Hosted by Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies at Penn (GSWS)
This summer, we will be featuring blog posts written by PhD students who participated in Career Services’ Career Exploration Fellowship (CEF), a program that helps doctoral candidates explore their career interests through networking opportunities with advanced degree professionals. Click here to learn more about CEF.
Describe your experience working with your host.
I had an excellent experience working alongside Dr. Beetham in Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies! She was incredibly kind and generous with her time connecting me with people, places, and events that spoke to my interests as a CEF fellow and PhD student.
What did you learn from this opportunity (about yourself, potential career fields, the job search, etc.)?
In speaking with Dr. Beetham, I learned that we both had a similar trajectory in terms of living, studying, and working internationally. She affirmed that my experience as an administrator at a graduate university in Germany was something that I could leverage while on the more administrative side of the academic job market. I also appreciated learning about the greater degree of work-life balance Dr. Beetham was able to have in her role with GSWS, while also maintaining opportunities to teach and pursue her research interests. As someone who really values flexibility, it was exciting to learn about the unique work arrangements available in such positions. I was also heartened to learn that in spite of the upsetting demands of the current presidential administration, the meaningful work and service of GSWS remains supported by the university.
How did your CEF experience influence your future career plans?
This experience has reminded me of the options available for working within universities as a PhD beyond the tenure-track professorship. It has influenced me to pursue more advanced roles like center director that align with my broader interests as an organizer, administrator, and researcher.
What was the most valuable part of your CEF experience?
I found many of the workshops included in the CEF program to be incredibly valuable. This may be because, prior to CEF, I had actively avoided everything career-related. The CEF was a great way to force myself to begin to focus in, and many of the workshops were the first time I received a clear overview of the processes involved in the job search.
Top reason PhD students should apply to the CEF program?
As a 5th year, I would recommend other PhD students apply to CEF early on in their program to get a head start on assessing their prospects (and interests) in the non-academic job market.
