On-Demand: Preparing Bachelor's and Master's Students to Advance Their Careers in Family Science

I was thrilled to present this webinar last week because I think we need more conversations about this topic in our field. Thanks a million to the National Council on Family Relations for hosting the live webinar and the on-demand webinar for FREE AND for helping to get the word out to so many family science professionals and students. I would have never slowed down enough to do this on my own, so they certainly helped to keep me on track. Special thanks to NCFR's Maddie Hansen, Dawn Cassidy, and Allison Wickler for facilitating recording and promoting.

When preparing for the webinar, I wanted to focus primarily on bachelor's and master's students in family science. In my opinion, there are a lot of resources out there for family science students who are preparing to be university faculty members or researchers. However, there is far less information available for people who plan to enter the workforce without a doctoral degree. Perhaps this is because many of us who teach family science students have spent our own careers primarily engaged in university teaching and research.

In order to best serve the majority of family science students--students who will not ultimately earn a Ph.D., it is critical that we dedicate more time and resources toward helping them to successfully seek out careers following graduation. In an interdisciplinary field like ours, this must involve empowering students to connect with other professionals, obtain relevant experience, reflect upon their knowledge, skills, and abilities, and market themselves for a variety of potential career trajectories. Faculty cannot know everything about every potential career option for family science students, so it is imperative that students are willing to take the time to explore the options and prepare for their own unique paths. This webinar provides a basic introduction to beginning that exploration and preparation process.

While it is designed for undergraduates and master's students, I believe some of the ideas presented are also beneficial for doctoral students who do not want to work in academia and for professionals who are in the process of changing careers. I hope it is helpful for you or someone you know! If you have ideas for future webinars or blog posts, feel free to submit them to me using the feedback page.

Here is the link!