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As  the number of students pursuing public health degrees on both an undergraduate and graduate level continue to rapidly rise, understanding how to effectively transition these graduates into their careers will be vital when it comes to building a resilient and capable public health workforce. In an effort to glean the perspectives of recent public health graduates and early-career professionals, the Public Health Leadership and Education, Advancing Health Equity and Data Science (PH LEADS) program conducted surveys and listening sessions, which I’ve reviewed as a part of familiarizing myself with the program. As someone currently pursuing both an undergraduate degree in public health and a minor in data science, I was interested in reflecting on how my personal experience with my program might either corroborate or differ from the overall experiences of listening session participants. I also wanted to use my perspective to consider solutions the PH LEADS program has proposed to address issues facing recent graduates and early-career professionals.

As insight from listening sessions summarized in the Exploratory Report on Public Health Data Science & Leadership noted, participants expressed a gap between skills learned within public health programs and skills needed for the workforce, with a particular lack when it came to data literacy and other data science capabilities. Notably, 57% of the participants identified difficulties with finding opportunities that allowed them to work with emerging data science tools such as Tableau and R. Reflecting on my own public health program, I see the listening session participants’ experiences mirrored in mine. Although I have had the opportunity to work with data science tools such as R and Python, these opportunities have nearly solely existed within the context of a data science minor that I’m pursuing along with my major.
Rather, the public health classes I’ve taken under the public health sciences (PHS) department at my university have had more of a theoretical focus on the principles of and core functions of public health, with little opportunity to practice or use data science tools that may prove vital in the workplace. My degree program does allow for the option of taking quantitative courses that may offer more exposure to data science to satisfy the major requirements, but there’s notably no strict requirement to take a more technically-oriented course. While there are exceptions, such as a class on population data analysis, even classes that seem like they could benefit from teaching data science skills, like an epidemiology class I took, still focus more on abstract concepts. For instance, although learning data analysis and visualization skills are essential to epidemiological work, that class was still centered around calculating measures of prevalence and epidemiological principles.

Though learning this background and theory more broadly is definitely necessary, feedback from the participants indicates that neglecting data science coursework can leave graduates ill-prepared and discouraged when they seek to enter the workforce. Some of this lack could possibly be attributed to the fact that these courses are meant to be more introductory, but the fact that so many recent graduates have expressed the need for data training indicates that it’s likely worthwhile to include teaching on data skills in introductory public health classes. When coupled with difficulties the public health field faces recruiting individuals to its work, having recent graduates feel that they’re not adequately equipped for the workforce could only exacerbate this issue.

Although as of yet, I still have limited experience with the public health workforce, I feel that I’ve still personally seen this theme. The classes that I’ve taken as a part of my degree program have still been helpful in terms of providing base knowledge and the opportunity to practice skills such as literature reviews, but I’ve still found them to be lacking in certain skills I’ve needed in the workforce, such as Excel. In these times, I’ve found myself relying more upon tools and capabilities I’ve learned as a part of my data science minor. This indicates that, as mentioned before, actively including data science curricula as a part of public health degree programs will likely be a necessary step towards ensuring workforce readiness.

Barriers to Recruitment

When it comes to barriers to recruitment that a listening session of recent graduates identified, I found myself resonating with their report, possibly because the idea of entering the workforce is so pertinent to my current stage of life. The top barriers mentioned of entry-level positions requiring multiple years of experience, insufficient compensation, and difficulties with finding mentoring are all factors that I’ve either experienced myself or heard from my peers. In particular, I’ve heard frustrations from my classmates about advanced qualifications required for many entry-level positions, which corroborates data found by PH LEADS. Many of the students in my degree program also acknowledge the relatively low salaries that come with governmental public health work, which has pushed some of them to pursue work in other sectors or decide that they would rather go on to medical school instead of strictly staying within the realm of public health.

As for mentoring, although I feel that I have received supportive mentoring regarding public health, most of that support has come from experiences outside my program, such as internships. It’s been more difficult to receive mentoring through my degree program itself, possibly because professors and the directors of the program have many students underneath them. This may indicate that increasing access to programs like internships that allow for more personalized interactions between students and professionals can be helpful in terms of providing a source of mentorship. Implementing direct mentorship opportunities within public health degree programs themselves could also provide students with the launching pad necessary to get started in their careers.

Encouraging Students to Enter the Workforce

As a proposed measure to address the aforementioned challenges with the public health workforce, the PH LEADS program has recommended increased integration between public health education and the workforce. Given my personal experiences and data from the listening sessions, there does seem to be an issue within public health education when it comes to teaching the full breadth of skills that might be required in a job. As a result, this suggested integration could serve as a useful tool to communicate what skills the workforce needs most and then have educational programs institute them in their curricula. This would help ensure that graduates are adequately equipped when they enter the workforce, possibly helping improve both productivity and workplace satisfaction. Other proposed solutions from PH LEADS, such as adjusting requirements for entry-level jobs to be more feasible for recent graduates, would directly tackle a major barrier to recruitment that I’ve personally noticed.

With what I’ve heard from my peers, there are a number of public health students who would like to do public health work but feel boxed out for several reasons, such as low compensation, advanced requirements for entry-level jobs, and competition from the private sector. This suggests that there are many public health students who would enter public health work if some of the roadblocks in their way were relieved, further emphasizing the importance of addressing these issues. Recommendations from the PH LEADS program, if implemented, will play an important role in terms of removing these barriers and drawing in more students. As I enter my final year of college, I’m excited to see what progress PH LEADS will continue to make to turn the workforce environment into one that’s more attractive, accessible, and easier to join.

BIO:

Isabella Zhou is rising senior currently studying Global Public Health and Data Science at the University of Virginia. This summer, she’s been interning with NNPHI in support of the PH LEADS program, which aims to develop data science and leadership capabilities within the public health workforce. While at school, Isabella is involved in programs such as the Peer Health Educators, a group of students that strives to communicate strategies for safer health behaviors to their peers. Outside of work and school, Isabella enjoys trying new recipes and spending time with her family and friends.