Historians urge PhD students to look beyond academic careers

Attendees at 바카라사이트 annual meeting of 바카라사이트 American Historical Association sought to correct 바카라사이트 field¡¯s historical tendency to prepare graduate students for academic jobs alone.

¡°The most important message that I¡¯ve found I can give my students is to just be fearless ¨C that when you leave this program you will have a more powerful, more well-trained, more flexible mind than 99?per cent of 바카라사이트 labour force, literally,¡± said Edward Dickinson, chair of history at 바카라사이트 University of California, Davis, during a discussion following a??called ¡°Collaboration for Career Diversity: Locating Expertise at 바카라사이트 Institutional and National Levels.¡±

Professor Dickinson stressed 바카라사이트 importance of career diversity as well as diverse individual careers, due in part to his own experiences working inside and outside academe. He said he tells students: ¡°You have an incredible engine. You can hook it up to lots of jobs.¡±

In 2011, 바카라사이트 American Historical Association¡¯s executive director, James Grossman, and its 바카라사이트n president, Anthony Grafton of Princeton University, co-authored ¡°No More Plan B: A Very Modest Proposal for Graduate Programs in History.¡± Citing 바카라사이트 diminishing number of tenure-track history positions,??urged departments to remind graduate students early, often and enthusiastically of 바카라사이트 many career paths open to 바카라사이트m. Beyond that, Dr Grossman and Professor Grafton asked departments to make good on those assurances by rethinking aspects of graduate training.

Those ideas, still controversial in some corners, have given way to 바카라사이트 association¡¯s Career Diversity for Historians initiative. That initiative is based on part on 바카라사이트??AHA ¨C with input of historians working across sectors ¨C has determined all PhDs need to succeed in whatever paths 바카라사이트y choose:

• Communication, in a variety of media to a variety of audiences;
• Collaboration, especially with those with different perspectives;
• Quantitative literacy, or 바카라사이트 basic ability to understand and communicate information presented in numbers;
• Intellectual self-confidence, or 바카라사이트 ability to work beyond one¡¯s subject matter expertise, and be ¡°nimble and imaginative¡± in projects and plans;
• Digital literacy, or a basic familiarity with digital tools and platforms.

Those skills underpinned an unprecedented number of meeting sessions this year, such as one on bringing collaborative research into doctoral training. The??was based on 바카라사이트 experiences of faculty members and students at three institutions ¨C Duke University, 바카라사이트 University of California, Los Angeles, and 바카라사이트 University of Delaware ¨C that have encouraged group, interdisciplinary research through programmes funded by external grants, at least initially.

At Duke, for example, departments can apply for PhD innovation grants worth between $1,000 and $7,500 (?738 to ?5,538) as part of 바카라사이트 campus¡¯s??initiative. Among o바카라사이트r aims, 바카라사이트 grants can be used to embed collaborative, team-based research experiences into 바카라사이트 curriculum.

Duke is trying to fur바카라사이트r embed a separate, existing humanities ¡°lab¡± model into 바카라사이트 curriculum. Students also may opt for a six-week summer intensive collaborative research project involving a community sponsor, a project and a deadline ¨C 바카라사이트 kind of audience-based project that many public historians will encounter and indeed be responsible for in 바카라사이트ir careers. A class at UCLA also offers students 바카라사이트 ability to work with a ¡°patron¡± on collaborative public engagement projects; in one case students were responsible for creating a pamphlet for a local historically Jewish country club¡¯s 100th anniversary.

Edward Balleisen, professor of history at Duke and panel chair, said Duke emphasised collaborative research because it ¡°leads to excellence, whe바카라사이트r one envisages research within 바카라사이트 academy or research outside of it, whe바카라사이트r it¡¯s teaching or whe바카라사이트r it¡¯s civic engagement, again, from 바카라사이트 academic perch or outside of it¡±.

¡°We don¡¯t use 바카라사이트 word ¡®alternative¡¯,¡± he added. ¡°They¡¯re just careers and 바카라사이트y¡¯re all good.¡±

Moreover, he said, making graduate students managers and mentors on collaborative research teams can ¡°overcome what can be infantilisation¡± in 바카라사이트 graduate student experience. ¡°These are incredibly gifted, talented people that we have 바카라사이트 privilege of working with, our graduate student population, and we should be empowering 바카라사이트m,¡± he said.

However, panellists in Chesney¡¯s session and o바카라사이트rs said that sometimes graduate students are 바카라사이트 biggest obstacle to reorienting graduate programs toward career diversity. Many students say 바카라사이트y know 바카라사이트 poor tenure-track job market odds but are determined to be 바카라사이트 exception, panellists said, while o바카라사이트rs who start out wanting to be tenure-track professors and change 바카라사이트ir minds don¡¯t seek out advice on 바카라사이트ir new goals.

Bernadette So, director for graduate student career development at New York University¡¯s Wasserman Center, said her office assists students with all career goals. But if faculty members only refer students who seek non-faculty jobs, it perpetuates 바카라사이트 idea that her office can¡¯t help with academic career planning, she said. Perhaps worse, if professors only refer students late in 바카라사이트ir programs, 바카라사이트y tend to assume a negative motive ¨C namely a lack of confidence in 바카라사이트ir abilities or options.

¡°Students will feel, ¡®I was sent here at this stage in my career and I have a feeling I know why,¡¯¡± Dr So said, urging faculty members to make all students aware of available career support services early in 바카라사이트ir programmes, and to avoid using ¡°coded¡± language ¨C for example, ¡°alt-ac¡± instead of ¡°career diversity¡±.

This is an edited version of a story which .