From academia to industry: are doctorate holders ready?

In policy debates related to innovation potential, the limited mobility from academia to industry is often explained by the supposed mismatch of skills needed in these different settings. We contribute to this debate by (1) examining the attitudes of Flemish doctoral candidates towards careers in industry; and (2) by analysing the extent to which doctoral candidates and employers in industry in Flanders differ in their views on the skills needed to perform well in this sector. We combined survey data with qualitative research. The Survey of Junior Researchers provides information on the doctoral candidates’ perspective on these matters, whereas the Research & Development Survey of Flemish companies reflects the employers’ views. Additional data obtained through interviews with both doctorate holders and employers provide a more in depth understanding of the transition from academia to industry. A mismatch between what doctoral candidates consider important skills for a job in industry, and what employers expect from researchers is observed. The importance of technical skills and more transferable competencies such as project management and business skills are underestimated by doctoral candidates. The findings raise questions on the awareness among doctoral candidates of the skills needed for a career outside academia. Addressing possible negative attitudes, and providing adequate training and career planning could improve their preparation for work in non-academic settings, confirming findings in other countries that institutional programmes have a role to play in bridging the gap between employers' expectations and those of doctoral candidates

The skills mismatch: what doctoral candidates and employers consider important?

The mobility of doctorate holders towards the non-academic labor market became of growing interest to policy-makers in and outside academia over the last decade. European as well as national and regional polic

An efficient, economical slow-freezing method for large-scale human embryonic stem cell banking

Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) are one of the most interesting cell types for tissue engineering, cell therapy, basic scientific research, and drug screening. Fast advancement in these areas requires the availability of large amounts of safe and well-characterized hESCs from hESC banks. Therefore, optimized freezing protocols, allowing the cryopreservation of large amounts of hESC without direct contact with liquid nitrogen, need to be established. In this study, 6 different cryoprotector combinations [dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO), ethylene glycol, and hydroxyethylstarch (HES)] combined with 2 different application methods were screened with the VUB01 cell line, to establish a new slow-freezing protocol with high recovery rates and a good expansion capacity. Our best conditions were confirmed in 4 other hESC lines: H1, H9, 181, and UGent2. To our knowledge, this is the first time that HES is evaluated as a cryoprotector for hESCs. The use of 5% DMSO + 5% HES combined with a new detachment protocol leads to efficient hESC cryopreservation. This protocol involves treating the hESC colonies with cell dissociation solution, a mild dissociation solution uncommonly used for hESC culture. A recovery ratio ranging from 45.5% to 168.2% was obtained, and these were significantly different from the other tested conditions (Student's t-test, P < 0.05). The cryopreserved hESCs were morphologically comparable to control cells, exhibited a good expansion profile, were positive for pluripotent expression markers, and could still differentiate into the 3 germ layers. This new protocol allows efficient and economical hESC cryopreservation, ideal for hESC banking

Estructura social y sociabilidad : ¿son desiguales las redes personales?

En este trabajo se presentan los resultados de un estudio de redes personales de alcance nacional realizado en Argentina en el año 2006. Sobre una muestra de 1500 adultos, se analizan las características de vínculos interpersonales de ayuda, con la meta de describir -en contextos urbanos de la Argentina­- las dependencias observables entre los modos de sociabilidad y la posición social de los sujetos. Por medio de ello se buscó dar cuenta de las articulaciones entre las desigualdades económicas y sociales y la formación y mantenimiento de vínculos interpersonales. El capital educativo y el capital económico, junto a la ubicación en el ciclo de vida y el sexo, son las dimensiones que se utilizan en el análisis para caracterizar las diferencias en la participación en las relaciones familiares, institucionales y barriales de la población estudiada.This paper analyzes the results of a personal network national study conducted in Argentina in 2006. After a sample of 1500 adults, the characteristics of the personal relations are shown, with the goal of describing -in urban contexts of Argentina- the dependencies between sociability and social position. In this way, it looks forward to eliciting the linkages between economic and social inequalities and the formation and maintenance of interpersonal relations. Educational capital and economic capital, next to age and sex, are the dimensions that are used in the analysis to characterize differences in participation in family circles, neighborhood and institutional relations

La libertad en disputa. Corrientes de la negociación en la teoría social contemporánea

The term ‘negotiation’ has many uses in academic field including open dynamics and less explicit processes of adjustment. This article suggests that the notion of negotiation has been developed during the second half of the 20th century in two relatively autonomous and distinguishable disciplinary currents. Through the concept of negotiation these currents express the balance between individual freedom and social structure conditioning. Thus, negotiation has been used to show nuances of individual agency in real contexts analyses. This article examines constructs from social theory, economics and game theory to contribute to a better theoretical delimitation of the negotiation concept and its links with agency.El término ‘negociación’ reconoce una multiplicidad de usos en el campo académico, los cuales incluyen tanto dinámicas abiertas como referencias a procesos de adaptación menos visibles. El presente artículo propone que la noción de negociación se ha desarrollado durante la segunda mitad del siglo XX a partir de dos corrientes disciplinares diferenciables y relativamente autónomas que vieron en ella una vía para expresar el equilibrio entre libertad individual y estructura social. De este modo, la negociación ha servido para señalar los matices que despliega el análisis de la agencia individual puesta en contexto. Este artículo recupera aportes provenientes de la teoría social así como de la economía y de las teorías de juego con el fin de contribuir a una mejor delimitación teórica del concepto de negociación y de la relación entre negociación y agencia

Constructivismo y sociología. Siete tesis de Bruno Latour

Bruno Latour argues that contemporary sociology is largely devoted to explain how certain social configurations (such as power hierarchies or structural inequalities) affect other non-social activities (such as law, religion or arts). As a result, sociology would have had abandoned its primary mission to explain the social itself, and it would be producing repetitive and uninteresting explanations. This paper puts together theoretical elements from different works of Bruno Latour in order to state seven theses on his radical critique to contemporary sociology. The main goal of Latour's proposal is reformulating social research, opening the black box in which the Social would have become. Finally, the article concludes summarizing usages and limitations of the perspective of Bruno Latour.Bruno Latour postula que la sociología contemporánea se dedica en buena medida a explicar cómo ciertas configuraciones sociales (tales que las jerarquías de poder o  las desigualdades estructurales) afectan el funcionamiento de otros ámbitos en sus contenidos no sociales (tales que el derecho, la religión o el arte). Como consecuencia de esto, la misma habría abandonado su misión primaria de explicar lo social por sí mismo, además de estar produciendo explicaciones repetitivas y poco interesantes. El presente artículo reúne elementos teóricos de diferentes obras de Bruno Latour en función de elaborar siete tesis sobre su crítica radical a la sociología contemporánea. La propuesta principal de Latour es reformular la investigación social, abriendo la ‘caja negra' en la que lo social ha venido a convertirse. Finalmente se realizan algunas consideraciones sobre usos y limitaciones de las posiciones de Bruno Latour

Relaciones sociales y vida cotidiana en el primer año de vida. Infancia temprana en sectores populares de la ciudad de Buenos Aires

The main goal of the project was to investigate everyday life sociability in families with babies in the first year of life. As an exploratory research, it sought to produce information on a variety of central aspects in the early childhood literature (health, food, sleep, care, ways of playing and entertainment). The open-qualitative strategy focused on variables and dimensions that were of interest for the ‘actors’ (mothers, fathers, children and their environment) and were not developed in local available literature. This topic is part of a sustained and growing interest over childhood in the political agenda and in the social sciences in general, and in a recent revision of the concepts of socialization and early infancy in Sociology in particular. In this context, the survey and analysis was completed, which consisted of in-depth interviews that were conducted to mothers of popular sectors with babies under a year old. The interviews were carried out in their homes, which allowed a contact for the observation of the babies and their daily spaces. Among the main findings, it can be highlighted the low centrality that neighborhood had in the daily life of these children, not operating as a space where social relationships can be set or where socialization may be carried out. In the case of mothers who were all day, during week labor days with their children at home - that is, without integration into the labor market- interaction with other adults was frequently restricted to the extended family beyond the neighborhood. The neighborhood did not provide areas of encounter, circulation of children or exchanges of favors or care services. In this sense, the lower presence of friendship relations in these sectors occurred in favor of family ties, but not so of neighbors or people of the neighborhood.El objetivo general del proyecto fue investigar la sociabilidad familiar –la vida cotidiana– en hogares con bebés en el primer año de vida. Con carácter exploratorio, se buscó producir información sobre una variedad de aspectos centrales en la bibliografía de primera infancia (salud, cuidados en la alimentación y el sueño, formas de juego y entretenimiento), manteniendo la atención abierta a variables y dimensiones que fueran de interés para los actores (madres, padres, niños y su entorno) y no estuvieran desarrolladas en la bibliografía preexistente. Esta temática se enmarcó en un crecimiento sostenido del interés por la infancia en la agenda política y en las ciencias sociales en general, y en una revisión reciente de los conceptos de socialización y de infancia, en la sociología en particular. En dicho contexto, se pudo avanzar con el trabajo de relevamiento y análisis de material de campo, el cual consistió en entrevistas en profundidad a madres de sectores populares con bebés de menos de un año. Las entrevistas fueron realizadas en los hogares, contacto que permitió la observación de los bebés y sus espacios materiales cotidianos. Entre los hallazgos principales, puede destacarse la escasa centralidad que el barrio tenía en la vida cotidiana de estos niños, en el sentido de no operar como un espacio cotidiano de construcción de vínculos o de socialización. En el caso de las madres que estaban con sus chicos en el hogar durante los días de semana –es decir, sin una integración al mercado de trabajo– fue frecuente que la interacción con otros adultos se restringiera a la familia extensa fuera del barrio, sin hallar en el vecindario ámbitos de encuentro, circulación de los niños o intercambios de favores o servicios de cuidado. En este sentido, la menor presencia de relaciones de amistad en estos sectores se produjo a favor de vínculos familiares, pero no así de vecinos o personas del barrio