Core Competencies for Master’s and PhD STEM Education

A 2018 study by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (“Graduate STEM Education for the 21st Century”) outlined a series of expectations for all STEM Master’s and PhD graduate students. These “core competencies” articulate core academic and professional skills and learning objectives that should be achieved during your graduate education and are critical for success in any STEM field.

Core Competencies for MS degree Programs

  1. Disciplinary and interdisciplinary knowledge: Master’s students should develop core disciplinary knowledge and the ability to work between disciplines.
  2. Professional competencies: Master’s students should develop abilities defined by a given profession (e.g., licensing, other credentials).
  3. Foundational and transferrable skills: Master’s students should develop skills that transcend disciplines and are applicable in any context, such as communications, leadership, and working in teams. These dimensions are especially critical as the lines that traditionally define scientific and engineering disciplines become blurred—and more scientific research and application are characterized by the convergence of disciplines.
  4. Research: Master’s students should develop the ability to apply the scientific method, understand the application of statistical analysis, gain experience in conducting research and other field studies, learn about and understand the importance of research responsibility and integrity, and engage in work-based learning and research in a systematic manner.

 Core Competencies for PhD Degreee Programs

  1. Develop Scientific and Technological Literacy and Conduct Original Research
    • Develop deep specialized expertise in at least one STEM discipline.
    • Acquire sufficient transdisciplinary literacy to suggest multiple conceptual and methodological approaches to a complex problem.
    • Identify an important problem and articulate an original research question.
    • Design a research strategy, including relevant quantitative, analytical, or theoretical approaches, to explore components of the problem and begin to address the question.
    • Evaluate outcomes of each experiment or study component and select which outcomes to pursue and how to do so through an iterative process.
    • Adopt rigorous standards of investigation and acquire mastery of the quantitative, analytical, technical, and technological skills required to conduct successful research in the field of study.
    • Learn and apply professional norms and practices of the scientific or engineering enterprise, the ethical responsibilities of scientists and engineers within the profession and in relationship to the rest of society, as well as ethical standards that will lead to principled character and conduct.
  2. Develop Leadership, Communication, and Professional Competencies
    • Develop the ability to work in collaborative and team settings involving colleagues with expertise in other disciplines and from diverse cultural and disciplinary backgrounds.
    • Acquire the capacity to communicate, both orally and in written form, the significance and impact of a study or a body of work to all STEM professionals, other sectors that may utilize the results, and the public at large.
    • Develop professional competencies, such as interpersonal communication, budgeting, project management, or pedagogical skills that are needed to plan and implement research projects.