News Stop: The Life Sciences Conundrum

We refer to this interesting headline “The Life Sciences Conundrum” (reported by Loh Chee Kiong). Among the educators, this is a known problem that we are having a surplus of life science graduates who may have to end up doing other kinds of jobs other than washing test tubes. Here are some thoughts and possibly solutions to the problem. We want to dispense some advice for those who might be graduating soon with a life sciences degree.

In retrospect, I like the positive spin of this article (see below) that those who propagate the biotech drive are not to be blamed because they told everyone that they should do a PhD in order to get a job. Is it because they know that the multi-national companies are not willing to employ local undergraduates in marketing, sales and business development? Even the universities acknowledged that they cannot take such a high number. So, who is really responsible for the problem?

Inherently, I do not fault the authorities and the universities, but I would say that the students who signed up have to realize why they end up in this situation. Social engineering is common, and it has happened for engineers and IT industries for the past two decades. Somehow, no one seem to remember what happened to these people. Most of my peers who was caught in the engineering bubble fifteen years back are now selling insurance, stock-brokering and doing any other job but engineering. So, you will be hear the conventional excuse from the authorities that “we are here to facilitate but not here to find you a job”.

Actually, it is not that bleak. I know of life science graduates (since part of my portfolio is on biomedical and biotech commercialization) who manage to get the high end jobs for the pharma companies. However, they are far and few between. Let me give some numbers and why they manage to get these jobs:

• Internships with companies: Most Singaporean students like to spend their summer vacation to do nothing, instead taking an internship in a life-science related companies (or even startups). My cousin is also a life science undergraduate and when I ask him what he is doing in the holidays. He ended up telling me that he’s going on holidays and his favourite comment, “I will find a job when the time comes.” I am pretty sure that he will not find a job by the end. In contrast, out of ten students, about 1 Singaporean and 9 foreign students will be applying for internships. To get these high paying jobs need networks and not going for holidays. There are a few who actually got a job in overseas pharma companies because they took their holidays to work as an intern in Germany or Switzerland. So, we cannot put the burden on the universities and polytechnics to arrange the internships, but the students need to do the homework.
• Life Sciences require not just book knowledge but also commercial knowledge: There are people who want to go into the life science markets, but they did not realize that commercialization is a necessity to be in the industry. Perhaps, they should start using their cross-faculty courses to take some business modules on technopreneurship

Nevertheless, I leave you to read this article and think about what you should really do.

The Life Sciences Conundrum

After the hype, grads now realise that there’s no place for them in the industry

Loh Chee Kong
cheekong@mediacorp.com.sg

IN 2002, when Singapore universities had barely begun producing their own life sciences graduates, Mr Philip Yeo, chairman of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star), famously rattled those undergraduates when he said that they would only be qualified to wash test tubes.

But four years on, armed with their Bachelor’s degree, some of these graduates are learning the truth of his words the hard way. Many from the first cohort have ended up in junior research positions or manufacturing and sales jobs in the industry — positions that do not require a life sciences degree. Others find themselves completely out of the field.

Said Edmund Lim, 27, who graduated two years ago, and now works as a property agent: “One of my classmates is working illegally in Australia, peddling psychotropic drugs to clubbers. Many of my classmates have gone into teaching. Others are in pharmaceutical or equipment sales.”

Another life sciences graduate, who declined to be named, found a job recently at a tuition centre, after failing to land research-related positions for over a year despite numerous job applications.

Already an established base for pharmaceutical manufacturing, Singapore has been trying, in the past five years, to move beyond manufacturing to more high-end research that is “value-added”.