My (Higher) Education Research
STEM Postdocs
Identities, Interactions, & Outcomes
This project (Beyond The PhD), supported by NSF grant HRD1647196, looks at STEM PhDs who are trying to negotiate the decision to do science as either a “bench scientist” or as an “academic scientist”. The goal of the project is to understand what the mechanism(s) might be for professional turnover and attrition from academic STEM careers, particularly for women in the sciences.
Beyond The PhD: A Research Symposium Meeting Book (September 5-7, 2019)
Pitt, Richard N., Lacee A. Satcher, and Amber Musette Drew. 2020. “Optimism, Innovativeness, and Competitiveness: The Relationship Between Entrepreneurial Orientations and the Development of Science Identity in Academic Scientists.” Social Currents 7:155-172.
Pitt, Richard N., Yasemin Taskin Alp, and Imani A. Shell. 2021. "Mental Health Consequences of Work-Life and Life-Work Conflicts for STEM Postdoctoral Trainees." Frontiers in Psychology 12:750490.
Brockman, Amanda*, Dara Naphan-Kingery, and Pitt, Richard N. 2022. “When Talent Goes Unrecognized: Racial Discrimination, Community Recognition, and STEM Postdocs’ Science Identities.” Studies in Graduate and Postdoctoral Education 13: 221-241.
Pitt, Richard N., Ashley Metzger, Yasemin Taskin Alp, and Stephen Reynders. 2021. Beyond The PhD: STEM Postdocs Identities, Interactions, and Outcomes. Seattle, WA: KDP
College Majors
Major Characteristics & Choices
Broadly, my research in this area examines the characteristics of college majors and the choices students make when picking a single or double major. The goal of the work is to shift us from reducing college attainment to mere credentialing and the accumulation of years in school to actual measures of human capital.
Pitt, Richard N. and Steven Tepper. 2012. Double Majors: Influences, Identities, and Impacts. New York: Teagle Foundation.
Pitt, Richard N., Amanda Brockman, and Lin Zhu. 2021. “Parental Pressure and Passion: Competing Motivations for Chossing STEM and Non-STEM Majors Among Women who Dobule-Major in Both.” Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering 27:1-29.
Pitt, Richard N., Whitney Pirtle, and Ashley Metzger. 2019. “Academic Specialization, Double Majoring, and the Threat to Breadth in Academic Knowledge” Journal of General Education 66:165-189.
Pitt, Richard N., and Lin Zhu. 2019. “The Relationship Between College Major Prestige/Status and Post-Baccalaureate Outcomes” Sociological Perspectives 62:325-345.
Pitt, Richard N., and Joshua Packard. 2012. “Activating Diversity: The Impact of Student Race on Contributions to Course Discussions.” Sociological Quarterly 53:295-320.
Trailing Spouses
Career Planning In STEMM Linked Lives
This project, "Career Projectivity and Future Making With STEMM Linked Lives," follows my previous research in postdoctoral career decisions. At the end of training regimes, we observe—in trainees—both ambivalence and ambiguity about what their next steps are. These dynamics are heightened, often to the detriment of an academic career, when the trainee is in a long-term committed relationship with someone. This project examines the career decisions of "trailing spouses," the young people who follow their spouses into four different STEMM training regimes: doctoral programs, medical school, postdocs, and medical residencies). It asks three questions:
• How does this linked-lives dynamic shape the planned career trajectories of the trailing spouses themselves?
• Does this differ when the spouse is in a medical rather than doctoral training program? Is certainty more normative in one regime compared to the other?
• How might the gender of the trailing spouse (particularly in same-sex couplings) factor into perceived equifinality in the trailing spouses' career expectations?
Selected Academic Presentations & Consultations
2024 Conference Talk, "Religion Deserts: Congregational Resource Scarcity at Predominately Undergraduate Institutions." Eastern Sociological Society, Southern Sociological Society
2024 Conference Talk, "Exploring Motivations Toward Higher Education and Alternative Pathways" Pacific Sociological Association
2023 Conference Talk, "The Mental Health Consequences of Work-Life and Life-Work Conflicts for STEM Postdoctoral Trainees" Association of Black Sociologists
2023 Conference Talk, "To Whom It May Concern: Variation in Human, Cultural, and Social Capital Signaling in College Letters of Recommendation" Pacific Sociological Association
2021 *Invited Panelist, "Work-Life Balance For Emerging Leaders." The Chronicle of Higher Education Roundtable.
2021 *Colloquium Speaker, "The Impact Of Family On Postdoctoral Attrition From The Academy." AGEP HBCU Alliance, UCLA Department of Sociology, and Arizona State University School of Earth and Space Exploration.
2020 Invited Panelist, “Embedding Humanistic Values in STEM.” IEEE International Symposium on Technology and Society
2020 Invited Panelist, “Incorporating Humanistic Knowledge In STEM Education.” The Future Substance of STEM Education Webinar
2019 Plenary Talk, “Findings From The Beyond The PhD Postdoctoral Research” The University of California Partnerships for Faculty Diversity Meeting
2019 Conference Talk, “Entrepreneurial Orientations and (Internal/External) Motivations to do Science” American Sociological Association
2019 Conference Talk, “Values and Decision-Making: How Value Conflicts Inform Career Interests Among STEM Postdocs in the Academy” National Postdoctoral Association
2019 Conference Talk, “When Talent Goes Unrecognized: Gender and Racial Discrimination, Community Recognition, and STEM Postdocs’ Science Identities” American Educational Research Association.
2019 Conference Talk, “Entrepreneurial Orientations and Science Identity in STEM Post-Doctoral Scholars” Southern Sociological Society”
2017 *Colloquium Speaker, “Identity and Culture: Barriers to Diversifying the STEM Professoriate” Coaching Toward The Professoriate Symposium and Retreat
2017 *Plenary Talk, “Astrobiology Education: In A Diverse World . . . And Toward A Better One” Astrobiology Science Conference
2015 Plenary Talk,“Science Identity and Science Career Commitment Among Minority Students.” Inclusive Astronomy Meeting
2014 *Panelist and Consultant, Social Science Research Council “Measuring College Learning Project”
2013 *Colloquium Speaker, “Double Majors: Identities, Interactions, and Relationships.” Duke University Trinity College
2012 Conference Talk, “Seeing Double: Institutional Correlates with Student Propensities to Attain Multiple Majors” Southern Sociological Society
My Research Has Been Supported By The Teagle Foundation (2008) and by the National Science Foundation's Division of Human Resource Development (2016)
* Honoraria and expenses paid