This August, President Biden signed into law the CHIPS and Science Act, which includes an ambitious increase in authorized spending at the National Science Foundation by allowing the agency’s budget to more than double over the next five years. Although it is unlikely that appropriators will match these funding rates, the bill is a strong signal to appropriators about the importance of increasing investment in scientific research and education.
The bill also authorizes further investments in broadening participation in science by increasing outreach to minority serving institutions, providing flexibility to recipients of federal grants who have caregiving responsibilities, requiring federal research agencies to collect and report on comprehensive demographic data on recipients of federal awards, and more. The bill also authorizes the new Directorate for Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships. The directorate will focus on research and initiatives that address societal problems and target specific technology needs.
Appropriations
As of September 30, 2022, Congress has passed a continuing resolution to maintain FY22 funding levels through December 16, 2022. Both the House and Senate have proposed increases to the National Science Foundation’s budget, with the Senate including a 16.2 percent increase and the House including a 9 percent increase over FY22 levels. The House and Senate have also proposed increases to the National Endowment for the Humanities and international education programs at the Department of Education.
Civics Legislation
APSA continues to partner with the CivXnow coalition to advocate for the Civics Secures Democracy Act, which would reverse chronic underinvestment in civics education in the United States and provide funding for further research on civics education and engagement. In July, the bill was reintroduced in the Senate with four additional co-sponsors. Although the bill boasts bipartisan and bicameral support, legislative time runs short in the 117th Congress.
Archivist of the United States
Dr. Colleen Shogan was nominated to be the next Archivist of the United States. Dr. Shogan’s nomination received a 7-7 split in the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee. A Senate majority can still vote to discharge a committee from considering the nomination if it is not reported because of a tie vote in committee.
The Careers Diversity Committee Solicits Input
The committee solicits input from the political science community about how to support the development of career options outside of the academy for PhDs in political science. We begin with the fact that the field is currently producing far more PhDs than there are faculty jobs. However, beyond that, it is clear that academia is not the best life course for everyone who completes a doctoral program. Further, there will always be more PhDs than positions, although that issue is particularly acute right now. The discipline also has much to offer beyond the academy, both in terms of methods and ways of conceptualizing the world. However, despite these facts, the discipline has done a poor job of creating alternative pathways for PHDs. Our committee has taken some steps, with a virtual panel of political science PhDs not working in academia, discussing their careers, a workshop on writing a resume, and a panel at APSA discussing career alternatives (https://youtu.be/fPz5osvSH4s). However, there is vastly more to be done. We ask APSA members to send us their insights in terms of what they need, and what are good practices for addressing this issue. For current job seekers who are considering alternative career paths, what would be helpful to you? How are your departments supporting (or not) your evaluations of alternatives? For departments– faculty, department chairs, directors of graduate studies—what are good practices that departments have adopted that could be shared with the broader community? What do you see that could be done that is not? Please email your comments to d.lazer@northeastern.edu, with the subject line “Career diversity.”
