Round Tables > Young Research: Professional Integration

PROFESSIONAL INTEGRATION OF DOCTORAL STUDENTS

Friday, Semptember 24th, 11:15am-1:15pm

Centre de Colloques, room 2

Organization : Audrey Sérandour (PRODIG – CRESAT - Université Haute Alsace) and Juliette Serafini (Institut des Amériques)

Speakers : Pierre Bourgois (Université catholique de l'Ouest), Augustin Habran (Université d’Orléans), Fabrice Le Corguillé (HCTI - Université de Bretagne Occidentale), Pamela Quiroga (PRODIJ, association porteuse du PIA Jeunesse Réunion), Elena Tarditi (UNOPS)

Moderator : Audrey Sérandour (PRODIG - CRESAT - Université Haute Alsace)

Presentation : The objective of this round table is to focus on the issues of the post-thesis period and how to best prepare for it as a graduate student.
According to the European Chart of the researcher, a doctor is a “researcher at the beginning of his career” and the doctorate is therefore a professional experience in itself. More and more doctoral students and young researchers are claiming the professional nature of the doctoral career – and not only its scholarly character. However, after the thesis’ defense, the beginning of a young doctor’s career often proves to be difficult. This has led to the emergence of various professionalization mechanisms for doctoral students and young graduates, both within academic institutions (doctoral schools, poles of excellence...) and outside (associations, specialized institutes...). Since the mid-2000s, the regulations governing the doctorate have also focused on ensuring professional integration. Post-thesis professional career deserves and needs to be thought out during the PhD in order to prepare for it as well as possible. In this context, this round table is set as a venue to discuss professional insertion for young Americanist researchers.

Three topics of interest will be discussed:

• The evaluation of skills acquired during the doctorate. These are often badly identified and, consequently, poorly promoted on the job market. It seems essential to know how to identify these skills, acquired during the writing of the thesis (project management, alternation between autonomous work and teamwork, writing...) and during field work carried out in addition to the doctoral contract (teaching, expertise missions for companies or public institutions, project management, organization of scientific events, mission of research valorization...).

• The identification of professional networks to develop. These often remain unclear to doctoral students. However, these networks are diversified: former doctoral students now working, association of doctoral students and young doctors, contacts established in the research field, etc.

• The perception of the job market by doctoral students and young doctors. Doctoral students often have little visibility on the available jobs for them outside of higher education and research. Depending on the doctoral contract (CIFRE or not) and the academic environment in which the thesis was prepared, young doctors have not necessarily been confronted to the private sector. It is difficult for them to project themselves in jobs not related to higher education and research. Envisioning the professional future of a doctoral student therefore also means identifying the fields of possibilities.