Breakthroughs are made by “human”: established and young individuals, referred as scientists, who discover novel solutions for major societal problems and contribute to social well-being. But what do we know about this population? Are we training enough and productive scientists? Are they happy with their job? How the future looks like for young scholars? What policies can help improve science workforce development? Started in 2012, we have been employing a combination of systems approaches, mathematical models, and data analyses to address these very important problems.  

A summary of our findings: 

• Ghaffarzadegan, N. (2021): Science Workforce Analysis: A summary of our findings 2012-2020. Virginia Tech, Falls Church, VA, USA

Publications

1. Xu, R., Baghaei Lakeh, A., & Ghaffarzadegan, N. 2021. Examining the characteristics of impactful research topics: A case of three decades of HIV-AIDS research. Journal of Informetrics 15(1). 101122. 

2. Andalib, M. A. (2019). Simulation of the leaky pipeline: Gender diversity in US K-graduate education. Journal of Simulation, 1-13. 

3. Hur, H., Maurer, J. A., & Hawley, J. (2019). The role of education, occupational match on job satisfaction in the behavioral and social science workforce. Human Resource Development Quarterly. 

4. Ghaffarzadegan, N., Xu, R., Larson, R. C., & Hawley, J. D. (2018). Symptoms versus Root Causes: A Needed Structural Shift in Academia to Help Early Careers. BioScience, 68(10), 744-745. 

5. Larson, R. C. (2018). What are you waiting for?. Science, 362(6414), 610-610.

6. Ghaffarzadegan, N., & Larson, R. C. (2018). SD meets OR: a new synergy to address policy problems. System Dynamics Review, 34(1-2), 327-353.

7. Ghaffarzadegan, N., & Xu, R. (2018). Late retirement, early careers, and the aging of US science and engineering professors. PloS one, 13(12), e0208411. 

8. Xu, R., & Ghaffarzadegan, N. (2018). Neuroscience bridging scientific disciplines in health: Who builds the bridge, who pays for it?. Scientometrics, 117(2), 1183-1204. 

9. Andalib, M.A., Ghaffarzadegan, N., Larson, R.C. (2018) The Postdoc Queue: A Labor Force in Waiting. Systems Research and Behavioral Science.

10. Baghaei Lakeh. A, Ghaffarzadegan, N. (2017) Global Trends and Regional Variations in Studies of HIV/AIDS. Scientific Reports 7: 4170. 

11. Ghaffarzadegan, N., Xue, Y., Larson, RC. (2017) Work-Education Mismatch: An Endogenous Theory of Professionalization. European Journal of Operational Research. 261(3): 1085–1097.

12. Hur, H., Andalib, M., Maurer, J., Hawley, J., Ghaffarzadegan, N. (2017) Recent Trends in Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (BSSR) Workforce in the U.S. PLoS ONE 12(2): e0170887.

13. Larson, RC. (2017) Cross-­Sectional Surveys: Inferring Total Eventual Time in Current State Using Only Elapsed Time-­to-­Date. SocioEconomic Planning Sciences. Forthcoming

14. Ghaffarzadegan, N., Hawley, J., Larson, R.C. (2017). Education as a Complex System, Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Forthcoming.

15. Xue, Y., Larson, RC (2015) STEM crisis or STEM surplus? Yes and Yes. Monthly Labor Review, US Department of Labor. 

16. Hur, H., Ghaffarzadegan, N., Hawley, J. (2015) Effects of Government Spending on Research Workforce Development: Evidence from Biomedical Postdoctoral Researchers. PLoSONE 10(5): e0124928.  

17. Ghaffarzadegan, N., Hawley, J., Larson, R.C., and Xue, Y. (2015). A Note on PhD Population Growth in Biomedical Sciences. Systems Research and Behavioral Science 32 (3): 402–405.

18. Larson, RC, Ghaffarzadegan, N., Xue, Y. (2014). Too Many PhD Graduates or Too Few Academic Job Openings: The Concept of R0 in Academia. Systems Research and Behavioral Science 31(6): 745–750.

19. Ghaffarzadegan, N., Hawley, J., Desai, A. (2014). Research Workforce Diversity: The Case of Balancing National vs. International Postdocs in U.S. Biomedical Research. Systems Research and Behavioral Science 31(2): 301-315

20. Larson, R., Ghaffarzadegan, N., Gomez Diaz, M. (2012) Magnified Effects of Changes in NIH Research Funding Levels. Service Science, 4, 4, 382-395.

21. Larson, R., Gomez Diaz, M. (2012) Nonfixed Retirement Age for University Professors: Modeling Its Effects on New Faculty Hires. Service Science, 4, 1, 69-78. 

Thesis and Dissertation

• Julie Maurer (2018) Three Essays: Hybrid Model Based Analysis of the Science Workforce, PhD in Education, The Ohio State University.

• Maryam Andalib (2018) Model-based analysis of diversity in higher education, PhD in Industrial and Systems Engineering, Virginia Tech.

• Arash Baghaei Lakeh (2018) Essays on Utilizing Data Analytics and Dynamic Modeling to Inform Complex Science and Innovation Policies, PhD in Industrial and Systems Engineering, Virginia Tech.

• Hyungjo Hur (2017) Three Essays on Policies to Help Government Improve Workforce Resilience, PhD in Public Policy, The Ohio State University.

• Yi Xue (2014) STEM Crisis or STEM Surplus? Master of Science in Technology and Policy.

• Mauricio Gomez Diaz (2012) Unintended effects of changes in NIH appropriations: challenges for biomedical research workforce development Master of Science in Technology and Policy.