ASU doctoral alumni share lessons for coping with access, inclusion and identity issues in the workplace

If you’re a doctoral student preparing for a career after graduation, there are a number of workplace issues graduate school may not have prepared you for, like dealing with microaggressions, bias and/or discrimination or the lack of a supportive community. 

The Graduate College’s Career Navigators Alumni Panels are opportunities for current graduate students to learn about how alumni across a variety of career sectors and levels have leveraged the transdisciplinary competencies gained in graduate education to survive, thrive, and advance professionally. 

During the most recent Alumni Panel, Navigating 21st Century Careers: Access, Inclusion and Identity Career Talk, ASU alumni Andrea Borrego (Ph.D., Criminology and Criminal Justice, 2015), Gabriel Escontrías, Jr., (Ed.D., Higher and Postsecondary Education, 2012) and Bekah Theisen (2014 Ph.D., Materials Science, 2014) discussed issues of access, inclusion and identity in the workplace.  

The three doctoral alumni shared the events and experiences which led them to their current careers. Borrego is an Associate Professor at Metropolitan State University, Escontrías is the Director of Health Equity at the American Psychiatric Association and Theisen is a Senior Product Engineer at Medtronic.

All panelists agreed that staying open to exploring different career paths, forming a community of support, and knowing and advocating your own worth are essential to creating a career path in which you can thrive.

Career Exploration

Exploring different career paths begins with self-assessment. Knowing who you are and what you bring to your discipline will help you to figure out which career pathways to pursue. Some ways to get started include using skills, interests and values assessments available for free throughMyIDP (for STEM) andImaginePhD (humanities, arts and social sciences). 

You can experiment from there. For example, finding an internship -- even one that diverges from your research focus -- allows you to develop work experience you can leverage into job positions later.  It can also help narrow your focus when deciding what work you want to do most. The important thing is to engage in opportunities that allow you to explore different work interests and see which one fits you best.

Understand that at some point in your career -- especially as you are starting out -- you must accept that. As one panelist said, “having a position that aligns with your passions is a privilege.” Sometimes you may be offered a position that doesn't meet all of your requirements but will allow you to grow into one that does. Finding the ideal career is a long game, not an immediate thing -- and that’s alright.

Building a Community of Support

Each member of the panel acknowledged that there are challenges in the workplace for marginalized identities; from microaggressions directed towards people of color to dealing with the anxiety of having an invisible disability. These experiences are “emotionally taxing.” Alumni shared strategies for seeking support, each advocating for finding a network of peers in the workplace or connecting with a professional mentor in order to better handle these issues.

 Advocating your Worth 

The value of a PhD. to employers, the alumni agreed, is that “it teaches you how to teach yourself”.  In industry, this means you may be hired for work that is indirectly related to your research because an employer recognizes that you are self-motivated and can easily master new techniques and materials.

While this makes you an attractive job candidate, it’s important to do your research on comparable salaries so that you can be your own best advocate in negotiating a salary. For some hiring organizations, information may be publicly available -- but you should also seek guidance from your professional network.