Graduate Student Experiences: Training for the Current Job Market (A Roundtable)
Sponsoring Organization(s)
Goliardic Society, Western Michigan Univ.
Organizer Name
Eric Gobel
Organizer Affiliation
Medieval Institute, Western Michigan Univ.
Presider Name
Eric Gobel
Paper Title 1
Panelist
Presenter 1 Name
Jan Volek
Presenter 1 Affiliation
Univ. of Minnesota-Twin Cities
Paper Title 2
Panelist
Presenter 2 Name
Jamie McCandless
Presenter 2 Affiliation
Western Michigan Univ.
Paper Title 3
Panelist
Presenter 3 Name
Jordan Amspacher
Presenter 3 Affiliation
Univ. of Tennessee-Knoxville
Paper Title 4
Panelist
Presenter 4 Name
Claire Herhold
Presenter 4 Affiliation
Western Michigan Univ.
Paper Title 5
Panelist
Presenter 5 Name
Charles Lein
Presenter 5 Affiliation
Medieval Institute, Western Michigan Univ.
Paper Title 6
Respondent
Presenter 6 Name
Lofton L. Durham
Presenter 6 Affiliation
Western Michigan Univ.
Start Date
13-5-2016 1:30 PM
Session Location
Valley I Hadley 102
Description
The goal of this roundtable is to collaborate and brainstorm on solutions to the current crisis of the academic job market. As our intended audience is university administrators and faculty, we feel that the most impactful avenue of this year’s discussion would be the state of the academic job market by considering what steps universities and graduate programs can take to better prepare students for entry into an evolving market. As the job market changes and jobs become even scarcer for academics, traditional training for entry into university jobs is no longer the only viable option. Knowing that academic jobs are increasingly unlikely to come by, graduate students across the country are seeking to expand their skillsets and rebrand their qualifications in an attempt to make themselves appealing to the non-academic job market. Our institutes must broaden their approaches to our training and adapt if they are to continue to thrive in a shifting market. As graduate students, we have a nuanced perspective on this crisis, but above all else, we are likely the most committed portion of the academy to seeing it resolved, as all of our futures hang in the balance.
Eric A. Gobel
Graduate Student Experiences: Training for the Current Job Market (A Roundtable)
Valley I Hadley 102
The goal of this roundtable is to collaborate and brainstorm on solutions to the current crisis of the academic job market. As our intended audience is university administrators and faculty, we feel that the most impactful avenue of this year’s discussion would be the state of the academic job market by considering what steps universities and graduate programs can take to better prepare students for entry into an evolving market. As the job market changes and jobs become even scarcer for academics, traditional training for entry into university jobs is no longer the only viable option. Knowing that academic jobs are increasingly unlikely to come by, graduate students across the country are seeking to expand their skillsets and rebrand their qualifications in an attempt to make themselves appealing to the non-academic job market. Our institutes must broaden their approaches to our training and adapt if they are to continue to thrive in a shifting market. As graduate students, we have a nuanced perspective on this crisis, but above all else, we are likely the most committed portion of the academy to seeing it resolved, as all of our futures hang in the balance.
Eric A. Gobel