Mini-poll of scientists shows that, with the benefit of hindsight, more than twice as many regret taking a specific job than not taking a specific job
Professional regrets, personal regrets.
We all have them.
Sometimes they get buried under the demands of daily life only to resurface years later upon reflection.
However, people can often learn from theirs and others' mistakes, if examined when there is still time to make a difference.
It is in this altruistic spirit that the Science Advisory Board says it polled its members about what actions (or inactions) they most regretted in their careers.
Garnering 44% of the vote, job position ranked as the most significant determinant in predicting a scientist's degree of satisfaction with his or her career choice.
More than twice as many people regret taking a specific job than not taking a specific job.
"While this finding may appear counter intuitive due to the 'grass is always greener' phenomenon, it most likely indicates that people have become disillusioned with their current positions for a variety of reasons," explains Tamara Zemlo, executive director of the Science Advisory Board.
When it comes to which direction one's research should take, it is abundantly clear that the vast majority of scientists (98%) do not have any second thoughts about the experiments they have conducted.
However, one-fifth of researchers do regret not performing that one critical experiment.
This frustration encompasses scientists hoping to compensate for a lack of data, inconclusive data, or misleading data.
When it comes to networking and collaborations, most scientists are equally divided between whether they should have or should not have taken advice from their colleagues.
Whether or not they attended a particular conference or not is pretty inconsequential in the scheme of things to the majority of scientists, although twice as many of them do wish they had gone to a particular conference.
This mini study suggests that while scientists feel like they have a lot of control over their own destinies, they are not convinced they always make the right decisions when it comes to selecting their jobs and experiments to perform.
The Science Advisory Board is an online panel of more than 25,500 scientists, physicians and other life science and medical professionals from 62 countries.
By convening electronically, Science Advisory Board members participate in online studies to voice their opinions on issues that directly affect the evolution and development of the tools and techniques of their professions.
Scientists can contribute their own views on the tools and techniques of their field by participating.
The Science Advisory Board was organised in 1997 by BioInformatics, a research and consulting firm located in Arlington, USA.
