Professionalism for the Junior Statistician

• Activity Number: 191
• Type: Contributed
• Date/Time: Tuesday, August 10, 2004 : 8:30 AM to 10:20 AM
• Sponsor: Section on Teaching Statistics in the Health Sciences
• Author(s): Lemuel A. Moye*+
• Companies: University of Texas School of Public Health
• Keywords: professionalism ; character ; productivity ; leadership ; principles

Abstract

The evolution of research has placed new challenges before junior scientists. Although junior scientists have fine educational backgrounds, they frequently do not yet have the poise, vision, or coping skills that they need to identify and sustain the optimum balance in their careers. However, junior scientists typically give little consideration to a set of guiding principles that would help them achieve this equilibrium. While productivity is a central part of the junior statistician, character development is itself a core value that is central to the growth of the professional. Character growth involves the development of assuredness, patience, administrative diligence, moral excellence, and collegiality. From these are derived the leadership principles of confidence, strength, vision, and charitable influence. In a turbulent working environment, the ability to be centered, and to, through a combination of tact, prestige, firmness, and understanding, appeal to the better nature of wavering people, is more essential then ever. Like the apples of gold in settings of silver, character and productivity must coexist in young professional statisticians.