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The Graduate Student Portfolio – Organize and Energize Your Career Development
Adriana Baez, Wendy Pacheco and Caroline B. Appleyard
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Adriana Baez, PhD is Professor of Pharmacology & Otolaryngology at the University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine. She has been the Director of Research in the Department of Otolaryngology for nearly 20 years, working directly with the Otolaryngology residents in the design and execution of their clinical research projects. She has extensive mentoring experience and leads the Puerto Rico Clinical and Translational Research Center’s mentor training program. Baez is a member of the external advisory committee for the RISE graduate student training program at Ponce School of Medicine and Health Sciences (PSMHS). Wendy Pacheco, BS is Coordinator of the RISE program at PSMHS. She possesses over 10 years of experience working with students and faculty in graduate and undergraduate institutions in Puerto Rico, the USA and Europe in the offices of admissions, student affairs/services and financial aid. Caroline B. Appleyard, PhD, is Program Director for the RISE program at PSMHS. She is a Professor in the Departments of Physiology & Pharmacology, and Internal Medicine at PSMHS with an active research program directed towards understanding the influences of the brain-gut-microflora axis in the pathophysiology of gastrointestinal inflammation, and the transition from inflammation to dysplasia in colitis-associated colon cancer. She has personally mentored over 70 underrepresented students at all levels in her laboratory. The RISE program is supported by NIH-NIGMS (GM082406) and provides professional development and career skills training for graduate students pursuing a PhD in Biomedical Sciences in order to strengthen their future competitiveness.
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Providing graduate students with the communication skills necessary to be successful throughout their scientific careers is a key priority in an increasingly competitive environment. To help them succeed in meeting their career goals, it is important to implement programs that will enhance their competencies and develop proficiency in these skills.
Importantly, a well-designed and organized portfolio will continue to be an asset at all stages of career development as one progresses from graduate studies, through any post-graduate training, and onto the independent professional trajectory. In recent years, fewer traditional positions are available for biomedical scientists; thus, there is an increased interest in pursuing non-research/non-academic careers, such as patent law, public policy, consulting, science journalism, K-12 education, and industry. Well-designed portfolios tailored to a specific career track will highlight the student’s academic achievements and leadership potential, facilitating the application process during the job search.
Types of Portfolios
Different types of portfolios have evolved to fulfill a variety of functions. In general these can be divided into three main categories: career, assessment, and developmental.
Career or professional portfolios help students organize, track, store, and maintain documents related to their training and career. This helps to showcase their skills, experience, and samples of work or accomplishments, which will supplement the curriculum vitae (CV). It also allows mentors, employers, or committees to view in more detail what they need and want to see. This type of portfolio also acts as a quick and handy reference to facilitate updating of the CV, as well as completion of fellowship and job applications. Portfolios can be an important tool to assess a candidate’s strengths, weaknesses, preparation, and suitability for additional training opportunities. It also provides a snapshot of the student’s current status and his or her potential, thereby providing the basis for a professional development plan.
Assessment portfolios are most commonly employed as a requirement in a course. These form a collection of work to evaluate progress and assess mastery of skills and concepts or completion of specific tasks and assignments. They are often utilized as a midterm assessment or as part of a final exam. The features of this type of portfolio are established by requirements or a rubric set forth by a college, university, program, instructor, mentor, course, or major. To achieve the desired outcome both the student and instructor must be clear about objectives for the portfolio, so that information is not collected without purpose. Since timing is critically important, the information must be collected and assessed continually so as to address any issues before problems arise.
Developmental portfolios are also known as self-assessment or reflective portfolios very similar to a journal. This reflection is oriented towards enabling connections and articulating ideas to stimulate student thinking and help them organize their thoughts and ideas. Often these are “free-flowing” without a specific format to permit students to better understand and consider the “what” and “why” of their activities. To avoid thoughts without direction (‘Brownian motion’), developmental portfolios should be tied to specific objectives.
Purpose of a Career Portfolio
Graduate student portfolios are created for different purposes and are an excellent tool to evaluate and guide student development. The aim of a portfolio in a Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program is to help students track and show progress in their writing skills, content knowledge, and ability to structure research ideas. It might include a collection of files that illustrates and reflects the growth of the student through the graduate program by documenting important milestones toward the completion of their degree. Creating the portfolio also provides an opportunity for refining areas of research interest and can be used to support the job search at graduation. Essentially, the CV and cover letter should stand on their own, while the portfolio supports and complements the CV. Having a portfolio that showcases their evolution and successes through graduate school will allow graduate students to be more prepared for a successful job search. Additionally, it can be highly useful as the focus for discussion between the student and the mentor(s), as an important instrument for the development of reflective skills, and as a valuable tool for self-evaluation and planning.
Students in our PhD program at the Ponce School of Medicine and Health Sciences are required to keep a career portfolio. During their orientation period they attend a training session explaining its importance and components. Because the portfolio is personal, with sections that vary for any given student depending on his/her stage in training, we do not provide a rubric to evaluate or grade the portfolio per se but rather provide a guideline and request a review by peers and research mentors. In review sessions with their peers, students share their portfolios and discuss what was learned in the process of building them. By seeing examples of other students’ portfolios (with confidential information removed), they also share ideas and obtain feedback for improvement. Students have stated that “the review session helped to get better ideas about additional information I can include,” and “[the portfolios] were very creative and show their [the students] personality.” Once a year, students are required to review the portfolio with their research mentor as part of their scheduled meetings. This gives the mentor a starting point to discuss professional development plans and helps identify and address areas of strengths and improvement.
Components of a Career Portfolio
The portfolio should contain the basic elements shown in Table 1 tailored to the needs and the stage of training of the individual. Students in early stages of their studies might wish to include details of transcripts, academic diplomas, conferences and meetings attended, awards or recognitions received, and fellowships submitted. As training progresses the portfolio should include oral or poster presentations given at scientific conferences, copies of published articles, evidence of specialized training received or courses attended, details of certifications or licenses obtained, academic diplomas, memberships in professional associations, and grant proposals submitted. Additional content can be included to enhance the portfolio and tailor it specifically to positions being pursued. Initiatives such as serving in the graduate student committee will help the student develop leadership skills and contacts that will be highly useful for their future. Educational activities, particularly those that respond to needs identified by the local community, will strengthen the student’s teaching and communication skills and contribute to the growth of the communities addressed. A section for comments from research advisors and mentors, evidence of committee work and peer mentoring, and letters of reference can be very practical and informative as well. A process portfolio, a visual depiction of how a specific project or problem was solved, can also form part of the career portfolio. Complicated, dense sections may start with a narrative or summary explaining what is to come. At all stages a personal statement helps to focus the overall goals of the trainee.
Format
Although traditionally the portfolio exists in a paper format, there are other options available, such as e-portfolio, web, and video. Each format has advantages and limitations depending on the preference and needs of the trainee. The electronic format is easily accessible and transportable. It is also easy to share, store, and allows cross-linking capabilities (directly linking to publications, professional websites, etc.). However, this type of portfolio requires that the viewer be knowledgeable and comfortable using technology. One must also be careful not to give an impression of too much focus on format and flash instead of content and substance. It should also be remembered that technology is not 100% secure or safe -- a back-up is vital and sensitive information should not be included. The most common format for the portfolio is still the hard copy, in which a collection of documents are kept in a sub-divided binder. This not only organizes but also allows readers to easily access and view sections of particular interest. Even when using this format, keeping an electronic folder of portfolio contents as an additional backup is a good idea.
The Verdict – A Portfolio is a “Very Useful Tool”
Based on feedback, most students were pleased with the process of preparing their portfolios. Likewise, mentors were impressed with the portfolios, often offering suggestions on format and content. Interestingly some mentors stated that they had been unaware of the extent of work or level of accomplishment of their students over the years: “I had no idea how much [the student] had done prior to joining my lab,” “very useful tool,” and “students will greatly benefit from having their professional research experience in this organized manner.” It gave them a broader view and appreciation of how far the student had come, as well as a visual representation and reminder of what has yet to be accomplished. Similarly, students reported improved self-esteem on seeing all their progress and achievements together in one place. Students stated that “[the portfolio] helped me organize all my data and important papers making things easier to find,” “It felt good to visually see all my accomplishments and skills, “the portfolio increased my self-esteem,” and “...taught me to save items even if I think they are not important because they may be useful later.”
Although the portfolio involves an increase in workload for both the student and mentor, the effort put in on a regular basis will ensure that, when needed, all the components are readily available at short notice. This will provide tangible benefits, such as improved competitiveness and time savings, when submitting applications for travel awards, fellowships, and workshops.
The portfolio is very personal and constantly evolving to fit its purpose. As a student progresses, he/she will need to update the portfolio contents, editing as necessary. It should always be remembered that the portfolio is a tool and its contents must be in line with its purpose.
Comments:
The idea of a portfolio as a measure of progress and training in graduate school in the sciences is excellent. The overall premise can easily be adapted to the post-doctoral years and can be an important tool in organizing and tracking career progress at every stage of one’s scientific career. Individuals at the fellow and faculty level may benefit by also closely monitoring progress on a year to year basis. This portion of a portfolio would include a listing of abstracts and publications, opportunities to serve as an ad-hoc reviewer for scientific journals or grant peer review, oral presentations, invited seminars and participation at scientific meetings, teaching and mentoring, and institutional committee and professional society involvement. A written account of your yearly progress can greatly facilitate your ability to visualize your progress in terms of research, service, and teaching and allow you to recognize areas in your career that may need attention in terms of your career progression. This can be especially important for those preparing for promotion and tenure. Setting goals are also a key component for any stage of one’s scientific career. Your personal portfolio can serve as your own resource for establishing short-term, and also long-term goals. Short-term goals may involve something as simple as planning experimental protocols to allow time to collect and analyze data based on an abstract deadline for a scientific conference. Long-term goals may involve decisions during graduate school and/or your post-doctoral fellowship that will assist you as you move towards the next step of your career progression. It is never too early to plan your training path with an end goal of where you want to be in 5 or 10 years. This is important as it will help your plan the steps needed to ensure that you obtain the training, or secure the needed publications and funding that are necessary to obtain your career and life goals.
Barbara Alexander
University of Mississippi Medical Center
The use of portfolios in formal career development programs for scientists in training, as described by Drs Baez, Pacheco and Appleyard, is a positive development in graduate training. I would like to bring additional attention to the use of Individual (or Personal) Development Plans as cited in the article. A thoughtfully developed IDP can assist in keeping a trainee on track for graduation and the process generates important conversations between the trainee and the advisor. At our institution, Faculty Development Plans perform a similar function for junior faculty members working towards promotion and tenure. New tools have recently been released through FASEB & AAAS for career exploration and development of an IDP for trainees at the graduate and postdoctoral level, which can be accessed via the link at the bottom of this webpage and at http://myidp.sciencecareers.org/. Check it out!
Kathleen O'Hagan
Midwestern University
I just completed my postdoctoral training and have started a public policy fellowship at the NIH. Applying for a fellowship was a very different experience than applying for an academic position. I believe that creating a portfolio will become more and more common since graduate students and postdocs are seeking careers outside of academia. Regardless of your career path, students will benefit tremendously by creating a portfolio early on in their careers. It is important to teach students the importance of a portfolio and to provide them with the necessary tools to craft one. We need to inform students of all the resources available to create an excellent CV and portfolio.
Mary Garcia-Cazarin
AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow
This is a very informative article about portfolios for graduate students written by Drs. Appleyard, Baez, and Pacheco. The creation of a portfolio can not only help a student get organized, but also can help the student's mentors in formulating mentoring strategies, providing advice, and suggesting skills and techniques that would be beneficial for the student's career development. I would like to see this incorporated into formal training of graduate students in the sciences.
Angela Grippo
Northern Illinois University
Comment: We agree that it would be very useful for this type of activity to be incorporated more into the formal training of graduate students in the sciences, and we are aware that many more institutions are either requiring or encouraging their students to keep a portfolio. This is particularly true in training programs such as ours where progress and tracking are an essential component to gauge success of both the individual students and the program as a whole.
Baez, Pacheco, and Appleyard
The article on developing a graduate student portfolio impressed me as to its usefulness at multiple career stages. It is an effective tool for helping students, postdoctoral trainees and mentors discuss and formulate a plan for professional development, as well as for setting goals and keeping track of accomplishments. As the portfolio continually evolves, it is also easy to see its continued importance for faculty. The comment that the portfolio is an instrument for self-evaluation and planning that complements the CV and raises awareness, can’t be overemphasized. I have found that many students need help with this process and believe that it is an excellent idea for graduate students to attend a training session on use of portfolios during their orientation when they begin their graduate program.
Andrew Roberts
University of Louisville School of Medicine
This is an insightful article by Drs. Appleyard, Baez, and Pacheco. As a doctoral student, I have mainly focused on developing my CV but a professional portfolio would certainly be a helpful tool for assessing graduate student progress and developing ideas/goals for the future. It may be helpful for graduate programs to offer small seminars on professional development that would include topics such as developing a portfolio.
Jennifer Dupont
University of Delaware
Questions:
Could the authors provide an example of a portfolio (of course without identifiable information)? Based on the description of the basic elements, it seems like an elaborated CV. I checked the links at the bottom of the page and found some examples. However, I didn't see any for research/scientific related careers.
Heather Drummond
University of Mississippi Medical Center
Reply: Unfortunately, we mostly work with the hardcopy format for our student’s portfolios so it is difficult for us to provide one as an example. The students commonly use large binders with translucent sheet protectors and sub-dividers for each section. This allows them to very easily file and store their collected ‘evidence’. The following excellent link shows examples of nursing related portfolios from the University of Michigan, mostly in electronic format (
http://nursing.umich.edu/about-our-school/computing-technology/electronic-portfolios/nursing-resumes-portfolios). The portfolio is as flexible as the student needs it to be and allows for inclusion of examples of thinking processes that will not necessarily be used when looking for a position. The student will therefore need to trim it out when preparing the portfolio that they will use when looking for a job. This process can often be carried out with the help of the mentor.
Baez, Pacheco, and Appleyard
How might the portfolio change for a trainee who is interested in a career in science journalism, regulation, patent law, etc. As research-oriented mentors, we may not be able to provide sufficient input for a trainee seeking that type of career.
Heather Drummond
University of Mississippi Medical Center
Reply: If the student wants to go into journalism (for example) it should be evident in several ways by how s(he) writes, and the courses taken before and during their graduate studies in addition to the Institution’s requirements. The student should demonstrate writing and communication skills training, with evidence of writing courses taken (e.g., advanced courses in English literature) or workshops attended. They can also include actual writing samples, like editorials or essays written, and copies or links to videos of presentations the student has done. In the personal statement (and other areas of the portfolio as pertinent), the student should be sure to address these future goals of “branching out” and how he/she plans to achieve them (e.g., apply to law school, do a special internship, take additional writing/journalism courses). The mentor can help in facilitating contacts (networking) with individuals that are in patent law, journalism, etc. so that the student can find an additional mentor with experience outside basic applied research. The MentorNet website is also an excellent starting point in this regard. Many of the major scientific conferences (including Experimental Biology) now also include workshops or information sessions related to diverse careers.
Baez, Pacheco, and Appleyard
I like the idea creating and maintaining an active portfolio and think that it would be very beneficial to our graduate students and their mentors. I would like to see portfolios implemented within our department. If we implement portfolios should they be specific for graduate work or include relevant things from our undergrad experience as well?
William Colburn
1st-year graduate student
Northern Illinois University
Reply: We are actually asked this question a lot by our students, especially those at a more junior level. In our opinion we encourage inclusion of undergraduate experiences as long as they are relevant to what the student is presently doing. Items may include undergraduate research internships, undergraduate awards (travel awards to conferences, scholarships, presentations etc.), and special training/workshops taken as an undergraduate student. However, as the student progresses through graduate school, and depending on the specific purpose for the portfolio, he or she should evaluate and revise the portfolio on a regular basis, and eventually may choose to remove many of the undergraduate related items.
Baez, Pacheco, and Appleyard
Can you please comment on what differentiates the portfolio from a more elaborative CV in which the person adds brief explanations of the listed items?
Neal McNeal
5th-year graduate student
Northern Illinois University
Reply: The main difference in our experience between an elaborative CV and the portfolio is that, in addition to brief explanations, a portfolio allows you to go into more detail, explain further as needed, and most importantly includes the actual evidence or documents (e.g., diplomas, transcripts, acceptance letters, congratulatory email/recommendation letters, attendance certificates). Such items are not included in a CV.
Baez, Pacheco, and Appleyard
Can you please comment on the following questions? How would one make a visual depiction of how a particular problem was solved, as referenced in the process portfolio? What type of problem does this refer to? Also, should an individual automatically include their portfolio when applying for a job, or wait until it is requested?
Joshua Wardwell
3rd-year graduate student
Northern Illinois University
Reply: This type of visual depiction we have not often seen as part of our own students’ portfolios but can be envisaged as a visual explanation, such as a flow chart or diagram, of a protocol or research problem that you are developing or have solved. They can help to present ‘how’ you approached the problem, or came up with the research question, what the obstacles were, and what methods or interventions you put in place to address them.
When applying for a job, most commonly the CV is included. If the student wants, after adapting and focusing the portfolio towards the job he/she is applying for, they could then make it available upon request before the interview, or take it with them to the interview itself where it might lead to more in-depth discussion about the applicant’s abilities and suitability for the job being pursued.
Baez, Pacheco, and Appleyard
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