Building the biomedical workforce of tomorrow: evaluation of how training programs based on evidence align skills development and career awareness with a wide range of professions

The construction of the future STEM workforce requires solid federal investments to support the next generation of innovators, as well as systemic changes to allow graduate and postdoctoral researchers to pass in confidence in the biomedical workforce. This effort implies the transformation of the biomedical research company and the training environment at all levels, but especially at the predoctoral and postdoctoral levels. Innovative initiatives in education and training as well as the career and professional development of biomedical trainees are necessary to rely on today's roboked biomedical workforce and create and maintain a diversified, innovative and highly qualified biomedical workforce of tomorrow.

An important aspect of support for biomedical workforce concerns changes within training and research business, with reimagination possibilities to which STEM education should look like at different levels, in particular by providing agencies for subordinate scientists in the field. The future of the field should focus on inclusiveness, supporting trainees from different backgrounds and with various perspectives, including (but without limiting to it) intersectional identities in the race / ethnic, sex, sexual orientation, first generation status and international talents in STEM. This requires critical policy changes to support the transition of biomedical research professionals on the labor market.

This subject of research will cover the means to largely align the training, the development of skills and career exploration in STEM with a wide range of professions, in order to build a STEM company and a more inclusive workforce. This includes university leaders, established politicians, researchers at the start of their career, STEM diversity researchers and defenders, experts working on the alignment of STEM training, skills and labor market, and donors or other stakeholders who contribute to the STEM ecosystem.

For this subject of research, submissions are invited from

• University leaders interested in academic systemic change and the development of STEM workforce, including through diversity initiatives;
• established policy professionals working in biomedical education and training;
• Researchers at the start of their careers interested in shaping the future of STEMs;
• Researchers and defenders of the diversity of STEMs;
• Experts working on the alignment of STEM training, skills and labor market;
• donors or other stakeholders who contribute to the STEM ecosystem;
• Stakeholders largely defined in higher education, the biomedical research company or the fields of STEM education.

Submissions can

• meet the needs of one or more STEM higher education populations (for example, in the first cycle, post-baccalaureate, doctoral and postdoctoral trainees, teachers and higher administrators);
• Take up training and transitional points or educational transition stages (for example, admissions, qualification exams, doctorate defense, diploma, employment transition and professor progress);
• Include observation studies, intervention studies and political positions on, for example, inequalities, systemic obstacles, programs, training, innovative education methods, institutional systems, administrative requirements and national impact factors;
• Treat systemic obstacles, intersectional identities and transformational change in training in biomedical research and educational business.

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Types of articles: This research subject hosts one of the types of articles accepted by relevant participating journals and sections, and could include systematic journals, political position articles, traditional research articles and other articles with journals based on evidence and / or a synthesis of subjects and outside the traditional scope. During the submission, please indicate the submission category of the selected border article and why this is an appropriate submission for this collection.

For general submission directives, Please refer to the border website. For any questions, do not hesitate to contact Adriana Bankston (abankston81@gmail.com) or Beka Layton (rlayton@unc.edu).

Help at the expense: The authors have several options in place for support for costs in the form of institutional and national agreements and an assistance program for costs before submitting an article.

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Guide events: Before the deadline for submission, the invited publishers, in collaboration with frontier staff, organized two webinaries with experts discussing subjects related to the call for submission. The two events included a discussion on how various stakeholders can contribute to the systemic change in biomedical sciences. Please see the details below:

Webinar 1: April 9, 2025: Exploration of systemic problems faced by the community of biomedical research training, Part I: Politics and plea. This event focused on how various stakeholders can contribute to the systemic change in biomedical sciences in terms of policy and advocacy. Look at him here.

Webinar 2: April 18, 2025: Exploration of systemic problems faced by the community of training for biomedical research, Part II: programs and resources. This event focused on how various stakeholders can contribute to the systemic change in biomedical sciences in terms of programs and resources. Look at him here.

Keywords: biomedical, workforce, stem, education, development, skills, careers

Important note: All contributions on this research subject must be within the framework of the section and the newspaper to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide a manuscript outside Scope to a more appropriate section or newspaper at any stage of the peer exam.