Institutional and departmental resources are available and accessible to help students develop the knowledge and skills necessary to enter careers of choice.
Problem Statement
Over the last twenty years the idea that doctoral programs should prepare students for a range of careers has firmly taken hold nationally. This is accepted even in the humanities—the area with the highest percentage of PhD-holders in faculty careers. Further evidence of this acceptance is the dramatic increase in the availability of resources on university campuses to help PhD students develop professional skills—from teaching, to grant-writing, to communication, to leadership. In addition, many campuses offer career counseling services specifically for graduate students. The crucial next step is to integrate campus-wide resources into each department.
Making the pursuit of diverse career pathways viable requires making institutional and departmental resources available and accessible to students to help them develop the knowledge and skills necessary to enter careers of choice. PhD students would be supported and encouraged to broaden their skills and knowledge within the context of making satisfactory progress in their primary degree program. Specifically:
- Partnership with campus career centers. Career centers and graduate schools are hiring career counselors with expertise in working with doctoral students and postdoctoral scholars. Connecting students with these professionals can help students to prepare for multiple career options by teaching effective career exploration and job seeking skills.
- Ensuring that students are aware of, and able to take advantage of, campus resources for professional skill development.
- Integrating skill development—general skills such as project management, team-work, and communication, as well as discipline-specific skills—into the curriculum.
- Supporting students in short internships or work experiences.