What Topics Does This Episode Cover?

Stanford University — a dream workplace for researchers from all around the world. But do the Stanford researchers experience the same career dilemmas as others? How does a career advisory for researchers work at Stanford?

According to the National Science Foundation’s National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, U.S. universities awarded 58,131 research doctorates in 2024 — underscoring just how many PhD holders eventually face the kind of career-chapter decisions Dr. Golde advises Stanford researchers on.

We just discussed this subject with Dr Chris Golde, the Career Advisor at Stanford University.

…As well as a broad range of other subjects!

💡Why should you be proud of your grey hair?

💡Letters to the universe: why it’s worth openly asking the universe for what you want from your (professional) life.

💡On career chapters and how to write your own career story like a pro.

💡LinkedIn versus reality: how careers look on paper versus how they look in real.

💡Differences in academic career advisory practices between USA and Europe.

💡How to help students coming from a variety of cultures?

Who Is Dr. Chris Golde?

Dr Chris Golde is a career coach working with PhD students and postdoctoral scholars at Stanford Career Education. In fact, this is the career centre at Stanford University. In addition, she is on a team of coaches working with PhD students and postdoctoral scholars, from all departments of the University.

For over 25 years, she has worked in a variety of roles in graduate education. Additionally, these roles include student, faculty member, administrator, advocate, researcher, and scholar.

She is also a co-principal investigator on the AAU PhD Education Initiative. In fact, its mission is to promote student-centred doctoral education at AAU universities by making PhD career pathways more visible and valued.

According to the Association of American Universities (AAU), this PhD Education Initiative is funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and the Charles Koch Foundation to change the culture surrounding doctoral education at AAU institutions.

Before joining Stanford Career Education, she spent 9 years as Associate Vice Provost for Graduate Education in the VPGE office at Stanford. Before returning to Stanford, she was a Senior Scholar at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

Meanwhile, she worked on the Carnegie Initiative on the Doctorate and served as a faculty member at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She holds a PhD in education and an MA in sociology, both from Stanford University. A background like hers is a strong foundation for how to plan a PhD exit strategy for the students she advises, and it informs academia to industry networking strategies she shares with them. She also holds an MA in education from Columbia University and a BA in linguistics from Brown University. That kind of academic path also shapes how to network outside academia as a PhD, and it reflects a longer view of how to transition from academia to industry over a career.

What Has Dr. Golde Published on Doctoral Education?

Her scholarly interests and publications include doctoral student attrition, the doctoral student experience, the influence of disciplinary differences in graduate education, and improving graduate programs. Her publications include the influential report “At Cross Purposes: What the Experiences of Today’s Doctoral Students Reveal about Doctoral Education,” with Timothy Dore (2001). Two books emerged from her Carnegie work.

According to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, the Carnegie Initiative on the Doctorate was a five-year project. It worked with 84 PhD-granting departments across six disciplines to restructure doctoral education.

For example, she co-edited a volume of essays, “Envisioning the Future of Doctoral Education: Preparing Stewards of the Discipline” (2006).

She also co-authored “The Formation of Scholars: Rethinking Doctoral Education for the 21^st Century” (2008).

How Can You Connect With Chris?

Chris’ Contact Information:

Professional page: https://careered.stanford.edu/about/our-team/chris-golde

LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisgolde/

Thinking of your career as a story told chapter by chapter lines up closely with how we approach one-on-one work in our Career Advisory Services.