Laura graduated with a PhD from York University’s History department. Her dissertation explored women’s identities and narratives in colonial France by examining magazines. She is currently a Partner at KBRS, an HR consulting firm with an active academic search/recruitment practice. She also operates as the Firm’s Diversity & Inclusion Lead, providing consultation services on these issues to clients across the academic and broader public sector.
Q: Why did you pursue a PhD in history at York?
I also did my Master’s in History at York, where I had some classes that inspired me and professors that encouraged me to continue. I was keen to be in Ontario; I’m from Nova Scotia and was looking for a change. I knew someone who was doing his PhD work in the Department of History at York, and he talked about it a lot—it sounded like a good environment, and there were interesting people to work with.
Q: Did you have the opportunity to teach in your program?
I think I had a TAship every year, other than one year when I had a research assistantship. I’d never been in a classroom before, and I was thrown in with a bunch of first-year undergraduates with no training. It was a steep learning curve, but I learned a lot. I enjoyed TAing a third-year course a lot more, however; the students were more engaged, and I learned more about pedagogy and innovative ways to engage with students.
Q: You got funding from your teaching assistantships, but did you receive any external funding or internal scholarships from the history program?
Yes. I had a SSHRC and I had a couple of OGS’s. The money from being a TA is not enough to live in Toronto unless you have really creative ways of doing it or you find a magical apartment. And then, my field is European history, so it required international travel, a fair amount of archival expenses, and things like that. I did receive some funding for attending a few conferences, and an overseas summer school on transnational history that was sponsored by the host department.
Q: What kind of mentorship did you receive in the program? For things like writing, research, teaching, or job acquisition?
My mentorship was directly through my committee and my supervisor. They all mentored me in different ways that were unique to their different personalities and strengths.
About two years before I finished my PhD, I decided that I didn’t want to pursue an academic life, but I wanted to finish my PhD. At the time, there didn’t seem to be a lot of recognition of the fact that you could still want to finish your PhD, still find it a valuable process but not want to continue in that path. There were workshops for things like postdocs, but not alternate careers.
Q: When you were in the program, did you feel a sense of community?
Yes, definitely. People in my cohort and surrounding years socialized a lot, it felt like part of a strong community. And there are people that I still keep in touch with, and that if I lived in Ontario, I would see more of.
Q: How long did it take you to complete the degree? Did it feel like the right amount of time?
It took me seven years, which was about the same as a lot of other people.
Q: What were the obstacles to finishing?
Definitely staying motivated. A dissertation is an individual project, and it is easy to get distracted by teaching or other work. I didn’t find that there were a ton of resources or advice around how to stay motivated and sustain your work. Some people had writing groups, so maybe that would have been helpful.
And then, money is a big issue; I know many people that had to take on other work, even though you’re not technically supposed to, just to sustain themselves.
Sometimes, you go on a longer research trip, and you don’t find the things you are looking for; you can’t necessarily anticipate what the research is going to bring you, which can shift your whole plan. My work relied on magazines from colonial France, and I couldn’t find any of my sources online. I had a question of what I was going to look for, but then, after spending six months in the archive and crossing my fingers that I would find something interesting, it was different than I thought.
Q: What do you do now? What led you to the job you currently have?
When I graduated, I was lucky enough to get a contract faculty role at York for a year leading my own course. That gave me a chance to figure out what my next step was. I did some career counseling and a lot of networking coffees—a ton of networking coffees!—with people in different industries that seemed both interesting and like they would allow me to bring some transferable skills around critical thinking, writing, communication, and research.
I applied for tons of jobs, and I didn’t get tons of jobs. I think I was a bit naive in thinking that the PhD meant something to people that it didn’t really mean until you explain the skills to them. So, while I was teaching that course, I ended up taking on a role in the publishing space working remotely for a young adult publisher—the type with new authors pitching their werewolf novels—and being the jack-of-all trades editor, looking at style, content, and narrative. It was very poor pay, but it was interesting and a foot in the door; the most important thing for me at that point was getting something on my resumé that wasn’t a teaching or research position.
Then I had a child and took a year of leave, and I knew I didn’t want to go back to that job. I saw an advertisement for an acquisitions editor at a scholarly press in Toronto. Because of my experience with the young adult publisher, I secured that job, which was another step in to the industry. I was there for two years and ended up in a managing editor role.
At that point, though, I decided I wanted to be back in Nova Scotia. I saw a posting for a recruitment role focused on the academic space, helping universities and colleges find senior leaders like directors and deans, or sometimes faculty roles. I’ve been here for four-and-a-half years, and in my current position, I lead my own searches. It is an interesting way to still be connected to the academic space.
Q: What kinds of skills transferred over from your PhD to your current role?
Being able to do good research, but also understanding the context of academic leadership and scholarship was really helpful; what academic disciplines speak to each other? Which don’t? How do you communicate with a search committee?
My dissertation was focused around equity issues and intersectionality, which are things that I’ve always cared about, so I also advise internally on our search process. How can we have a more inclusive search process? How can we find more diverse candidates?
Q If you could go back and tell yourself something about your PhD or your post-grad journey, what would it be?
I don’t think I’d want to tell myself that I wasn’t going to be a professor, because maybe I would lose heart over seven years. I might encourage myself to broaden my network and nonacademic connections, and maybe volunteer outside of the academic space.
I’d also remind myself that you might have to enter at the bottom of your industry and work your way up; you can’t expect to graduate with PhD and then just be at the same level as your peers.
Many thanks to Laura for sharing her PhD narrative! You can find more about her at LinkedIn.
Laura graduated with a PhD from York University’s History department. Her dissertation explored women’s identities and narratives in colonial France by examining magazines. She is currently a Partner at KBRS, an HR consulting firm with an active academic search/recruitment practice. She also operates as the Firm’s Diversity & Inclusion Lead, providing consultation services on these issues to clients across the academic and broader public sector.
Q: Why did you pursue a PhD in history at York?
I also did my Master’s in History at York, where I had some classes that inspired me and professors that encouraged me to continue. I was keen to be in Ontario; I’m from Nova Scotia and was looking for a change. I knew someone who was doing his PhD work in the Department of History at York, and he talked about it a lot—it sounded like a good environment, and there were interesting people to work with.
Q: Did you have the opportunity to teach in your program?
I think I had a TAship every year, other than one year when I had a research assistantship. I’d never been in a classroom before, and I was thrown in with a bunch of first-year undergraduates with no training. It was a steep learning curve, but I learned a lot. I enjoyed TAing a third-year course a lot more, however; the students were more engaged, and I learned more about pedagogy and innovative ways to engage with students.
Q: You got funding from your teaching assistantships, but did you receive any external funding or internal scholarships from the history program?
Yes. I had a SSHRC and I had a couple of OGS’s. The money from being a TA is not enough to live in Toronto unless you have really creative ways of doing it or you find a magical apartment. And then, my field is European history, so it required international travel, a fair amount of archival expenses, and things like that. I did receive some funding for attending a few conferences, and an overseas summer school on transnational history that was sponsored by the host department.
Q: What kind of mentorship did you receive in the program? For things like writing, research, teaching, or job acquisition?
My mentorship was directly through my committee and my supervisor. They all mentored me in different ways that were unique to their different personalities and strengths.
About two years before I finished my PhD, I decided that I didn’t want to pursue an academic life, but I wanted to finish my PhD. At the time, there didn’t seem to be a lot of recognition of the fact that you could still want to finish your PhD, still find it a valuable process but not want to continue in that path. There were workshops for things like postdocs, but not alternate careers.
Q: When you were in the program, did you feel a sense of community?
Yes, definitely. People in my cohort and surrounding years socialized a lot, it felt like part of a strong community. And there are people that I still keep in touch with, and that if I lived in Ontario, I would see more of.
Q: How long did it take you to complete the degree? Did it feel like the right amount of time?
It took me seven years, which was about the same as a lot of other people.
Q: What were the obstacles to finishing?
Definitely staying motivated. A dissertation is an individual project, and it is easy to get distracted by teaching or other work. I didn’t find that there were a ton of resources or advice around how to stay motivated and sustain your work. Some people had writing groups, so maybe that would have been helpful.
And then, money is a big issue; I know many people that had to take on other work, even though you’re not technically supposed to, just to sustain themselves.
Sometimes, you go on a longer research trip, and you don’t find the things you are looking for; you can’t necessarily anticipate what the research is going to bring you, which can shift your whole plan. My work relied on magazines from colonial France, and I couldn’t find any of my sources online. I had a question of what I was going to look for, but then, after spending six months in the archive and crossing my fingers that I would find something interesting, it was different than I thought.
Q: What do you do now? What led you to the job you currently have?
When I graduated, I was lucky enough to get a contract faculty role at York for a year leading my own course. That gave me a chance to figure out what my next step was. I did some career counseling and a lot of networking coffees—a ton of networking coffees!—with people in different industries that seemed both interesting and like they would allow me to bring some transferable skills around critical thinking, writing, communication, and research.
I applied for tons of jobs, and I didn’t get tons of jobs. I think I was a bit naive in thinking that the PhD meant something to people that it didn’t really mean until you explain the skills to them. So, while I was teaching that course, I ended up taking on a role in the publishing space working remotely for a young adult publisher—the type with new authors pitching their werewolf novels—and being the jack-of-all trades editor, looking at style, content, and narrative. It was very poor pay, but it was interesting and a foot in the door; the most important thing for me at that point was getting something on my resumé that wasn’t a teaching or research position.
Then I had a child and took a year of leave, and I knew I didn’t want to go back to that job. I saw an advertisement for an acquisitions editor at a scholarly press in Toronto. Because of my experience with the young adult publisher, I secured that job, which was another step in to the industry. I was there for two years and ended up in a managing editor role.
At that point, though, I decided I wanted to be back in Nova Scotia. I saw a posting for a recruitment role focused on the academic space, helping universities and colleges find senior leaders like directors and deans, or sometimes faculty roles. I’ve been here for four-and-a-half years, and in my current position, I lead my own searches. It is an interesting way to still be connected to the academic space.
Q: What kinds of skills transferred over from your PhD to your current role?
Being able to do good research, but also understanding the context of academic leadership and scholarship was really helpful; what academic disciplines speak to each other? Which don’t? How do you communicate with a search committee?
My dissertation was focused around equity issues and intersectionality, which are things that I’ve always cared about, so I also advise internally on our search process. How can we have a more inclusive search process? How can we find more diverse candidates?
Q If you could go back and tell yourself something about your PhD or your post-grad journey, what would it be?
I don’t think I’d want to tell myself that I wasn’t going to be a professor, because maybe I would lose heart over seven years. I might encourage myself to broaden my network and nonacademic connections, and maybe volunteer outside of the academic space.
I’d also remind myself that you might have to enter at the bottom of your industry and work your way up; you can’t expect to graduate with PhD and then just be at the same level as your peers.
Many thanks to Laura for sharing her PhD narrative! You can find more about her at LinkedIn.
Discussion