Another piece of GradGirl was interviewing young professional women in the social sciences. Here is another career spotlight on Kristie Adams! Kristie Adams Kristie is a behavior specialist at Alternative Paths Training School, a school for children with developmental disabilities and other special needs. She found her calling in applied behavior analysis (ABA) therapy, and is currently working towards…
Finding your calling is about the balance of 3 things: doing something you’re good at, feeling appreciated, and making people’s lives better. Here are 7 lessons about finding your calling – what you’re meant to do. Paid parental leave is important for children. When parents have paid leave after having a child, their children experience…
Hi friends. Many of your are or will soon be heading into the grad school interview deluge in the fall/winter months, so I figured I would arm you with good interview questions that are sure to impress your potential future advisors. These are the kinds of questions you could ask during a phone interview, video-chat…
Hi there! First of all, thank you so much for the positive feedback about that first post on phone/Skype interviews – I’m so glad you all enjoyed it so much. Here’s the follow-up post about tips directly related to phone/Skype interviews for grad school. This post applies to those readers interested in going to graduate school. When…
Like big data? Well then, you’re going to want to read this. — There’s an important distinction between being rude, mean, and bullying. We all need to use these words correctly and deal with actions for what they are. With bullying interventions popping up in schools across the nation, it’s crucial that parents and teachers…
Time for a quick re-cap of what I’ve been reading this week. You can catch previous “what I’m reading posts” here, here, and here. Intermarriage is growing in acceptance across the United States, 50 years after the Loving v. Virginia case. Breast feeding isn’t stigmatized everywhere, and women have more success with it when they…
Another piece of GradGirl was interviewing young professional women in the social sciences. Here is our very first interview with Christina Thibodeaux. Christina Thibodeaux How long have you been at your current position? Almost 2 years ago a colleague/friend of mine began an online distance counseling business, High Resolution Counseling, due to a growing…
I recently “attended” a virtual training course on Transitioning into a Non-Academic Career sponsored by the Association for the Advancement of Science. The talk was given by Dr. Josh Henkin and he outlined the kinds of preparation and professional development is useful for non-academic careers. Here’s a recap for you: We should all have Master Resumes…
If you’re a graduate student like us, summer isn’t just an opportunity to unwind after a long academic year – it’s a time to make progress on your “grad school” to-do list. With unfinished research papers in the cue, new data to analyze, and a part- or full-time internship, it can be tough to get…
One of the most common questions I get is how to prepare for virtual interviews (i.e. Skype or phone interviews). It can be really nerve-wracking to interview with someone you’ve never met before as is, but add ever-failing technology and you’ve got a recipe for potential awkward moments. To give some background, usually video-chat or…
As some of you know, my graduate school friends and I started a blog just a few years ago called Grad Girl. It was intended as a space where professional women working in the social sciences, social services, research or clinical positions, or anything else related to these fields could be showcased for their accomplishments…
Here’s what I’ve been reading this week. Educational disparities still exist: we should face this reality and work towards true equality. It could become harder to get birth control if this new rule passes. “Just because a teacher is black does not mean that he or she is going to relate to every black student’s…
Most doctoral programs have comprehensive exams (or some programs call them qualifying exams). Usually, these exams happen after coursework is completed and passing comprehensive exams (or, “comps” as they are affectionately called) means that you are officially a “doctoral candidate.” There is a lot of variability in what these exams look like. Some schools’ exams…
One of the goals of applied child development research is to understand the impact of programs and services that serve children and families. Preschool is one of these hot-button programs that has gotten a lot of attention in the press recently. Preschool has been known to have many positive benefits for children (especially for children from low-income backgrounds), but…
Cultivating deep, meaningful relationships with friends after college can be really difficult. What’s your advice for how to make lasting friendships during graduate school? This is a question I get a lot. After college it seems really confusing and difficult to figure out how to make friends. Well, I’ve got some tips for how to make…
