1. Background

The APA Committee on Non-Academic Careers is responsible for “all activities of the association relating to the enhancement of non-academic career opportunities for philosophers. The committee supervises programs related to employment opportunities in business, government, and other non-academic areas.” In this post, I want to briefly describe the various activities undertaken by the committee as it works to fulfill this mission.

Since at least 1984 the APA has provided resources for philosophy graduate students and early career philosophers who have considered leaving the academy. The principal resource has been a document titled “Beyond the Academy” (or “Beyond Academia”). Over the years “Beyond the Academy” has provided information about the odds of securing permanent academic employment, guidance about applying for non-academic positions, brief biographies of philosophers who have left the academy, and lists of additional resources—websites with career advice, employer websites, and the like—that might be useful to those considering non-academic careers.

Beginning in the 2019-2020 academic year, the scope of the committee’s work began to evolve and expand, for two main reasons: changes in the composition of the committee and the COVID pandemic. The non-academic careers committee was at one time composed largely of professional academic philosophers. By 2018 the committee itself recognized that it needed more non-academics in its ranks, and by 2020 the committee chair, associate chair, and all but one of its members were non-academics. The committee currently comprises six non-academics, one “alt” academic, one philosophy doctoral student, and one medical school fellow engaged in both teaching and clinical practice. All committee members have advanced degrees in philosophy.

The change in the composition of the committee resulted in changes in the nature of the advice it gives to those considering non-academic careers. It has also led to more of an emphasis on steps graduate faculty can take to enhance career opportunities for all students entering graduate programs, including those who leave the academy.

The second factor affecting the committee’s work was the pandemic. As a result of the pandemic, the APA created an online event series now known as APA Live as well as a library of recorded events, APA On Demand. The Committee on Non-Academic Careers has been one of the most active sponsors of APA Live events. To date, the committee has organized seven events—four intended for graduate students and graduates considering non-academic careers, and three designed for graduate faculty. All of the event recordings are available on the APA On Demand video library.

2. The Committee’s Areas of Focus

The Committee on Non-Academic Careers presently has five principal areas of focus:

a. Beyond the Academy. One of the committee’s primary responsibilities is preparing and updating Beyond the Academy (BTA), which serves as both a summary of the basic steps of a (non-academic) job search and a repository of resources available on the internet. Beginning in 2021, BTA was converted from a stand-alone PDF document to an online resource linked to the APA website. This has made it easier for the committee to update BTA and make any necessary quick fixes. The committee plans to update BTA every two years.

Earlier versions of BTA at times appeared to embrace the idea that a PhD in philosophy prepared graduates for any non-academic position, and that any employer outside the academy would welcome a philosophy PhD. The non-academics on the committee are inclined to think that although graduate training in philosophy adds value in nearly every field—and that if given a chance most employers will see this—additional experience and training are quite often necessary to land that first non-academic position. This shift in emphasis is reflected both in BTA and in the advice the committee provides in its online events and through its mentorship program.

b. APA Live Events. Each spring the committee sponsors a live online event intended for graduate students and graduates who may be considering non-academic positions. Usually, these APA Live events feature philosophy PhDs now working in non-academic positions. These panelists typically provide firsthand accounts of their transition to non-academic positions and career advice, often in the form of things they wish they had known when they were first considering non-academic jobs. Most recently the committee sponsored a virtual event entitled “Leaving the Academy: Success Stories,” featuring Katharine Schweitzer and Sam Kampa, two philosophy PhDs now in non-academic careers. Both speakers talked about how they knew when it was time to leave academia—in Schweitzer’s case, leaving a tenure-track position—and the coursework they undertook to facilitate that transition. All of the committee’s APA Live events are divided into two sections: presentations by the speakers followed by a Q&A session in which attendees can ask questions about issues specific to their situations.

The committee’s “Careers Beyond the Academy” web page provides links to BTA Webinars sponsored by the committee, and BTA Blog Posts provide similar firsthand accounts and career advice from interviews and articles posted on the Blog of the APA.

c. Mentorship Program. In 2022 the committee initiated an informal mentorship program. The mentorship program represents an acknowledgment that everyone’s situation is unique and that it is nearly impossible to give “generic” job-seeking advice. Committee members (including past members) who have agreed to serve as informal mentors are listed on the committee’s Non-Academic Mentors page. Although each of these mentors is willing and able to provide one-on-one advice to anyone seeking or considering a non-academic career, the volunteers are listed by specific types of career (e.g., careers in tech, government, and law) together with their LinkedIn profiles so that prospective job-seekers can select mentors that best fit their needs.

d. Data Collection. The committee has found that its efforts are enhanced by ensuring that faculty and students have a common set of facts on which to base their plans and initiatives. Graduate students are more likely to begin preparing for a variety of career paths earlier, and with greater focus, if they understand the nature of the job crunch in the humanities. Faculty are more likely to make useful changes to their programs if they understand the actual percentage of students entering graduate programs who obtain permanent academic positions. To this end, the first section of BTA (The Numbers Game) presents data relevant for both students and faculty, including the percentage of students entering doctoral programs in philosophy who complete them; the number of PhDs in philosophy awarded each year; and the percentage of entering graduate students obtaining permanent academic positions.

Although this information is a bit daunting when one first encounters it, the purpose is not to scare applicants away from graduate programs, but rather to encourage both students and faculty to be realistic about the academic job prospects for graduate students and to take appropriate steps to help students succeed wherever their career trajectories take them.

e. Advice for Graduate Faculty. Although both BTA and the committee’s APA Live events are intended to assist and support those seeking or considering non-academic jobs, this is not the only intended audience. The committee recognizes that it cannot fully serve students and graduates considering non-academic positions without also providing guidance to graduate faculty. It is not unusual for faculty to approach committee members with questions about how they can best assist students and graduates who may be changing their career plans. The committee includes a section in BTA (Supporting Non-Academic Careers—What Can Faculty Do?) addressing steps graduate faculty can take, both to assist those considering non-academic careers and to make their graduate programs more conducive to successful outcomes for all entering students—not just those obtaining permanent academic positions. This section includes a Professional Development Model Syllabus, which is designed to address the kinds of “crossover” skills necessary both within and outside the academy.

In addition, each fall the committee sponsors an APA Live event primarily intended for graduate faculty. In September 2022 the committee sponsored a presentation by Leonard Cassuto and Robert Weisbuch, authors of The New PhD: How to Build a Better Graduate Education (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2021), and Jack Zupko of the University of Alberta. Cassuto and Weisbuch have extensively studied doctoral programs in the humanities, and their discussion offered many useful suggestions on how faculty can make their programs more “student-centered,” by which the authors mean more supportive of diverse career options for all program matriculants.

3. The Committee’s Future Plans

The committee’s future plans include the following:

• Expanding the reach of its principal initiatives (Beyond the Academy, the Non-Academic Mentors program, annual APA Live presentations) by ensuring that these resources are well publicized and readily accessible to anyone who might benefit from them.
• Developing new resources, such as a handbook for non-academic mentors containing information that helps them give advice and answer perhaps the most common question they get: “How do I get started?”
• Coordinating with other committees of the APA on the co-sponsorship of sessions at APA divisional meetings and APA Live events. Committees and groups that have interests overlapping with the committee include the Committee on Academic Career Opportunities and Placement, the Graduate Student Council, the Committee on Philosophy in Two-Year Colleges, and the Committee on Pre-College Instruction in Philosophy.
• Blogging for the Blog of the APA and elsewhere about topics of interest to those considering non-academic careers.
• Providing advice to departments and faculty interested in learning more about the steps they can take to improve overall career prospects for their matriculants and, potentially, the quality of their program’s applicant pool.

Each year prior to September 1, the APA lists the open positions for each of its committees, and from September 1 through October 15 it accepts nominations (including self-nominations) for committee membership. The Committee on Non-Academic Careers looks forward to welcoming its new members every year. Nearly all of its members have moved from academia to non-academic careers, and one of the great rewards of committee membership is the opportunity to help guide others through this often challenging process.

Martin Willard

Martin Willard received his PhD in philosophy from Johns Hopkins University and JD from the University of Virginia. He practiced law for 28 years before retiring in 2015. He served on the APA Committee on Non-Academic Careers from 2019 to 2023.