Three ways PhD students can prepare for future careers

To support the careers of current and aspiring PhD holders, we need a better understanding of their career pathways and professional preparation. ASU's Graduate College is proud to participate in the PhD Career Pathways project led by the Council of Graduate Schools, a national organization that supports graduate education and research and is supported by grants from the National Science Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The goal of the project is to gather information about the professional aspirations, career pathways, and career preparation of our PhD students and alumni in order to enable the creation of PhD programs that maximize value both to students and society as a whole.

As part of the PhD Career Pathways project the Graduate College created three videos featuring three important concepts for PhD students to consider when planning their future careers inside or outside of academia. 

1. Explore Your Options

The career pathways for today’s PhD students have changed. Dr. Tamara Underiner, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs for the Graduate College at Arizona State University, discusses the importance of exploring multiple career pathways for PhD students.

 

2. The Value of Your PhD

What is the value of a PhD degree in today’s world? Dr. Tamara Underiner, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs for the Graduate College at Arizona State University explains why we need PhDs now more than ever.

 

3. The Importance of Transferable Skills

PhD students need to be strategic in pursuing transferrable skills like leadership. Dr. Tamara Underiner, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs for the Graduate College at Arizona State University, stresses the importance of acquiring transferrable skills for PhD students.

More stories from the Graduate Insider

Reimagining search and rescue with drone swarm technology

Johnathan Lok is a first-year PhD student, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) researcher, and the second-place winner of the 2025 Change the World competition for his Rescue Swarm Project. He currently holds a master's degree in electrical engineering from the Fulton School of Engineering.

Inside Graduate College’s Three Minute Thesis competition

When Aliyah Egan stepped onto the stage as a master’s student in last year’s Graduate College Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition, she faced a challenge familiar to many researchers: explaining complex, specialized work to an audience with little or no background in her field.

Save time, stay organized: Citation strategies for graduate writing

In a recent Grad15 webinar, ASU librarian Matthew Ogborn introduced graduate students to citation management tools and offered practical strategies for integrating them into academic research. The session emphasized time-saving, collaboration, and accuracy in managing citations and bibliographies—core skills for graduate-level writing and research.