtues of being a faculty member on the tenure track at a liberal arts college. It also includes a summary on ways to fund your research.

Resources for women and underrepresented minorities in STEM

For STEM women on the academic career path
http://stemwomen.org/pdi.html

This is a website with resources from recent talks and workshops created by Cynthia J. Jameson for women in STEM who are looking for a career in academia. The site includes resources about: work-life balance, responsible research conduct, building your network, receiving mentorship, cultivating sponsors, the job search, the hiring processes in liberal arts colleges and research I universities, funding, publishing, increasing your visibility, campus interviewing, planning for the tenure timeline, and becoming an effective teacher, etc.

MentorNet, The E-Mentoring Network for Diversity in Engineering and Science
http://sitemaker.umich.edu/advance/advising_and_mentoring_for_students

University of Michigan ADVANCE (http://sitemaker.umich.edu/advance/home) sponsors this program for U-M graduate students and postdocs. A free internet matching system, MentorNet connects UM participants with other professionals from academia, industry and government, in an eight-month-long email-based mentoring relationship.

See also career development resources on the following sites:

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
http://www.aaas.org/careercenter/

This site includes a job finding site, as well as career development resources.

Burroughs Welcome Fund
http://www.bwfund.org/pages/55/Career-Development/

This site provides STEM career development resources including career development and lab management guides.

NatureJobs
http://www.nature.com/naturejobs/science/welcome

This site includes resources on networking, interviewing, salaries, and a job finding site.

For STEM postdoctoral positions, see also the resources for “What's It Like to Be a Postdoctoral Researcher?