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Outreach: impact on skills and future careers of postgraduate practitioners working with the Bristol ChemLabS Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning

Outreach: impact on skills and future careers of postgraduate practitioners working with the Bristol ChemLabS Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning
Outreach: impact on skills and future careers of postgraduate practitioners working with the Bristol ChemLabS Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning
Postgraduate engagement in delivering outreach activities is more commonplace than it once was. However, the impact on postgraduate students (typically studying for a Ph.D. degree) of participating in the delivery of these outreach activities has rarely, if ever, been recorded. The Bristol ChemLabS Outreach program has been running for ca. 17 years, and in that time, many postgraduate students have been involved (approximately 500), with around 250 typically for up to 3 years. We sought to investigate the impact of outreach engagement on postgraduate alumni who were involved in the program for over 3 years (32) and how the experiences and training of the outreach program had impacted on their careers postgraduation. Thirty of the 32 postgraduates engaged and ∼70% reported that their outreach experience had influenced their decision making on future careers. Many respondents reported that the skills and experiences gained through outreach participation had contributed to success in applying for and interviewing at their future employers. All respondents reported that outreach had helped them to develop key skills that were valued in the workplace, specifically, communication, teamwork, organizational skills, time planning, event planning, and event management. Rather than a pleasant distraction or an opportunity to supplement income, all participants noted that they felt there were many additional benefits and that this was time well spent. Outreach should not be viewed as a distraction to science research but rather an important enhancement to it provided that the program is well constructed and seeks to develop those delivering the outreach activities.
Higher Education Institutes and Outreach Funders, Public Understanding of Science/Outreach, Thematic Content Analysis with a Deductive Approach
0021-9584
4270-4278
Harrison, Timothy G.
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Alexander, Shirin
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Barron, Nick
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Bonham, Jessica
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Ascencio, Marisol Correa
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Chapman, Andrew
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Cheesman, Ben
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England, Matthew
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Fletcher, Jane
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Flynn, Stephanie
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Fiadzomor, Phyllis
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Fothergill, James
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Greco, Claudio
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Griffith, Ash
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Ingle, Rebecca
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Inglis, Gordon
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Liddle, Emma
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Medley, Marcus I.
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Ndukwe, Ikenna
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Rivett, Alison
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Sage, Rebecca
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Schnepp, Zoe
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Sellou, Linda
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Shaw, Katherine E.
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Street, Steve
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Tatolo, Godiraone
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Wellington, Rachel
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Shallcross, Dudley E.
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Harrison, Timothy G.
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Alexander, Shirin
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Barron, Nick
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Bonham, Jessica
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Ascencio, Marisol Correa
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Chapman, Andrew
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Cheesman, Ben
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England, Matthew
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Fletcher, Jane
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Flynn, Stephanie
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Fiadzomor, Phyllis
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Fothergill, James
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Greco, Claudio
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Griffith, Ash
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Hanford, Kate
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Kaur, Preeti
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Khan, M. Anwar H.
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Ingle, Rebecca
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Inglis, Gordon
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Laurain, Adele
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Liddle, Emma
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Medley, Marcus I.
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Ndukwe, Ikenna
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Rivett, Alison
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Sage, Rebecca
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Schnepp, Zoe
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Sellou, Linda
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Shaw, Katherine E.
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Street, Steve
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Tatolo, Godiraone
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Wellington, Rachel
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Shallcross, Dudley E.
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Harrison, Timothy G., Alexander, Shirin, Barron, Nick, Bonham, Jessica, Ascencio, Marisol Correa, Chapman, Andrew, Cheesman, Ben, England, Matthew, Fletcher, Jane, Flynn, Stephanie, Fiadzomor, Phyllis, Fothergill, James, Greco, Claudio, Griffith, Ash, Hanford, Kate, Kaur, Preeti, Khan, M. Anwar H., Ingle, Rebecca, Inglis, Gordon, Laurain, Adele, Liddle, Emma, Medley, Marcus I., Ndukwe, Ikenna, Rivett, Alison, Sage, Rebecca, Schnepp, Zoe, Sellou, Linda, Shaw, Katherine E., Street, Steve, Tatolo, Godiraone, Wellington, Rachel and Shallcross, Dudley E. (2023) Outreach: impact on skills and future careers of postgraduate practitioners working with the Bristol ChemLabS Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. Journal of Chemical Education, 100 (11), 4270-4278. (doi:10.1021/acs.jchemed.3c00261).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Postgraduate engagement in delivering outreach activities is more commonplace than it once was. However, the impact on postgraduate students (typically studying for a Ph.D. degree) of participating in the delivery of these outreach activities has rarely, if ever, been recorded. The Bristol ChemLabS Outreach program has been running for ca. 17 years, and in that time, many postgraduate students have been involved (approximately 500), with around 250 typically for up to 3 years. We sought to investigate the impact of outreach engagement on postgraduate alumni who were involved in the program for over 3 years (32) and how the experiences and training of the outreach program had impacted on their careers postgraduation. Thirty of the 32 postgraduates engaged and ∼70% reported that their outreach experience had influenced their decision making on future careers. Many respondents reported that the skills and experiences gained through outreach participation had contributed to success in applying for and interviewing at their future employers. All respondents reported that outreach had helped them to develop key skills that were valued in the workplace, specifically, communication, teamwork, organizational skills, time planning, event planning, and event management. Rather than a pleasant distraction or an opportunity to supplement income, all participants noted that they felt there were many additional benefits and that this was time well spent. Outreach should not be viewed as a distraction to science research but rather an important enhancement to it provided that the program is well constructed and seeks to develop those delivering the outreach activities.

Text
harrison-et-al-2023-outreach-impact-on-skills-and-future-careers-of-postgraduate-practitioners-working-with-the-bristol - Version of Record
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e-pub ahead of print date: 11 October 2023
Published date: 14 November 2023
Additional Information: Funding Information: We thank Bristol ChemLabS under whose auspices various aspects of this work was carried out. Additional funders of the work described include the Royal Society of Chemistry, STEM Learning, Triple Science Network, the Primary Science Teaching Trust, and the University of Bristol Widening Participation Unit. Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc.
Keywords: Higher Education Institutes and Outreach Funders, Public Understanding of Science/Outreach, Thematic Content Analysis with a Deductive Approach

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 485198
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/485198
ISSN: 0021-9584
PURE UUID: a747bb7f-f3a6-4a73-89e5-d909313d4d29
ORCID for Gordon Inglis: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-0032-4668

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 01 Dec 2023 17:31
Last modified: 06 Jun 2024 02:07

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Contributors

Author: Timothy G. Harrison
Author: Shirin Alexander
Author: Nick Barron
Author: Jessica Bonham
Author: Marisol Correa Ascencio
Author: Andrew Chapman
Author: Ben Cheesman
Author: Matthew England
Author: Jane Fletcher
Author: Stephanie Flynn
Author: Phyllis Fiadzomor
Author: James Fothergill
Author: Claudio Greco
Author: Ash Griffith
Author: Kate Hanford
Author: Preeti Kaur
Author: M. Anwar H. Khan
Author: Rebecca Ingle
Author: Gordon Inglis ORCID iD
Author: Adele Laurain
Author: Emma Liddle
Author: Marcus I. Medley
Author: Ikenna Ndukwe
Author: Alison Rivett
Author: Rebecca Sage
Author: Zoe Schnepp
Author: Linda Sellou
Author: Katherine E. Shaw
Author: Steve Street
Author: Godiraone Tatolo
Author: Rachel Wellington
Author: Dudley E. Shallcross

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