![]() Having a foot in the field still was helpful because I was able to go out and just find people, so maybe I’m not the greatest person to give advice about navigating these issues! Knowing this before I arrived, I was prepared to seek out my own networks. I also wouldn’t have had the time to seek out any support if there were any! One thing I knew coming into my program at The Heller School was that many people who had previously worked on things I was interested in, such as Jack Shonkoff, had moved on to other universities. I worked under the radar during grad school, so I didn’t feel like there might be support for someone like me. What services and/or resources did you use while at Brandeis for your career search? Traditional academic training is valuable however, we need people culturally competent in both academic and in practitioner perspectives. This flips the whole dynamic of being a professor: while I have teaching obligations, I am also free to pursue the civic research projects-projects that are driven by real, local need-that I have typically pursued as part of my work in non-academic jobs, such as when I worked for the City of Boston or my work with MetroLab Network. ![]() ![]() This wider range of publication formats means I can partner with nonprofits and city institutions without being confined to a traditional research project. Instead, white papers, speaking engagements, blog posts, and podcasts all count as demonstrations of me doing my job. In addition, while the University still relies on me publishing my work, it is not solely focused on the more traditional academic journals and in the peer-review format. We are encouraged to be a part of that wider range. In this position, “service” that is often focused inward, such as sitting on university committees or mentoring and advising students, can also mean sitting local boards for city government or non-profits. Having this experience completely changes the requirements for faculty. But this position provides students with an example of people, such as myself, with experience working out in the world who are now in academia. The goal of this position is to facilitate a real-world experience culture on campus where, traditionally, students have had plenty of examples of people in tenure track and non-tenure track positions. Professor of the Practice positions are specifically for people with external, real-world experience, beyond the ivory tower institutional expertise. Today, I am a Professor of the Practice in Public Policy and Economic Justice at Northeastern University. These positions gave me opportunities to bring my research skills into the field that I wanted to work in. I also worked in the Mayor’s Office at the City of Boston doing a number of public policy, civic research, and civic data projects. I worked at the Education Development Center as a Research Associate, and later was a Senior Research Associate at an early childhood organization called Nurtury. Thus, I was continuing to learn in the field, continuing to grow my salary, and continuing to build my network.īecause I was working simultaneously as I earned my degree, I was constantly assessing how my dissertation work fit in the field. The third reason for continuing to work while earning my PhD was so that I could avoid a gap in employment. I knew I wanted a dissertation that wouldn’t just sit on the shelf, so in order to make it relevant, I needed to be on the ground and in the field-not just reading papers. One reason was money-a grad school budget wasn’t going to cut it! A second reason was so that I could stay relevant on the ground. I did not give up my part-time job while earning my PhD. Kimberly Lucas PhD’20: Sociology, Professor of the Practice in Public Policy and Economic Justice, Northeastern UniversityĬan you describe your career path and how it has led to your current work?įiguring out what I wanted to get out of my PhD coincided with my work in the field. Kimberly Lucas PhD’20: Sociology, Professor of the Practice in Public Policy and Economic Justice, Northeastern University Home /
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