24. Casual Conversations: Exploring non-academic paths in the PhD - With Dakota, PhD

Welcome to the PhD Survival Guide Podcast! As we always say here on the podcast, every PhD journey is unique. I worked full-time in the laboratory and had the privilege of dedicating the majority of my time to my experiments. While I have talked in depth about the pros and cons of this, not all of you have the same experience. In this episode, I spoke to Dakota, a recent PhD graduate who juggled a full-time PhD with a full-time job outside of academia. We spoke about various topics, such as the challenges she faces, ways to expand on your research and experiences, and how to navigate non-academic careers during, and after, your PhD! As always, we hope you enjoy this episode!

Dr. Dakota:

Dakota is a recent PhD graduate who studied the experiences of Latino young adults using dating apps, their identity construction, partner preferences, and conceptions of happily ever after. She has six years of research experience in both the non-profit and tech sectors and currently works as a mixed methods User Researcher for a tech company. Dakota has previously worked at Facebook studying online connection and community in Facebook groups. In her past in non-profit research, she studied foster youth outcomes at the City University of New York (CUNY)’s Accelerated Studies in Associate’s Programs as well as social welfare intervention analysis for low-income Latino families at the National Hispanic Research Center. She earned her M.A. in Sociology and B.A. in American Studies from Columbia University and is a former Fulbright Spain grantee.  Connect with Dakota:

Twitter: @dakotazrc

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DISCLAIMER: This podcast was written, produced, and hosted by myself, Ferass. While we do the best we can to gather information from various sources, it is important to remember that everything we say here is of our own opinions and inferences. All PhD students, mentors, and programs are unique and the advice may not always apply. We implore you to think with an open mind. The purpose of this podcast is to help guide and empower current and prospective students throughout their journeys. We appreciate your time.

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