Stony Brook University’s PhD Career Ladder Program (PCLP) is a peer-led mentoring framework to explore careers inside and outside academia. PCLP is a cost-effective, learner-focused career development model that can easily be adapted by any postdoc association or postdoc office. PCLP can be offered in person or online. In PCLP, postdocs meet every other week in small groups to follow a seven-step curriculum that roughly mirrors the individual development plan (IDP) process. Groups are led by postdoc leaders and each step requires participants to do some pre-work to fully engage in their own career development. The peer support provides a safe space for career exploration and job search preparation for any career path. While participants focus on one career during PCLP, they gain a framework they can later apply on their own to any career. With the support of a National Science Foundation’s Innovations in Graduate Education grant, we’ve conducted a robust assessment of PCLP. We present key findings from the first three years of the project: 1. Overall, participants increased their knowledge of and preparation for diverse careers. 2. Participants are developing career plans, feeling more prepared and confident to seek a job. 3. Participants have greater engagement with and awareness of professional development opportunities on and off campus. In Fall 2020, we are running a multi-institutional postdoc group. We expect to have assessment results for this group by the time of the conference.
