Last week, two of our colleagues, Diana Kapiszewski (College, Government) and Lahra Smith (SFS and College, Government) led a larger team of colleagues, both faculty and PhD students, to offer the first edition of the Georgetown University Political Science Predoctoral Summer Institute, a week-long program for undergraduates who are considering pursuing a PhD in political science or a closely related field.
The attendees were 19 rising juniors and seniors at colleges and universities in the surrounding area. The institute offered these students a chance to learn more about what a PhD in political science or allied fields might offer to each of them.
The institute was motivated by efforts to assure that future political science research was enriched by those who would ask questions about governance and power (two of the key issues in the discipline) informed by diverse perspectives. Indeed, a stated goal of the institute was “increasing the diversity of applicants to political science PhD programs; boosting the acceptance rate of under-represented and disadvantaged students; enhancing the diversity of PhD programs; and thereby improving inclusion and equity in the profession and contributing to a more comprehensive study of politics.”
The gathering offered the students a chance to meet with others who also were considering a PhD. This alone would be a rare opportunity to most of them, but there were additional content and structured activities that were planned for the attendees.
Some of the content described the field of political science. Like many of the social sciences there are a variety of foci and research practices in the field. The institute reviewed the mix of quantitative and qualitative research methods. It exposed them to interpretative methods, formal modeling, ethnographic and experimental methods. It contrasted global, cross-national versus US-centric subfields of the discipline. It addressed equity and inclusion issues facing the discipline.
The institute also introduced a career perspective, with discussions of nonacademic and academic options for a PhD in political science. It addressed use of political science concepts in social and racial justice activities. It described the day-to-day lives of academics but also a selection of nonacademic roles in nonprofit and government agencies.
The students were also given a taste of research practices, with students building out a research idea and subjecting this to peer review and elaboration.
Finally, there were presentations about funding opportunities for PhD students. There was a session on examining application materials to get a sense of the practical steps required to apply to a graduate program. Faculty described their views on how to find the graduate program best suited to the applicant, how to use faculty and student interviews to shape one’s decisions, and what features of an acceptance offer can be negotiated.
I observed a bit of the students feedback on what they thought they had learned in the sessions. My dominant memory is their thanks about learning how PhD programs are organized. Some were surprised by the financial support commonly offered to PhD students. Some were thankful for learning more about how the field is organized. Others noted the career possibilities that they hadn’t considered as possible with a PhD. There was the clear message that most had never had an opportunity to learn about the profession in such a manner.
The organizers concluded that even outstanding advanced undergraduates have very little understanding of how doctoral education is structured. This appears to be a matter that is not commonly discussed in their undergraduate lives. The students appreciated data and evidence about the nature of PhD programs and the careers pursued by PhDs. The students took up offers of more mentoring by the faculty and PhD students affiliated with the summer institute. The students greatly appreciated emphatic customization to their individual needs; reassurance about their potentials was important to them.
The institute appeared to fulfill a real need. Let’s hope we can replicate and expand this kind of activity.
Hello, Class of 2018 grad here. As a current PhD student in Russian literature, I think this sort of program is great! I’ve noticed that many phd students tend to have family members with a PhD who give them an idea of what the path is like, both in terms of graduate school and the eventual job. For everyone else, PhD programs and academia is sort of a black box. I hope Georgetown can expand these types of programs to include the humanities, other social sciences, and the natural sciences. Perhaps the FLL can work together on producing their own version of this predoctoral summer institute.
Great idea. Interesting with the new university campus wide science strategy, the Med center -GUSOM, has just received funding for the first time to TOTALLY FUND MD-PHD students. We had before only partly funded MD-PHD students thus losing most good students to the few completely funded programs . This could have great implications for quality of students , possible NIH funding etc AND. For the university science strategy . This funding should be brought up to your interested undergrads also . Great mentoring. I also hope you brought up the hoya gateway mentoring program available to all GU. students . It Connects students with alums in various fields. Including probably Hoya PHD’s! This program is much underutilized by GU. Students. Hoya networking with the over 200000 alums is a great mentoring program.