Carlos Aguirre
Carlos Aguirre, PhD, recently graduated from the Chemical and Biological Sciences Graduate Program at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla and is currently a NASA Internships Program Coordinator under the Universities Space Research Association (USRA) for NASA Ames Research Center. Having participated in numerous NIH and NSF funded research programs for underrepresented minorities throughout his scientific training, Carlos intends to bridge research, education, and community engagement by striving for equity and inclusion of students from diverse socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds in higher education. Amongst his many accolades, he was a TL1 Predoctoral Training Program Fellow, NSPIRE Fellow, and ARCS Scholar.
Can you describe your academic and professional background? What path led you to pursue this field?
I am a first-generation Mexican-American college graduate from a low-income family background. For my undergraduate education, I went to the University of California, Irvine (UCI) as a Pharmaceutical Sciences major. During my undergraduate academic years (2010 – 2014), I applied and was selected to be in many NIH and NSF funded underrepresented/minority (URM) programs aimed at increasing URM student participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). My participation in those types of programs included the California Alliance for Minority Participation (CAMP), Maximizing Access to Research Careers (MARC), and the Minority Health and Health Disparities International Research Training (MHIRT). As a result, I gained quintessential STEM professional development through academic support that included seminars and workshops that prepared me for graduate school, as well as opportunities to conduct undergraduate research at UCI and internationally at King’s College London. Upon graduating from UCI, I conducted a research Master’s in Biology at California State University, Los Angeles (2014 – 2016). Similarly, during the master’s program, I applied and was selected to be in the Minority Biomedical Research Support-Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement (MBRS-RISE) Program. After the master’s program, my STEM journey transitioned to conducting a PhD in Chemical and Biological Sciences at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla. My STEM academic journey culminated in August 2020, when I successfully defended my doctoral thesis research.
I pursued science education because like most science majors I am very curious about how the natural world works. Initially, I wanted to learn how drugs of abuse affected the brain (this curiosity stemmed from witnessing many of my peers and community members becoming addicted to drugs of abuse). During my third year at UCI, I took a neuropharmacology course that covered information about neurodegenerative diseases and the medications for those diseases. As a result, I became interested in neurodegenerative disease research and ultimately conducted that type of research during my PhD academic years.
How did you find this particular position, and what was the hiring process like? Is there a typical structure for this in your field?
I found my current job position as a NASA Internships Program Coordinator when I was scrolling through LinkedIn. I hit the job search hard 6 months before my PhD thesis defense. Out of 20 job applications, this was the only one that I got an interview for (keep in mind that I applied to jobs during the era of COVID in which many of the education jobs I applied to were canceled). For education program management jobs, student support services jobs, or STEM program jobs, it is typical for applicants to have an academic background in education or academic counseling (bachelor’s or master’s preferred). In fact, that was a “requirement or qualification” for almost all the education program management jobs I applied to, but it did not deter me from applying. However, I was confident that my 10 years of volunteer experience helping and being involved with educational outreach programs would at least land me a job interview.
Can you tell us about your current responsibilities? What is a typical day or week like in your role?
My main responsibility is to ensure a seamless, fun, enjoyable, and engaging internship experience for NASA student interns. How do I achieve this? I select, onboard, coordinate, manage, conduct enrichment activities, and monitor exit deliverables of NASA student interns. After every NASA internship session (Fall, Spring, Summer), I also conduct data analysis and program evaluation to always improve the internship program for future NASA student interns. A typical work week consists of interacting with students through workshops and seminars, answering emails from students, and lots of meetings with NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement stakeholders.
What do you enjoy about your current job and work environment?
I greatly enjoy supporting and helping NASA STEM undergraduate student interns achieve their academic and professional goals. Most students are going through similar obstacles and struggles that I went through during my STEM academic journey (i.e. applying to graduate school, balancing STEM research work and life responsibilities, etc.). Therefore, I make it my mission to ensure that they do not give up!
Because I was hired during the era of COVID, I have yet to work on campus (NASA Ames Research Center). However, my co-workers have informed me that the campus is super fun to work at!
What are some of the challenging aspects of your job? Is there anything you wish you had known about your job or industry before joining?
Currently, my job is remote/work from home. Keeping up with ergonomic practices when you are at home is somewhat challenging. There is a steep learning curve being a part of the team of NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement. There are many acronyms, virtual meetings with a large team across the nation, complying with federal policies and regulations, and dealing with faculty that do not follow deadlines are also challenging aspects of my job. I was a student all my life (my age is 27), and three months ago I finally joined the “real working world”. It would have been nice to have had better knowledge about how the “real working world” works but of course that comes with time/experience.
Do you have any professional plans for the future? What are some future career paths that could open up for someone in your position, 5-10 years down the road?
My future professional plans are to become a Director of a STEM educational program or student support services department (maybe even a Dean) in order to provide innovative leadership that positively impacts undergraduate student success. I truly enjoy supporting students with their academic and professional goals and witnessing their confidence grow, as well as their professional development. I also realize the importance of educational practices, theories, and strategies. Therefore, I plan to apply and finish a Master’s in Education program with an emphasis on Student Affairs or Academic Counseling. I envision myself achieving these things in the next 5 years (7 years max because 10 years is too long).
What’s changing in your industry? Are there any future trends we should be aware of?
The education and student support services field should always be changing because every new generation of students brings in different experiences. Currently, the biggest change is that a lot of education and outreach programs are transitioning into being completely virtual. Students are becoming very well prepared and experienced from an early age (a lot of high school students already have research experiences or coding experiences). The new generation of undergraduate students are definitely becoming savvier at networking and asking for jobs.
What activities, internships, or organizations would you recommend someone get involved with to help them break into this field?
If you are interested in a career in education with an emphasis on directing and managing student programs and/or student support services, then my greatest advice is to conduct volunteer work and/or internships in education student program offices/departments. This will help you realize whether you truly enjoy everything that entails working with students and supporting students.
Is it common for people in your field to have a scientific/academic background (i.e. have PhDs)? Can you think of any advantages or disadvantages someone with a PhD might experience while pursuing or working in your field?
It is not common in the field for people seeking a job as a program coordinator or program manager in education to have a scientific academic background or a PhD. Most of the job announcements for these positions require a bachelor’s in education or academic counseling plus experience or a master’s. Similarly, most of the time a master’s in education is also enough for a director of educational programs job position. However, some job announcements for director positions do state that a PhD in education is preferred (but not required). I have noticed advantages of my PhD degree and experiences in STEM that have helped me thus far in my NASA Internships Program Coordinator position. The data analysis skills, the scientific method for addressing questions/phenomenon, the presentation skills, getting “grilled” with questions from your committee members, etc., have all greatly helped for working in the “real world”. Importantly, balancing a lot of research work during the PhD makes working in a “real world job” a lot easier. One disadvantage I had to overcome during my job search was being overqualified for some of the educational program management jobs I applied to. Another disadvantage with the PhD in science was that almost all the educational program management jobs I applied to asked if I held a degree in education or academic counseling. However, that should not be a problem if you decide to pursue a STEM career with your STEM degree.
Do you have any final words of advice for those navigating these career questions? Is there anything you would have done differently given what you know now?
If you know that you want to pursue a career in education, academic affairs, or student affairs, then get a certificate or even a master’s in education while conducting your PhD in STEM. It is doable. You can definitely blend the two fields. There are fellowships and programs out there that allow you to do it. Talk to your advisor/mentor as well. Also, talk to the graduate office and/or undergraduate offices directors or managers. Let them know that you want to volunteer in student outreach/engagement events and do it. Then slowly also make your case that you want to help the campus with coordinating and managing established summer educational programs and/or year-round programs or events. Given what I know now, I would have definitely applied to a fellowship program during my PhD years that would have funded me to blend both the fields of education and STEM. Also, I would have gotten a certificate in education and gone to higher education conferences (not just STEM conferences).
