(APS1) Off the Tenure Track: Preparing for Work Outside the Professoriate

Conference Highlights, In-person, Panels and Plenary, Professional Development
Applied and Community Engaged Sociology, Student Concerns Subcommittee

Many graduate students seek careers in the professoriate, however we know that only 19 percent of PhD holders in Canada will land jobs as full-time tenure track professors. The sociology community’s recognition of the scarcity of positions in academia has prompted calls for more information to be communicated to postgraduates about careers outside academia. School-to-work studies of sociology students and sociology departments’ stories about their alumni provide evidence that the list of fulfilling, well-paying, and challenging jobs that people with a sociology graduate degree have is long and diverse. Despite this, many graduate students are not shown different pathways to employment outside the academy and fewer still are taught how to prepare to seek out jobs outside the professoriate. This session will bring together a group of panelists who will discuss their experiences and knowledge of working outside of the professoriate and propose practices that can be used by sociology graduate students to facilitate their transition from school to nonacademic positions.

Panelists:

  • Karen Foster, Dalhousie University
  • Sara Cumming, Sheridan College and Home Suite Hope
  • Nick Chretien, Senior Researcher, BC Housing
  • Ashley Berard, University of Victoria
  • Joanna Jacob, Regional Manager, Data Access Division, Statistics Canada
Tags: Professional Development, Work And Professions

Organizers: Kristyn Frank, Statistics Canada, Shane Dixon, Wilfrid Laurier University