Topic Summary: This collection of articles addresses the urgent need to transform biomedical research training to better prepare the next generation of scientists for diverse career paths. It highlights the importance of aligning skill development, career exploration, and inclusivity across predoctoral and postdoctoral levels to create a robust, innovative, and diverse biomedical workforce. The collection emphasizes evidence-based training initiatives, such as the NIH’s Broadening Experiences in Scientific Training (BEST) program and the Big Data to Knowledge (BD2K) initiative, which focus on equipping trainees with interdisciplinary skills, including data science, and fostering awareness of career opportunities beyond traditional academia. The research underscores systemic challenges like the oversupply of biomedical researchers relative to available academic positions and the need for policy reforms to support transitions into varied professions. Key themes include enhancing diversity by supporting underrepresented groups, promoting collaboration across sectors, and developing training programs that anticipate future workforce demands through forward-looking, data-driven approaches. Contributions also explore labor market analyses to identify essential skills and career pathways, advocating for inclusive, flexible, and evidence-based strategies to sustain and diversify the biomedical workforce. Overall, this Research Topic serves as a comprehensive platform for stakeholders—educators, policymakers, researchers, and funders—to share insights and best practices aimed at building a biomedical workforce equipped to meet evolving scientific and societal needs.
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Building the future STEM workforce requires robust federal investments to support the next generation of innovators, as well as systemic changes to enable graduate and postdoctoral researchers to transition with confidence into the biomedical workforce. This effort involves the transformation of the biomedical research enterprise and training environment at all levels, but especially at the predoctoral and postdoctoral levels. Innovative initiatives in education and training as well as career and professional development of biomedical trainees are necessary to build upon the robust biomedical workforce of today and create and sustain a diverse, innovative, and highly trained biomedical workforce of tomorrow.

An important aspect of supporting the biomedical workforce relates to changes within training and the research enterprise, with opportunities for re-imagining what STEM education should look like at different levels, including providing agency for junior scientists in the field. The future of the field should focus on inclusivity, supporting trainees from different backgrounds and with diverse perspectives, including (but not limited to) intersectional identities in race/ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, first generation status, and international talent in STEM. This requires critical policy changes in order to support the transition of biomedical research professionals into the labor market.

This Research Topic will cover ways to broadly align training, skill development, and career exploration in STEM with a broad array of professions, with the aim of building a more inclusive STEM enterprise and workforce. This includes university leaders, established policy professionals, early career researchers, STEM diversity researchers and advocates, experts working on the alignment of STEM training, skills and the job market, and funders or other stakeholders who contribute to the STEM ecosystem.

For this Research Topic, submissions are invited from

• university leaders interested in academic systemic change and STEM workforce development, including through diversity initiatives;
• established policy professionals working in biomedical education and training;
• early career researchers interested in shaping the future of STEM;
• STEM diversity researchers and advocates;
• experts working on the alignment of STEM training, skills, and the job market;
• funders or other stakeholders who contribute to the STEM ecosystem;
• broadly defined stakeholders in higher education, biomedical research enterprise, or STEM education fields.

Submissions may

• address the needs of one or more STEM higher education populations (e.g., undergraduate, post-baccalaureate, doctoral, and postdoctoral trainees, faculty, and senior administrators);
• address training and educational transition points or milestones (e.g., admissions, qualifying exams, doctoral defense, graduation, employment transition, and faculty career progression);
• include observational studies, intervention studies, and policy positions on, e.g., inequities, systemic barriers, programs, training, innovative education methods, institutional systems, administrative requirements, and factors of national impact;
• address systemic barriers, intersectional identities, and transformational change in the biomedical research training and educational enterprise.

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Article types: this Research Topic welcomes any of the article types accepted by the relevant participating journals and sections, and could include systematic reviews, policy position papers, traditional research articles, and other articles with evidence-based review and/or synthesis of topics and outside of the traditional scope. When submitting, please indicate the Frontiers article submission category selected and why this is a suitable submission for this collection.

For general submission guidelines, please refer to the Frontiers website. For any questions feel free to reach out to Adriana Bankston (abankston81@gmail.com) or Beka Layton (rlayton@unc.edu).

Fee support: authors have several options in place for fee support in the form of institutional and national agreements and a fee support program prior to submitting an article.

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Guiding events: leading up to the submission deadline, the guest editors, in collaboration with Frontiers staff, organized two webinars with experts discussing topics related to the call for submissions. Both events included discussion of how various stakeholders can contribute to systemic change in the biomedical sciences. Please see below details:

Webinar 1: April 9, 2024: Exploring Systemic Issues Facing the Biomedical Research Training Community, Part I: Policy & Advocacy. This event focused on how various stakeholders can contribute to systemic change in the biomedical sciences in terms of policy and advocacy. Watch it here.

Webinar 2: April 18, 2024: Exploring Systemic Issues Facing the Biomedical Research Training Community, Part II: Programs & Resources. This event focused on how various stakeholders can contribute to systemic change in the biomedical sciences in terms of programs and resources. Watch it here.

Impact

Frontiers in Research Metrics and Analytics

Research Policy and Strategic Management

Participating Journals

Frontiers in Education

STEM Education