Doctoral career coach to share strategies on working outside academia
LAWRENCE – Maren Wood, founder of the Lilli Research Group and the co-founder of Beyond the Professoriate, a virtual conference for doctoral students in career transition, will visit the University of Kansas on March 9 and 10 to share her expertise on preparing for nonacademic careers.
Wood’s visit is supported by a National Endowment for the Humanities grant awarded to KU. Aimed at transforming doctoral education for the humanities Ph.D. for the 21st century, the NEH Next Generation Humanities Ph.D. Planning Grant supports efforts to better prepare doctoral students for career paths beyond academia.
Wood will present a workshop and a public lecture at KU:
- Graduate student workshop: “Identifying Your Transferable Skills,” 4:30-6 p.m. March 9, Hall Center Conference Hall. RSVP required.
- Public keynote: “The Current State of the Academic and Non-Academic Job Market for Humanities and Social Sciences Ph.D.s,” 10:30 a.m. to noon March 10, Hall Center Conference Hall. Open to the public.
Wood is a certified career coach who focuses on consulting with graduate students and university programs interested in careers beyond academia. The long-standing model of doctoral education prepares students for careers as professors. Yet, tenure-track positions are increasingly competitive, and doctoral students are exploring nonacademic careers at higher rates. Through workshops, consultation and lectures, Wood offers tips and strategies on revising doctoral training as well as how doctoral students can transfer their skills to nonacademic settings.
Wood earned a doctorate in history from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. She has been a lead researcher on several studies on the academic and nonacademic job market, including “The Many Careers of History Ph.D.s” for the American Historical Association and “Job Tracker” for the Chronicle of Higher Education. Her current project analyzes who lands tenure track jobs in 11 academic disciplines, including anthropology, communications and media studies, English, history, philosophy and religious studies.
The NEH grant supporting this visit is a $25,000 planning grant awarded to co-principal investigators from the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences and the Hall Center for the Humanities. More information on this grant can be found here. The university announced the grant award last fall.
For more information on the events, please contact Nicole Reiz in the College Office of Graduate Affairs at nreiz@ku.edu or 785-864-6310.