Watch the Recordings: Non-Academic Career Paths for Researchers Studying Families and Relationships

The economic consequences of COVID-19 have profoundly changed the academic job market for emerging scholars. More than ever, emerging scholars entering the job market may want to consider career opportunities outside of academia. In the fall of 2020, the MAST Center and the National Council on Family Relations (NCFR) sponsored this 4-part Continuing Conversations series, which introduced emerging scholars to some of the non-academic career paths taken by researchers with graduate training in family-related disciplines (e.g., Family Science, sociology, psychology, human development). Each conversation focused on career paths in different settings, including: (1) research in non-academic research organizations; (2) social science research in non-research industries; (3) applied research at National Center for Health Statistics and the Census; and (4) science administration at National Institutes of Health.

In each one-hour conversation, presenters shared their insights on:

  • their career path and how they landed their current job
  • how their family-related research training helps them at this job
  • the types of jobs in this industry for those with a master’s or PhD and a background in family-related research
  • the day to day nature of work in this industry, and the skills needed to succeed
  • successful strategies for marketing oneself for current opportunities, and how this differs from marketing for academic opportunities
  • their organization’s perspective/response to diversity, equity, and inclusion in hiring and in the workplace

View the recordings and see speaker bios on the NCFR website:

Conversation 1: Research in Non-Academic Research Organizations (October 20, 2020)

Conversation 2: Social Science Research in Non-Research Industries (October 29, 2020)

Conversation 3: Applied Research at NCHS and the Census (November 19, 2020)

Conversation 4: Science Administration at NIH (December 3, 2020)

 

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