Job Market Survey: Past, Present, and the Future SOT Placement Committee Report

Summary

This 1996 survey of the toxicology job market suggests that the overall number of positions for toxicologists (Ph.D. or equivalent) will increase more during 1996-2000 than during the 1900-1995 time-frame. Response to the survey was >25% (225 respondents) and represented nearly 2500 North American toxicologists where >50% were Ph.D. level or equivalent. The survey identified areas of growth and contraction within various types of organizations that employ toxicologists. In addition, the types of training and experience needed for future toxicology positions were identified. Survey respondents also provided information on their recruitment techniques and an evaluation of whether past applicants had been adequately trained in toxicology and other related job skills.

Methods

The survey was developed with input from the Society of Toxicology (SOT) Placement Committee, SOT Officers and Council, and recipients of a pilot survey who were selected to represent various types of organizations that employ toxicologists. A completed survey was distributed in April 1996 to just over 900 individuals in North America (Attachment 1). The distribution list was compiled mainly from the membership directories from the SOT and the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Analytical Chemistry (SETAC); the goal was to reach at least one individual from every North American organization which employed toxicologists. In organizations where more than one recipient of the survey was identified, the recipients were asked to coordinate their response within the organization to reduce the chance that redundant data would be collected.

Make-Up of Respondents

Response to the survey was slightly greater than 25%. Assuming that organizations receiving more than one survey consolidated their reply, the survey response rate was 27%. There were 225 respondents across various organizations that all together employed nearly 2500 toxicologists. This suggests that there are at least 9000 employed toxicologists in North America based on the survey response rate. The organizational breakdowns of survey respondents are shown in Table 1. Under Organization Type, the “Industry-Other” category represents a combined response for industries not falling into the categories of chemicals, consumer products, or pharmaceuticals. The category “Other” Organizations included government contractors, law firms, and some trade associations.

TABLE 1. Organizational Breakdown of Survey Respondents and Toxicologists Employed

Across all respondents, greater than 50% of the toxicologists employed were doctoral-level positions (47% full-time Ph.D. or equivalent, 4% post-doctoral, 2% part-time doctoral). The remaining 46% of the work force represented individuals with Bachelor of Science or Master of Science degrees and 1% had unspecified training. There were differences among organizations as to the breakdown of these positions as illustrated in Figure 1.

Job Market Trends

Survey respondents identified changes in the number of positions for doctoral-degree (or equivalent) toxicologists within 18 categories for the time periods of 1990 to 1995 and 1996 to 2000 (Question 4). Overall, the growth that occurred in the 1990-1995 time frame (433 positions) was predicted to increase in the 1996-2000 time frame (531 positions) (Figure 2). Predictions differed among various organizations. For example, decreases in the number of toxicologists hired were forecast for organizations involved with consulting, consumer products, and pharmaceuticals. The numbers of positions within academia were predicted to remain nearly constant. Increases were predicted the chemical industry, government, not-for profit, industry-other and “other” organization categories.

Trends in the types of toxicology jobs were assessed by asking respondents to indicate increases or decreases in the number doctoral-level toxicology positions for 18 different jobs-types during 1990-1995 (Figure 3) versus 1996-2000 (Figure 4). The greatest increase was predicted for toxicologists hired for research, regulatory, and study director positions. More modest growth was predicted for toxicologists hired for academic, clinical, forensic, lab director, risk assessment, and sales positions. Decreases were forecast for consulting, environmental, product safety, and quality assurance positions. Numbers were steady for toxicologists in management, post-doctoral, product development, teaching, and trade association positions.

Characterization of Job Mix by Organization

Within each organization, respondents estimated the distribution of responsibilities for toxicologists among the categories of conducting toxicological research, conducting toxicological testing, providing consultation, teaching, or unspecified (Question 2). This type of information can be helpful in considering a career path. The response to this question by organization type is shown in Table 2. Except for academia, not-for-profit, and pharmaceutical organizations, consulting represents the largest proportion of the toxicologist’s job. Overall, a greater proportion of time is spent on research in academia and not-for-profit organizations.

Table 2. Percent Distribution of Toxicology-Related Activities

Nature of Future Toxicology Positions

Of the 227 respondents, 148 indicated that they had positions to fill in 1996-2000 and completed some or all of the remaining survey regarding training, qualifications, and skills needed for future positions (Questions 5-10). They estimated the percentage of individuals that they expected to recruit in the future in the categories of general toxicologists, toxicologists with specialized training, or scientists trained in specialized areas with a general awareness of toxicology (Figure 5).

Requirements for Post-Doctoral Training and Professional Certification

Respondents were asked to rate the importance of completing a post-doctoral fellowship and of obtaining certification from the American Board of Toxicology (DABT), the Academy of Toxicological Sciences (ATS), and the American Board of Applied Toxicology (ABAT). The response, summarized in Figure 6, indicates that 29% of respondents with future positions indicated that a post-doctoral fellowship was an “absolute requirement” (absolute), was “desirable, but not required” (desired) by 38 % of the respondents, and was “not a significant consideration” (not significant) for 32% of the respondents.. DABT certification was required by 5%, was desired by 54%, and was not significant by 39% of the respondents. ATS and ABAT certification were each desired by 15% of respondents; most indicated that ATS and ABAT were not significant (81 and 82 %, respectively). Only a small number of respondents (<2) indicated that post-doctoral fellowships or certification would be “regarded as a negative factor” (negative) for any of the categories.

Organizations that had absolute or desired requirements for are summarized in Table 3. Post-doctoral fellowships were most often required in academia and desired in industry. DABT certification was most often required and industry and desired in industry and consulting organizations.

TABLE 3. Requirements for Post-doctoral Training and Certification.

Perceptions of Training Needs for Future Toxicology Positions

The 148 respondents with positions to fill in 1996-2000 helped to identify the types of toxicology training that would be required or desired as cross-training, the types of specialized training, and the types of other scientific support skills that would be needed by candidates for these future positions. It is hoped that this type of information will be useful in evaluating the scope of current toxicology training programs and, thus, this information is not sorted by organization in this report. A response rank list for toxicology training and cross-training is provided in Table 4. Disciplines that are high on both lists (training & cross-training) and selected by >20% of respondents in both categories were pharmacology, biochemistry, molecular biology, and rodent toxicology.

Table 4. Rank List of Toxicology Training Required and Desired as Cross-Training for Future Toxicology Positions

Table 5 provides a rank list of specialized scientific training needed for new positions. The areas of risk assessment, biochemical toxicology, and mechanistic toxicology were identified as the top three areas for specialized training.

Table 5. Rank List of Specialized Scientific Training Needed for Future Toxicology Positions

* Other areas specified included: 2 - endocrinology, 2 - regulatory toxicology, and 1 each for veterinary medicine, scientific methodology, structure activity response modeling, natural toxins, chemistry, and general toxicity.

Finally, Table 6 summarizes a rank list other scientific support skills needed for new positions as identified by the 148 respondents. The top ranked skills indicate a clear need for candidates who have strong written and oral communication skills and who have good knowledge of computers. In addition, candidates for future jobs will need to be knowledgeable of good laboratory practices, project management skills, and statistics.

Table 6. Rank List of Scientific Support Skills Needed for Future Toxicology Positions.

* Other areas specified included basic chemistry, clinical skills, good analytical laboratory practices, literature searching, math, solvent toxicology, and relating in vitro observations to the in vivo situation.

Assessment of Candidate Skills and Knowledge

Respondents who had recent (within 5 years) experiences in interviewing and hiring candidates for toxicology positions were asked to characterize their overall knowledge and skills in three categories: General Skills, Basic Knowledge Areas, and Specialized Knowledge Areas (question 13). Approximately 150 of the survey respondents provided their evaluations to these areas by rating the candidates overall as “excellent”, “satisfactory”, “poor”, “don’t know”, or “not applicable”.

Table 7 summarizes the assessment of general skills. Communication skills (verbal, written, and oral) are applicable to most all candidates and are considered satisfactory or better in the majority of candidates. Other applicable skills that are satisfactory or better in most candidates are interpersonal skills, the ability to critique studies and reports, and information retrieval. At the other end of the spectrum, foreign language skills were evaluated as poor by 32% of the respondents, however, 41% of the respondents indicated that foreign language skills were not applicable.

Table 7. Assessment of General Skills in Recent Toxicology Candidates

Table 8 summarizes the assessment of basic knowledge areas relevant to toxicology. A large percentage of respondents viewed most candidates as satisfactory or better in general and agent-specific toxicology, and biochemistry.

Table 8. Assessment of Basic Knowledge Areas in Recent Toxicology Candidates

Table 9 summarizes the assessment of specialize knowledge areas applicable to toxicology. Risk assessment, which was ranked as the top area of specialty scientific training (Table 5) for future toxicology positions, was considered to be satisfactory or better in only 50% of recent toxicology candidates. Similarly, good laboratory practices, ranked highly as an important scientific support skill in future candidates (Table 6), was considered to be satisfactory or better in only 49% of recent toxicology candidates.

Table 9. Assessment of Specialized Knowledge Areas in Recent Toxicology Candidates

Recruitment Preferences

Respondents were asked to rank the top three recruitment tools they found for filling toxicology positions. The most effective recruitment tool was networking / word-of-mouth, selected as one of the top three tools by 71% of the respondents. Advertisement was ranked as the next most effective recruitment tool (57%). Advertisement media included Science and other journals, local and/or national newspapers, society newsletters, and internal government or agency recruitment processes. Recruiting professionals were ranked in the top three tools by 40% of respondents and the SOT Placement Center ranked by 37% of respondents as one of the top three recruitment tools. Finally, other professional society postings / Career Resource and Development Services ranked in the top three for 16% of respondents.

• SOT Annual Meetings
• SOT Regional Chapter & Specialty Section Events
• SOT-Sponsored Events
• Upcoming Conferences and Events
• Web Sites with Conferences of Interest