Author: Jennifer Polk
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Kenna Barrett, Director of Development, Transition Q & A
At a talk I once gave a woman in the audience was feeling awkward that she’d have a better shot at going backward in her career than forward. She meant that she could go back to the job she had before doing her doctorate, but wasn’t thrilled about doing that. I totally get that. Here’s…
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Do PhDs really want tenure-track jobs?
Last week the US National Endowment for the Humanities announced a major new funding initiative for career preparation programming for graduate students. In response, professor and higher ed commentator Marc Bousquet argued that there was little need for these programs: “While no one is going to argue against supporting degree holders who search for nonprofessorial employment, there’s little evidence…
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Grad school is part of your career
Last week I participated in an event for engineering graduate students at McMaster University. I was interviewed over Google Hangout by three students. They asked me excellent questions about my career. It was a fun experience, and one that got me thinking. I went “straight through”: high school, BA, MA, PhD. By the time I…
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Paul Hartley, Senior Resident Anthropologist, Transition Q&A
Paul Hartley trained as an ethnomusicologist at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, where he is currently a PhD candidate. He worked on music production practices in the Turkish film industry with the help of an IIE Fulbright grant, but now works as Sr. Resident Anthropologist and Head of Human Futures at Idea Couture, a strategic…
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Christine Buske, Head of Outreach, Transition Q&A
What’s an extroverted biology PhD to do? Well, for Christine, the current answer is to work as head of outreach for a software company! About Christine Buske Christine Buske earned her PhD in cell and systems biology from the University of Toronto. She is a recovering academic who spent about ten years in research, studying the effects…
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My new mission: From PhD to Life, the book!
Oh, this is a bit scary! Yup, I’m working on a book. It’s about the emotional transition part of going “from PhD to life,” whatever that means for each person. More about what I’m planning over at University Affairs.
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Pablo Dominguez Andersen, Content Manager, Transition Q&A
I love this story! Pablo did a history PhD and originally aimed at working as a professor. But as he finished his degree he realized he wanted to stay in Berlin, so his options were limited, academic job-wise. He’s ended up in a marvelous, exciting position, pretty unrelated to his dissertation research. About Pablo Dominguez…
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Sara Langworthy, Organizational Consultant, Transition Q&A
About Sara Langworthy Sara Langworthy earned her PhD in developmental psychology from the University of Minnesota. She’s currently an educator at University of Minnesota Extension’s Children, Youth and Family Consortium and an organizational consultant and co-founder of The Exchange Loop organizational consulting firm. Sara is the author of Bridging the Relationship Gap: Connecting with Children Facing…
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Joseph Fruscione, Carolyn Harris and Andrew Miller, Transition Updates
About Joseph Fruscione Joseph Fruscione (PhD, English) contributed to the Transition Q & A series in December 2013. He was then teaching first-year writing in George Washington’s University writing program and beginning a post-academic career as freelance editor, writer, and tutor. Since leaving academia in May 2014, I’ve done a lot of freelance editing projects,…
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Kimberley Yates, Veronica Rubio Vega and Rachel Mueller-Lust, Transition Update
About Kimberley Yates Kimberley Yates (PhD, English) contributed to the Transition Q & A series in March 2013. She was then associate director of the Jackman Humanities Institute at the University of Toronto. I am still employed as associate director, Jackman Humanities Institute, University of Toronto. My job duties have developed into a greater focus on research…