Department cultures and structures ensure that students will feel supported as they explore the full range of career options.
Problem Statement
The lives of doctoral students are powerfully shaped by their home department and degree program. Many students perceive that some career paths—especially that of tenure-line faculty member—are much more valued than jobs beyond academia. Individual faculty members are seen as crucial gatekeepers: their support and encouragement (or opposition) to their doctoral advisees’ career choices are powerfully influential. The challenge to doctoral programs, note Weisbuch and Cassuto (2016), “is not to substitute a non-academic career goal for a professorial one, but to provide a means of accommodating both” (p. 43).
Making the full range of careers that PhD graduates have pursued valued means departments must create cultures and structures that endorse and celebrate career diversity, rather than expressing the idea that some careers or employers are “better” than others. It is crucial that faculty encourage (rather than ostracize) students who choose to pursue careers beyond academia. This requires integrating conversation—into all stages of graduate education—about career diversity and encouraging students to explore a range of opportunities. Specifically:
- Integrating conversations about diverse possible futures into the curriculum and departmental conversations from admissions through commencement.
- Ensuring that students will feel supported (rather than shunned) as they explore various career options.
- Departmental leaders and all program faculty publicly support diverse career outcomes for the students whom they teach, advise and supervise.
- Actively connecting alumni with current students.
Reference
Weisbuch, R. and Cassuto, L. (2016). Reforming doctoral education, 1990-2015: Recent initiatives and future prospects. A Report Submitted to the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.