Exploring pathways to food science careers in Southern California: A case study in food science career development

摘要

Southern California is a diverse region that is home to a high concentrationof food science companies, with an increasing demand for additional foodscientists and technologists to join this workforce. Despite this abundance offood science companies and the high demand for jobs, there is currently ashortage in the number of qualified food scientists and technologists in theregion. This shortage is also observed within higher education, with decliningenrollments in the food science graduate and undergraduate programs acrossSouthern California. Here, we conduct a case study to explore the factors thatinfluence students from Southern California to pursue or not pursue careersin food science. We surveyed both undergraduate and graduate students currentlyenrolled in food science as well as industry professionals in the regionto determine sources of knowledge about the discipline, and motivations andbarriers for pursuing careers in food science. We also surveyed high schooleducators in the region to gain additional perspectives on how food scienceis being introduced at the secondary level, if at all. Our results demonstratethat many students and high school educators are not knowledgeable aboutcareer options within food science and that students who are pursuing foodscience largely report similar motivations for pursuing the discipline as thosecurrently working in the food science industry.We conclude by discussing implicationsfor the food science education community within Southern Californiaand beyond.