When I Grow Up I Want to Be… A Scientist.

One way or another, we’ve all ended up in science.  As you talk to fellow scientists about how they got to where they are today, the answers are as diverse as the projects we work on.  Some were influenced by a great teacher, some by their friends and others, it seems, were just born with a passion for science.

As we consider the factors that influenced our decision to become scientists, it seems opposing forces may be at work.  In Revitalizing Science in the Classroom, professor Virginia Shepherd points out that elementary school students are highly inquisitive and interested in science.  Yet the enthusiasm fades around middle school when science becomes “too difficult to learn” or “only for nerds”.  So it could be argued that as students grow older, they become less interested in science.

On the flipside, when asked by Forbes magazine what they wanted to be when they grew up, eleven out of 33 5-year-olds responded ‘a superhero’, ‘a princess’ or ‘Sponge Bob Square Pants’.  So while science is popular with elementary school students, so is becoming a professional athlete, a living cartoon and Spiderman.  And really, who can blame them – it would be hard to pass up the prospect of having superhuman strength and Spidey sense.

Inevitably, as students move through middle and high school, many realize they’re 80 pounds too light to be a pro football player, they’re not quite flexible enough to be a ballerina, or they’ve lost the ability to fire spider webs out of the palms of their hands.  While they consider more realistic career options, it’s often not until high school or even college that many students are exposed to real laboratory techniques and the idea of a career in research.

So we’re interested to know if there is any trend among today’s scientists regarding the moment they knew they wanted to pursue science as a career.  Was the enthusiasm ignited early on and maintained throughout high school and college?  Or was it not until later, when ‘scientific research’ was given real meaning that the passion emerged?

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