Graduate Education: A Conversation with Sarah-Jane Leslie *07

GradFUTURES Podcast

We are joined by Sarah-Jane Leslie *07, Class of 1943 Professor of Philosophy and former Dean of the Graduate School, to talk about the founding vision of GradFUTURES and to address the misconception that doctoral training is only about preparing students for academic positions in universities. “Too often doctorate education is seen as a value only in training the next generation of professors,” Leslie elaborates. “Actually, it is valuable in so many more ways.” Rather than view going into careers beyond the academy as a failure or a “lesser” pursuit, Leslie emphasizes the need for diverse career paths that fit all types of backgrounds, personalities, and working styles.

Sarah-Jane, who has done extensive research on academic gender gaps and found that they are most pronounced in disciplines that emphasize the need for “raw brilliance,” goes on to suggest that implicit, hidden biases in academia must be explicitly addressed in graduate school. “As you open up access to higher education to groups that have been underrepresented, there can be soft skills—unspoken norms, if you like—amongst people whose backgrounds are more closely connected to higher education, but that won’t be known and won’t be shared by people who have been historically underrepresented,” says Sarah-Jane. “We can level the playing field by teaching these things explicitly.”

Join the conversation, access the show notes, and discover fantastic resources to empower your professional future at gradfutures.princeton.edu.