The Diverse Career Paths of Educational Studies Alumni is a study and co-funded initiative. It aims to support Educational Studies (EDST) graduate students in exploring diverse career pathways by drawing on the career experiences of Educational Studies (EDST) alumni. It stems from a desire expressed by EDST students to learn about careers in education (particularly outside of academia) and to build professional networks that relate to their fields of study. We intend to create online resources that highlight EDST alumni career pathways across the various programs (MA, MEd, EdD and PhD) and sectors (e.g., the non-profit sector, government sector, higher education sector, for-profit sector, and K-12 sector). While the focus is on EDST students and alumni, the resources created as part of this initiative can be relevant to other students within the Faculty of Education and beyond.
Our Team
André Mazawi, Principal Investigator: Professor, Educational Studies, Faculty of Education, UBC
Mary Kostandy, Co-investigator and Initiative Lead: PhD Candidate, EDST, Faculty of Education, UBC
Michael Murphy Co-investigator: Manager, Alumni Engagement, Faculty of Education, UBC
Oladipupo (Dipo) Ogunfeibo (EDST MEd, 2020), Co-investigator: Research Assistant, EDST, FoE, UBC
Alison Taylor, Co-investigator: Professor, EDST, Faculty of Education, UBC
Deirdre Kelly, Co-investigator: Professor, EDST, Faculty of Education, UBC
Jude Walker (EDST PhD, 2011), Co-investigator: Assistant Professor, EDST, FoE, UBC
We would like to thank our campus partners who provide invaluable mentorship and advice in support of our event planning and resource development.
Jacqui Brinkman, Director, Graduate Student Professional Development, Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, UBC
Danielle Barkley, Graduate Career Educator, the Centre for Student Involvement & Careers, UBC
To connect with Jacqui and Danielle or to learn about their work visit Graduate Professional Development or Career Resources for Graduate Students.
Our Story
For over two years Mary Kostandy served as a Peer Advisor in EDST. During this time, the Peer Advisors collected feedback from a diverse group of EDST students. These students expressed a desire for guidance regarding the possible career paths available to them upon completing their degree, particularly outside of academia. She also encountered similar feedback from prospective students who were inquiring as to where graduates from particular programs work. She shared student feedback with the Department – it was strongly encouraged that the Peer Advisors engage EDST alumni to better understand their career experiences.
Building on this feedback, the Peer Advisors organized the first iteration of Career Connections Day, which brings together EDST alumni and graduate students in conversations about their career paths and experiences. In preparation for this event, Mary sought advice from Danielle Barkley (the Centre for Student Involvement & Careers), Jacqui Brinkmann (Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies), Yvonne Dawydiak (Professional Development & Community Engagement), Michael Murphy (Alumni Engagement office), several EDST faculty members and the Department Head.
Mary built on this momentum and networks created by engaging with EDST Faculty members (André Mazawi, Alison Taylor, & Jude Walker) and Michael Murphy (Alumni Engagement office); together, they put forward two funding proposals to support this work.
EDST Alumni Survey
The EDST alumni survey was administered in Spring of 2021. The purpose of the survey is to:
- Learn about EDST alumni’s career paths.
- Invite EDST alumni to sign up for possible events and activities to support graduate students in their career explorations.
- Provide feedback to the EDST program(s) about the impact of the EDSTs degrees on alumni’s careers.
We are currently working on the data analysis. We aim to have a report ready by Spring 2022.
Resources
EDST Alumni Profiles 
- EDST alumni are invited to share their bios on a new EDST alumni profiles section.
- The alumni profiles can be filtered by degree, concentration and work sector. The degree and concentration make it easier for current and prospective students to learn about alumni from their program area. The sector filter makes it easier for graduate students to learn about the career paths of alumni in relation to particular career interests.
- Alumni who indicate interest in sharing their profiles (in the EDST alumni survey) were emailed a submission link.
- Are you an EDST alum interested in sharing your profile? Kindly email: education.alumni@ubc.ca
Blog Interview Series (Spring 2022)
- Alumni who sign up for the blog stories will be invited to respond to written reflective questions about their careers. The aim of the questions will be to learn more about their work, their career journey and the relevance of the EDST program to their career path.
- Are you an EDST alum interested in responding to reflective questions about your career? Kindly email: edst.diversecareers@ubc.ca
Events
Spotlight on Alumni Careers Panels Series
- Spotlight on Alumni Careers: Educational Studies Alumni in the Public Sector. Whether in the municipal or tribal government, the Police department or the Department of Labour, Skills and Immigration, Educational Studies (EDST) alumni have gone on to seemingly every area of public service. In this panel, we will hear from EDST alumni who serve the public in various ways.
- Date: Wednesday, October 27th, 2021
- Time: 5:00 PM - 6:30 PM PST
- Speakers:
- Introductory remarks:
- Dr. Susan Porter
Dean and Vice-Provost, Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, UBC
- Dr. Susan Porter
- The panelists:
- Andrea Thoms, MEd’13
Adult Education Curriculum Consultant, Literacy, Humanities & Social Sciences, Province of Nova Scotia, the Department of Labour, Skills and Immigration - Claudine Montes, PhD’06
Rincon Education Department Manager, Rincon Band of Luiseno Indians - John Taylor, BEd’98, PhD’01
Mayor, Town of Newmarket, Ontario - Keith Dormond, PhD’21
Detective, Vancouver Police Department – Recruiting Unit
- Andrea Thoms, MEd’13
- Moderator:
- Logan Lorenz, MA’21
Business Career Centre, Sauder School of Business, UBC
- Logan Lorenz, MA’21
- Introductory remarks:
- Event details
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- We launched our inaugral panel entitled Spotlight on Alumni Careers: EDST Alumni who forged their own Career Paths.
From vegan cooking education to graphic facilitation, from career coaching to supporting children facing homelessness, Educational Studies (EDST) alumni have gone on to seemingly every walk of life. In this panel, we will hear stories from EDST alumni who courageously ventured on to less beaten tracks by founding their own businesses, foundations, non-profits, and initiatives.
- Date: Thursday, March 25th, 2021
- Time: 5:00 PM - 6:30 PM PST
- Featured panellists:
- Brigitte Gemme, PhD’09
- Erica Mohan, MEd’03, PhD’10
- Isabeau Iqbal, BSc’93, MA’04, PhD’12
- Sam Bradd, MEd’15
- Event details
- We launched our inaugral panel entitled Spotlight on Alumni Careers: EDST Alumni who forged their own Career Paths.
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- The Spotlight on Alumni Careers panel series aims to support Education graduate students in broadening their career avenues by showcasing the career stories and experiences of Educational Studies (EDST) Alumni. Each panel highlights alumni from a different sector. EDST Alumni will share their personal journeys and discuss how their current work is informed by their graduate studies. The panelists will inspire students and alumni who are looking for new, creative, and meaningful ways to contribute to society.
Career Connections Day
- In collaboration with the Educational Studies GAAs, a second iteration of Career Connections Day will be organized. More details will be available in January 2022.
Share a Career Resource
We are compiling career resources for Education graduate students. If you have any career resources in mind that may help develop one’s career skills or find sector-specific jobs, kindly share them with us at this link.
While the focus is on supporting Education graduate students, we imagine that the career resources section we are building will also be relevant to students in the social sciences and humanities.
Funding
Phase 1: Sept 2020-April 2021
Project Title: Engaging Alumni to Support Education Graduate Students in their Career Exploration
- Funded by: Learning Transformed Grant, Faculty of Education
- PI: Michael Murphy, Alumni Engagement Manager
Co-Pi: Mary Kostandy
Phase 2: April 2021-March 2022
Project Title: Supporting Non-Academic Career Pathways for Educational Studies Graduate Students
- Funded by: Advancing Education Renewal Grant, UBC
- PI: André Mazawi
- Co-PIs: Mary Kostandy, Michael Murphy, Alison Taylor, and Jude Walker.
Volunteer
If you are interested in participating in any of our events or activities, kindly fill out our EDST alumni volunteer signup form or email us at edst.diversecareers@ubc.ca.
Contact us
Mary Kostandy
Co-investigator and Initiative Lead
mary.kostandy@ubc.ca
Michael Murphy
Co-investigator and Manager, Alumni Engagement, Faculty of Education
m.murphy@ubc.ca