GSFLC hosts Careers and Commitments panel discussion for Department of Chemistry Grad Students

By Tesia D. Janicki, graduate student with the Schmidt Group

The Graduate Student Faculty Liaison Committee (GSFLC), at the UW-Madison Department of Chemistry, coordinated a panel discussion, Careers and Commitments today.  This event served as the annual GSFLC Colloquium and encouraged discussion regarding career decisions informed by personal factors such as having children and being in a dual-career marriage.

“The topic is more current than ever with more than three-quarters of our generation being in a dual-career relationship vs. just under half in the previous generation,” said Vanessa Linke, a graduate student with the Coon group. Consequently, a good work-life balance is the most important factor for global millennials when choosing a job, followed by opportunities to grow and flexibility in hours and working remotely, according to the 2016 Deloitte survey.

The discussion was introduced by GSFLC representatives Tesia Janicki and Vanessa Linke and featured panelists Prof. Silvia Cavagnero, Dr. Heike Hofstetter, and Prof. JR Schmidt. The event was attended by about 40 graduate students and postdocs from the chemistry and adjacent departments as well as other guests.  The audience was engaged in asking questions to the panel, which responded with great candor and enthusiasm.

A video recording of the discussion for those who couldn’t attend will be available on the GSFLC website (gsflc.chem.wisc.edu). The GSFLC is always open for input regarding future panel topics and would love to hear your feedback at gsflc@chem.wisc.edu.

The organizers want to point people further interested in the topic to the following resources:

UW Madison Chemistry Parental Leave Policy

Dual Career Couple Assistance Program

Example Career Paths from The Royal Society

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