I have just finished reading The Humanities PhD at Work on The Chronicle of Higher Education. The author, Megan Doherty has parlayed her PhD in history into a job as a program officer with the German Marshall Fund of the United States in Washington. I very much appreciate her article for the direct insights it gives into how the humanities PhD is very valuable; and also its indirect insights into what kind of work program officers do for nonprofit foundations.
I wanted to add to her direct insights with some of my own. I basically think of the Humanities and Social Sciences (HASS) PhD'er as the ultimate project manager. A HASS PhD'er has to be self-disciplined and meet deadlines (e.g. comprehensive exam deadline, candidacy exam deadline, dissertation defense and filing deadlines, etc.) This self-discipline demonstrates that you know how to balance your workload and your time.
One of those deadlines/pieces of writing (the candidacy exam/ dissertation proposal), is key to showing that you know how to put a project together including identifying the resources that you will need to successfully complete the project, setting reasonable goals, putting together a project timeline, etc. Essentially it shows that you can visualize how to move a project from A to Z. Any research grants that you have won means that you have shared that vision with others (typically in a shorter format than your dissertation proposal) and your vision was convincing. Such skills are necessary for any sort of white-collar job.
As part of meeting those deadlines, one has to read, process, and synthesize various types of knowledge in order to regularly produce pieces of writing in various formats (i.e. Doherty discussed blog entries, proposals, publications, and her 400 page dissertation). She highlights that the knowledge itself adds value to your application for a non-academic career. While I had never thought of the knowledge produced during the dissertation as being valuable outside of academia, I believe that she is correct. Having reviewed all relevant literature you have become an expert in small HASS heartland program subfield 'HASS-HP-x'. Depending upon the job for which you apply, your expertise will be valued differently but it is valuable.
Another of those deadlines/pieces of writing (filing the dissertation/ the dissertation), is evidence of how you can identify important questions or topics in HASS-HP, define (or redefine) your subfield HASS-HP-x and engage with others who are also interested in the subfield HASS-HP-x.
So in addition to the writing, analysis and presentation skills that Doherty mentioned , the HASS PhD'er is the ultimate project manager because he or she can:
Post Edited 25-Feb-2013
One of those deadlines/pieces of writing (the candidacy exam/ dissertation proposal), is key to showing that you know how to put a project together including identifying the resources that you will need to successfully complete the project, setting reasonable goals, putting together a project timeline, etc. Essentially it shows that you can visualize how to move a project from A to Z. Any research grants that you have won means that you have shared that vision with others (typically in a shorter format than your dissertation proposal) and your vision was convincing. Such skills are necessary for any sort of white-collar job.
As part of meeting those deadlines, one has to read, process, and synthesize various types of knowledge in order to regularly produce pieces of writing in various formats (i.e. Doherty discussed blog entries, proposals, publications, and her 400 page dissertation). She highlights that the knowledge itself adds value to your application for a non-academic career. While I had never thought of the knowledge produced during the dissertation as being valuable outside of academia, I believe that she is correct. Having reviewed all relevant literature you have become an expert in small HASS heartland program subfield 'HASS-HP-x'. Depending upon the job for which you apply, your expertise will be valued differently but it is valuable.
Another of those deadlines/pieces of writing (filing the dissertation/ the dissertation), is evidence of how you can identify important questions or topics in HASS-HP, define (or redefine) your subfield HASS-HP-x and engage with others who are also interested in the subfield HASS-HP-x.
So in addition to the writing, analysis and presentation skills that Doherty mentioned , the HASS PhD'er is the ultimate project manager because he or she can:
- balance work with time
- set reasonable goals
- identify and/or redefine important questions or topics
- identify necessary resources
- convince others of a vision
Post Edited 25-Feb-2013
RSS Feed