WASHINGTON, D.C. – Graduate schools must do a better job of communicating what kinds of employment opportunities await students once they complete their degrees, and partnering with the private sector is one of the best ways to do it.
That was one of the key recommendations that a series of speakers reiterated Thursday at a forum on Capitol Hill detailing a new report titled “Pathways Through Graduate School and Into Careers.”
The collaborative goal is easier said than done, said panelist Dr. Freeman Hrabowski III, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
“Culture change is very difficult on campuses,” Hrabowski said. “Most people are not accustomed to thinking about – as faculty members – where somebody is going once they graduate.”
The report found that while most students relied on faculty to provide career information, “many of these faculty understandably are only aware of their own career trajectories and are uninformed about pathways beyond academe.”
“In reality, we found that graduate degree holders work in a wide variety of settings,” the report says.
Hrabowski said he often hears graduate students indicate that they will start to think about work after they finish writing their dissertations.
