Convergence is based on observations of the author that span approximately 20 years. Incorporated into each story are the real-life experiences of a large number of researchers, giving the novel a high degree of authenticity.
There may be thousands of Neuroscientists (young and not so young) that will recognize something of themselves in Convergence. However, when extrapolated out across the various scientific disciplines, the number of people to which the novel has immediate relevance could be considerably greater.
Graduate Students and Post-doctoral researchers sacrifice much in search of academic success but most do not make it, though not for lack of talent or ambition.
More often what they lack is that moment of critically-timed good fortune or the skill-set that endows a person with the insight that can only be acquired through experience or passed on through good mentorship.
Such a skill-set may include advanced knowledge of where the barriers to progress likely exist. Without such knowledge, careers can often end before they've had a chance to mature.
All of the above suggests that there are far too many barriers that stunt the growth of promising young investigators everywhere.
Rationale
Convergence is intended to achieve the following:
- raise awareness of the struggles of career scientists
- raise the level of debate about the true meaning of career support and development
- distinguish between fast-track, slow-track, and no-track careers
- provide a platform for many questions to be raised (and addressed) regarding career advancement in academia
Convergence is not intended to:
- be simply a tell-all – pointing fingers to do nothing more than embarrass individuals rarely leads to lasting progress
- establish debate solely about gender disparity - this is an issue the novel implicitly raises anyway
- Generate nothing more than philosophical debates about Ethics – anyone can take an Ethics course and claim to be ethically driven from that point on
Intent
Convergence
Rationale & Intent
