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Science Master's Education Surveys
Industrial Microbiology
The Society for Industrial Microbiology
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The Society for Industrial Microbiology (SIM) conducted a survey to examine
master's-degree programs in microbiology and biotechnology. Surveys were mailed
to 388 institutions, but only 38 responded representing 49 different programs.
Of those 38, less than half (43%) offered the doctorate. The most frequently
offered graduate program was the M.S. in Microbiology followed by Biotechnology
indicating an awareness of the need for this latter type of program. Some highlights
reported by the responding departments:
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Most of the programs state that they are multidisciplinary and are research
oriented with a thesis required by 66% of the institutions.
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The major sources of student support were teaching assistantships (41%) and
employer assisted (24%), followed by research assistantships (19%). It should
be noted that students can have more than one source of support.
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The majority (83.9%) of departments indicated they were research oriented,
requiring a thesis or research project. Another 5.4% said they were
business/industry oriented. Only about 3% consider their programs as
preliminary to a PhD.
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Flexible class schedules are common in the M.S. programs, with 69% of the
respondents indicating such flexibility. Most of the programs were established
in the 1970s, are internally funded, and have undergone revisions, with 44% of
them over two years ago.
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A majority of the programs responded that a thesis (60%), report (68.8%),
or research experience (82.4%) was required. Interestingly, while only 3.1%
of the respondents indicated that an off-campus internship was required, 59.4%
indicated that such an internship was optional.
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The top recruitment method cited by microbiology/biotechnology departments
was their website (39%), followed by print advertising (20%), and on-campus
recruitment (20%).
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Many students obtain jobs while a graduate student with one-third going on to
the PhD and one-third finding positions in industry. Most students stay in the
vicinity of the institution after graduating.
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Students are most satisfied with the opportunity to do research and most
frustrated by a lack of funding or under-funding. Faculty finds interactions
with the students to be the most rewarding and is similarly frustrated by the
funding situation.
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Nearly all departments (83%) were interested in attracting more master's
students. That interest would suggest that there is a real or perceived
shortage of students.
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Further details from the survey are available from Carol D. Litchfield,
Associate Professor of Biology, 3-32 David J. King Hall, George Mason
University, 4400 University Drive, Fairfax, VA 22030-4444
(clitchfi@gmu.edu) or from Demetra Pavlidis,
Executive Director, Society for Industrial Microbiology, 3929 Old Lee Highway,
Suite 92A, Fairfax, VA 22030-2421, Demetra@simhq.org.
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