Summary Report of the Topical Group on Career Pipeline and Development (CommF2) Community Engagement Frontier Snowmass 2021

TL;DR

This report analyzes the career development challenges in high-energy physics, highlighting the need for strengthened industry transition pathways and support for academia at undergraduate and community colleges to enhance diversity and inclusiveness.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive study of career pathways in HEP, identifying gaps and proposing recommendations to improve industry transition and support for underrepresented groups in academia.

Findings

Industry transition pathways need strengthening.

Support for PUIs and CCs is essential for diversity.

Engagement with alumni can facilitate career development.

Abstract

The HEP faculty hire job market has stayed fairly plateaued over the years not keeping up with number of postdocs and PhD produced seeking such employment. Physicists who seek jobs outside this realm face challenges. For example those hired as faculties at predominantly undergraduate institutions (PUI) and community colleges (CC) face hurdles to keep with research due higher teaching load and funding challenges. At the same time those who seek employment in industry may find themselves in unprepared territory despite marketable skills. New job opportunities seeking HEP developed skills have appeared in data science, machine learning and quantum computing. Given that a vast majority transition to the industry jobs, we must strengthen the existing paths for this transition and develop new ways to facilitating it. A strong engagement between HEP and its alumni would boost this process. At the same time those who stay in academia but choose to work at PUIs or CCs must be enabled to continue to pursue research and receive support and guidance for funding. PUIs and CCs serve as a gateway to opportunities for inclusiveness beyond national labs and academic research institutions offering an early starting point in the pipeline that can mitigate issues of lack of diversity and underrepresented participation of different groups in HEP. This report summarises the study undertaken to investigate these issues in HEP community and provide findings and recommendations.