A Visualization of Patterns and Themes in RCD Professional Career Paths

PEARC25 Poster visualizing the career path options in RCD Professional roles. 

In Practice and Experience in Advanced Research Computing (PEARC ’25), July 20–24, 2025, Columbus,
OH, USA. ACM, New York, NY, USA, 4 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3708035.3736028. 

Research Computing and Data (RCD) professionals play a crucial role in supporting and advancing research
that involves data and/or computing, however, the potential career paths for RCD professionals are poorly
understood making it difficult to find, hire, and retain these essential roles. Many potential RCD professionals
are unaware of these roles and how their skills and experience map to RCD roles, and current RCD staff lack
resources to create a professional development plan. The CaRCC RCD Career Arcs working group conducted a
series of interviews to more deeply explore career choices, influences, and factors that help shape RCD career
paths. This poster is the result of our efforts to capture what we learned in a (relatively) simple graphical form.