The GPD Framework helps students prepare for a variety of careers.
Love being at a university? There are many career paths for PhDs in academia, beyond the tenure-track faculty path.
You may not realize that staff with doctoral degrees can be found throughout Stanford as well as at many other universities and colleges. Working at a university allows you to continue to engage in education and research, work with students and faculty, and apply the skills and knowledge you acquired in grad school. Some people call these AltAc (Alternative Academic) careers - we just call them careers!
Talking with people in these careers is an important step to learn more about what's possible. To help with this learning process, we created a list of Stanford staff who hold a PhD and are available for informational interviews about their career. We invite you to browse this list and contact people whose positions interest you. (This is a Stanford-only Google doc. Log out of gmail to access it with your @stanford.edu e mail, or get help here.)
Here are a few other suggestions to get you started thinking about PhD Pathways in Higher Education:
Step 1: Get to Know Yourself
- explore the gpd framework
- Visit your career center
- Create an Individual Development Plan
- Find a mentor to bounce ideas around with you
Step 2: Get to Know the Higher Ed Landscape
- Learn more about Stanford
- Consider different career paths in higher education (PDF)
- Request informational interviews with Stanford staff who have PhDs
- (NOTE: This is a Stanford-only Google doc. Log out of gmail to access it with your @stanford.edu e mail, or get help here.)
- Select from a list of informational interview questions (PDF)
- Track job listings at Stanford Careers
- Read and track jobs in the Chronicle of Higher Education
- Subscribe to Inside Higher Ed's free daily news
