Humanists@Work UC PhD Alumni Focus Groups

UCHRI and Humanists@Work is a partner in the UC consortium of universities who received an Understanding PhD Career Pathways for Program Improvement grant from the Council of Graduate Schools. Currently, all 10 campuses of the UC system and the UC Office of the President are engaged in surveying PhD holders at work in the world.

Drawing upon Humanists@Work history in engaging with PhDs at work, we are focusing on the qualitative aspects of University of California PhD alumni experiences by way of conducting six focus groups across the state. The only CGS grantee to conduct focus groups, we are excited to engage in a substantive way with our PhD alumni working in non-professorial careers. Through these focus groups, Humwork will interview 35 Humanities and humanistic Social Science UC PhDs in Santa Cruz, San Francisco, Berkeley, Los Angeles, and Orange County.

We look forward to sharing the final results of our focus groups in Fall 2019, though will have a sneak preview for those attending the April 22nd Humanists@Work colloquium at UCHRI.

What questions would you ask PhD alumni? We’re interested to hear responses to these questions and more:

• How many of you began your graduate career wanting a tenure-track teaching position? When did it change? And why?
• What do you foresee as some important developments in the future of work (across industries) in the next decade or two? What does it look like specifically for your industry?
• How did your program prepare you, generally and specifically, for the position (and industry?) you’re in?
• In general, do you see your former professors and friends/colleagues from grad school as a valuable part of your professional network? If not, can you think of anything that would change that?

Have questions? Email Kelly Brown, Humanists@Work Focus Group PI.