A recent (very American) article in The Chronicle Of Higher Education struck an initial chord with me: To: Professors; Re: Your Advisees (September 28, 2011, Karen Kelsky).
Karen Kelsky runs an ‘academic-career consulting business’ to help students, basically, get jobs (writing grants, letters, CVs, publish etc.). She lambasts ‘absent’ professors for not providing this career advice. Maybe it’s different in the US, but I’ve never expected to get career advice from teachers at any level. It’s something I need, of course, but I don’t think of my supervisor as the perfect person to provide it. When I meet with him, we’re far too busy knocking my creative work and my thesis into shape — and that’s how I like it.
If and when I want more, like some help with getting the travel bursary I have my eye on, I will ask and I know I’ll get what I need. But the hour or so that we spend working on my project every month is precious, and I want to use it to focus on my writing, which is what he’s really good at.
Also, I want him to carry on being enthusiastic about my work, but also about his own. Not just so he publishes more and is therefore good to be associated with, but so that he is creatively fulfilled and satisfied, and therefore in a good place to be advising me, inspiring me, and making me feel that publication is possible. (As a creative writing student I’m talking about general publication as well as academic publishing.)
At my institution there is a Postgraduate Skills Training Programme as well as Continuing Professional Development courses, training and careers advisors. There’s a whole army of them. The system isn’t perfect, as there are so many students needing different things at different times, but it’s developing and has an essential role to play.
I feel that it’s up to me to look at my strengths and weaknesses and decide what to do about them and where to get advice. It’s also up to me to get off my backside and publish, network, write a great CV, blog, apply for grants and so on, all while I’m getting on with the main body of work. Postgrad skills training and my supervisor are both pretty clear that these are good things to do. Surely it’s obvious to any ambitious PhD student that you have to work hard and develop in all areas in order to succeed, whether you are aiming for an academic post or a corporate one.
The article is interesting, but I don’t like its hectoring tone, and it’s obviously an advert for her services. The comments section is even more telling; I am sad for the students who really do feel poorly advised. There are also quite a lot of profs pointing out just how much they have to do already without being academic career advisors as well (something which they aren’t trained for and may not know much about, not having been on the job market for a while)…and that the quality of their own research is very important to the success of the institution and their students.
Of course I want my PhD to result in a better job, I just don’t think the job-seeking part is up to my supervisors. In the main, it’s up to me.
