Career Plan in PS

[VAZ]

A quick question, pardon me if it has been raised before, do you mention your post-degree career options or future plans in the personal statement for PhD application?

[gsc]

I wouldn't waste the word count.

If you say you're looking to be a TT professor, you're not saying anything that couldn't have been intuited by the fact of your applying. 

If you say you're looking for some kind of non/post/alt- academic job, you risk being read as unambitious or less committed. No, that is not necessarily the case. Yes, people are warming up to the idea of careers outside of the academy. But in my experience, the academy is still seen as the normative plan A, and alt-ac is the necessary but unfortunate plan B. So you risk presenting yourself as someone who's willing to "settle" for plan B right out of the gate. 

[ltr317]

9 minutes ago, gsc said:

I wouldn't waste the word count.

If you say you're looking to be a TT professor, you're not saying anything that couldn't have been intuited by the fact of your applying. 

If you say you're looking for some kind of non/post/alt- academic job, you risk being read as unambitious or less committed. No, that is not necessarily the case. Yes, people are warming up to the idea of careers outside of the academy. But in my experience, the academy is still seen as the normative plan A, and alt-ac is the necessary but unfortunate plan B. So you risk presenting yourself as someone who's willing to "settle" for plan B right out of the gate. 

gsc hit it right on the head.  I attended a PhD admissions panel a few months ago, and asked if I should mention in the SOP that my main purpose after a doctorate was to publish.  Everyone on the panel (they teach at different universities) advised against it since it would affect my chances of admission.  Post-doc plans is a sensitive subject to discuss before you're in a PhD program. 

[Sigaba]

3 hours ago, VAZ said:

A quick question, pardon me if it has been raised before, do you mention your post-degree career options or future plans in the personal statement for PhD application?

In addition to the reasons provided by @gsc and @ltr317, there's also a dynamic that sees many academic historians in the Ivory Tower seeking to recreate themselves in their graduate students. Indicating in one's SOP the intention to step outside of that path may provide a disincentive to professors to invest in the applicant.

I'm cranky this morning so the following may come across as harsh. 

If one is competing for admission against applicants who are no less skilled or qualified, why differentiate oneself by showing a lack of determination to find answers to questions that have been asked and answered many times? The reasoning may be that it's "a quick question," or "time is of the essence," or that this is an anonymous BB, or any of a number of other sensible considerations.

However, if one aspires to be a graduate student in history, why not conduct oneself as a historian? Why not forgo asking questions until after one has done some (re)searching? There's a huge difference between asking a "quick question" and advancing a discussion by asking a question that's clearly informed by research and thought.  

 

 

[Guest1101]

I think it depends. 

Since some programs clearly indicate that you should mention your career goal, then you should. But I don't think being a TT professor is enough for that, more importantly, it is what would you do with your professorship and your contributions to the society and academia.