BUZZ BOX: When Ph.D.s need a job outside the ivory tower

Alumni posted comments at PAW Online on an April 4 Campus Notebook story about ending the stigma for jobs outside academia for Ph.D.s in the human­i­ties, often considered a “Plan B.”

GLORIA ERLICH *77 wrote that she had found a satisfying career as an independent scholar, publishing two books and many articles. “But this alternative is possible only with independent wealth or on what I call a ‘matrimonial fellowship,’ ” she said.

STEWART A. LEVIN ’75 commented that when those with graduate degrees in the sciences want to return to academia after working in industry, they often encounter an attitude that “they haven’t paid their dues.” What isn’t recognized, he said, is that for private workers, “job security is a thing of the past and the hours are just as long, and publication preparation is done on your own time.” 

DAVID FINKELSTEIN *90, vice president of a think tank in Washington, D.C., had a bit of good news: “I am Plan B!” he wrote, “and I am looking to recruit new Ph.D.s in Chinese history or Chinese studies.”