Bridging the Gap: Linking History PhD Training to Non Academic Employment

FAIN: ZA-250657-16

Florida International University Board of Trustees (Miami, FL 33199-2516)
Kenneth J. Lipartito (Project Director: February 2016 to present)

Planning by the FIU History Department around four topics: 1) the reorientation of curriculum toward learning core competencies; 2) the advisability of mandating internship experience or allowing a non-traditional dissertation; 3) best practices relating to alternative skill development; and 4) student mentorship needs.

The History Department at Florida International University (FIU), one of the nation’s largest minority serving institutions, proposes a yearlong planning program aimed at assisting history PhD students in navigating the “employment roundabout” of the nonacademic job market. Building on our previous success in placing students beyond the academy, our program has three aims: first, to gather information so that faculty and students are well informed of nonacademic opportunities and learn the appropriate skills and training needed to compete for those opportunities; second, to build a coalition of university administrators, faculty, and students, as well as community, government, private sector, and NGO partners who will serve as advisors, consultants, and mentors; and third, to produce a strategic plan for revamping the department’s culture and PhD program with an eye towards building links between academic training and nonacademic professional opportunities.