Wanted: More Under-represented Minority Professors in the Life Sciences: If you ask minority high school students interested in biology what they want to do as a future career, they typically tell you that they want to be a physician or dentist. Unfortunately, what they don’t tell you is that they want to be a professor or researcher. This lack of interest is often due to a lack of exposure or negative stories about being a professor in the sciences. Becoming a professor in the life sciences often takes at least 10 years after the bachelor’s degree due to the need for post-doctoral experiences. In addition, students are often lured to practitioner-focused careers by higher starting salaries and the prestige associated with being a physician or dentist.
