Dear friends:

University faculty need to develop an entrepreneurial mindset and skill set to thrive in their careers. While the WSU PhD program does not directly provide entrepreneurial training to its students, their four- to five-year journey forces them to develop and hone their entrepreneurial skills that will be useful in future faculty careers. These skills include enhanced problem-solving abilities, leadership and team collaboration, adaptability and resilience, opportunity recognition and innovation, and networking and resource management.

College graduates entering PhD programs encounter a number of challenges. They must learn to navigate graduate school coursework and research problems with unclear solutions. Tackling these challenges improves their problem-solving skills significantly.

Graduate students typically collaborate on research assignments, frequently leading such endeavors. In their roles as teaching assistants and instructors, they are often solely responsible for delivering course content in an engaging way. As they go, students pick up excellent leadership and team collaboration experiences.

Learning from failure is an important part of students’ PhD journey and will be a part of their professional careers. From difficulties in coursework, to teaching efforts that don’t “click,” to research project restarts, students must remain resilient and adapt for the next try.

The core of research involves identifying “gaps” in the literature, i.e., opportunities to explore unexplained phenomena. Successful researchers find those and follow up with innovative solutions.

Beginning with their first-year cohort and extending to senior students, faculty, and beyond, PhD students build their professional networks from day one. A huge component of that is attending professional conferences and meeting students and faculty from all around the world. These networks become vital as faculty careers blossom.

Some university faculty provide consulting services, and others even start their own successful companies (e.g., Ed Schweitzer III right here in Pullman). But even faculty who focus only on their professor positions essentially have an entrepreneurial job. The most successful professors create truly unique courses and learning experiences for their students. They produce cutting-edge research that pushes the boundaries of knowledge. And they work behind the scenes to improve the educational experience and create extra-curricular opportunities for their students. Faculty have the freedom to shape their work output to follow their priorities and passions. The PhD journey helps them prepare well by developing a plethora of entrepreneurial skills.

Chuck Munson,
PhD Program Director