WASHINGTON – Howard University Graduate School has received funding from the Council of Graduate Schools to catalyze innovation and inspire new knowledge for humanities Ph.D.s seeking diverse careers. Through a competitive award process, a committee selected Howard University to join The Humanities Coalition, which will develop and assess initiatives for better supporting humanities Ph.D. students transitioning from graduate programs into the workforce. 

The Council of Graduate Schools is a nonprofit higher education organization with the mission to advance graduate education and research. Its main activities consist of best practice initiatives, data analysis, advocacy and global engagement. 

Universities will be working in one of two areas: grant writing and resource development and building professional networks. Howard University Graduate School has convened an interdisciplinary team of humanists – Dana A. Williams, Ph.D., dean of Howard University Graduate School; Sylvia McDonald-Kaufman, J.D., M.Div.; Nikki Taylor, Ph.D.; Marc Singer, Ph.D.; and Mohamad Camera, Ph.D. – to collaborate in developing specialized curricula and course materials, co-teaching of a pilot course and assessing the project data. The engagement of the Graduate School’s Assessment Committee to consider the project data will enable wider interest and support across the campus for the project that could be replicated in other non-STEM programs.  

“Advancing Howard’s research footprint requires competence in securing external funding as an essential skill in graduate education,” said Williams, the dean of the Graduate School and former English department chair. “At Howard, we are cultivating this skill in humanities graduate students through developing specialized coursework and mentoring in grantsmanship that will enable them to tap deeper into their wellsprings of curiosity and imagination. This is game-changing professional development that fuels, funds and inspires knowledge production in humanities fields.”

This latest project is an expansion of prior work that included developing and supporting a network of 75 U.S. doctoral institutions as they collect data from STEM and humanities Ph.D. students and alumni about their professional aspirations, career pathways and career preparation. In general, data from the project yield a positive picture of humanities doctoral education. Most alumni reported that they are engaged in meaningful work and believe their doctoral work prepared them for their current job responsibilities. However, data also indicate that humanities Ph.D.s who were employed in business, nonprofit or government, particularly those in the early stages of their careers, feel less prepared than their peers working at universities. 

“Building on the extraordinary work of the Ph.D. Career Pathways project, The Humanities Coalition will develop, expand and scale up a suite of programs and practices in key areas of need. We’ve been conducting research in career diversity for nearly a decade, and this work will take the next logical step from better understanding aspirations to preparing for successful careers,” said Suzanne Ortega, president of the Council of Graduate Schools. “We know that humanities Ph.D.s have many possible career paths in front of them. We need to make sure they know their options, how to access them, and that they’ve developed the skillsets necessary for success.” 

Howard University will join a network of other grantees as well as universities that submitted competitive proposals to participate, including: Arizona State University, CUNY Graduate Center, Indiana University Bloomington, Loyola University Chicago, Michigan State University, Purdue University, Texas A&M University, The University of Southern Mississippi, The University of Texas at El Paso, University of Arizona, University of Arkansas, University of California, Irvine, University of Missouri, University of Rochester, University of Wisconsin-Madison and Wayne State University. 

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About Howard University

Founded in 1867, Howard University is a private, research university that is comprised of 14 schools and colleges. Students pursue more than 140 programs of study leading to undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees. The University operates with a commitment to Excellence in Truth and Service and has produced one Schwarzman Scholar, three Marshall Scholars, four Rhodes Scholars, 12 Truman Scholars, 25 Pickering Fellows and more than 165 Fulbright recipients. Howard also produces more on-campus African-American Ph.D. recipients than any other university in the United States. For more information on Howard University, visit www.howard.edu.


About Council of Graduate Schools (CGS)

The Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) is an organization of approximately 500 institutions of higher education in the United States and Canada engaged in graduate education, research, and the preparation of candidates for advanced degrees. The organization’s mission is to improve and advance graduate education, which it accomplishes through advocacy in the federal policy arena, research, and the development and dissemination of best practices. 

Media Contact: Aaliyah Butler; aaliyah.butler@howard.edu