Careers Beyond Academia expanded for all Ph.D.s
Careers Beyond Academia participants practice being interviewed about their research in a communication workshop.
September 23, 2019
In the past, the majority of doctoral candidates defended their dissertations, earned their Ph.D.s, and continued on to hold faculty positions. Over the past few decades, however, private sector employment of Ph.D.s nationwide has risen to nearly equal that of educational institutions.
Although many Cornell students still find academic positions upon graduating, the number of graduates entering educational careers has declined over the last 20 years. Careers Beyond Academia has been established in the Graduate School to help doctoral students and postdoctoral scholars from all fields and disciplines explore non-academic careers.
Careers Beyond Academia grew out of an NIH-funded five-year project known as Broadening Experiences in Scientific Training (BEST), which provided opportunities for STEM Ph.D. students and postdocs to explore a variety of employment sectors. Now, as part of the Graduate School, it has expanded to help all Ph.D. students and postdoctoral scholars, regardless of their discipline, build skills for a broad variety of careers.