Careers
Philosophy majors acquire skills that equip them very well
for a wide variety of fields in an employment market that
demands adaptation and change. For more information about the
general uses of a philosophy degree, see the American
Philosophical Association’s publication,
Philosophy: A Brief Guide for
Undergraduates.
To become a professional
philosopher who teaches and conducts research at a college or
university, one must hold a doctoral degree. Some of our
graduates have gone on to strong graduate programs in
philosophy and have become our colleagues in the academia.
Currently, UD philosophy majors are pursuing doctoral study at
some of the top graduate schools in the country, including the
Universities of Michigan, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, and
Vanderbilt.
Many of our majors pursue vocations
outside of professional philosophy. Most work in one of the
following six
areas:
Education
University
of Dayton philosophy graduates have become professors in
universities and colleges including Case Western, Indiana,
LeMoyne, Massachusetts, Miami, Michigan State, North
Carolina/Greensboro, Penn State, Providence, and Widener.
Some have returned to join the faculty at UD. Some of our
philosophy graduates have made careers teaching at community
colleges including Allegheny County, Clark County, Cuyahoga
County, Morris Valley, Roxbury, Sinclair, and Virginia
Beach.
Other philosophy majors have become secondary
or elementary school teachers in public or private schools in
many parts of the country, such as Cincinnati, Columbus,
Dayton, Dubuque (IA), Fairfax (VA), Hollywood (FL), Kettering
(OH), Philadelphia (PA), Rockville (MD), Stafford (VA), and
Washington (DC).
Some of our philosophy majors have
risen to administrative careers in universities or secondary
schools. Some of these administrative positions include
university president, VP of academic affairs and provost, VP of
university advancement, VP of administration and finance, dean
of arts and sciences, department chairperson, director of
business and professional programs, director of university
library, coordinator of career counseling, director of student
financial aid, high school principal, assistant to
superintendent of education, assistant director of campus
ministry, assistant placement director, and student life hall
director.
Law and
Medicine
Like philosophy majors elsewhere,
our philosophy majors have had much success gaining admission
to law schools and medical schools. No UD philosophy
major who applied to law or medical school immediately after
graduation has failed to be admitted to some J.D. or M.D.
program. Most of our graduates are accepted in many of
the programs to which they apply.
Our majors have
been admitted to such law schools as Antioch, Case Western,
Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland Marshall, Dayton, George
Washington, Indiana, New York U., Notre Dame, Ohio State,
Texas, Valparaiso, Vanderbilt, and Washington U.
UD
philosophy majors who obtained law degrees have taken positions
including attorneys in private practice, city solicitor, city
counsel, county counsel, deputy general counsel, magistrate,
military judge advocate, and public defender. One of our
majors has clerked for a federal judge.
Fewer
philosophy majors have pursued vocations in medicine.
Where they have entered medical fields, they have been very
successful. In addition to serving as surgeons, primary
care physicians, dentists, nurses, or midwives, our majors have
held positions including senior vice president and CEO (St.
Francis Health Foundation), mental health program director,
director of managerial care, executive director (of mental
health agency), family mental health therapist, community
mental health center case manager, hospital chaplain, medical
ethics consultant, and medical insurance
manager.
Patrick McCulloch, a philosophy major who
went on to become an orthopedic surgeon, says that studying
philosophy helps him with the logical and critical thinking
tasks that his work demands. Anne Rosa, a philosophy
major who became a certified nurse-midwife, says that her
philosophical training allows her to contextualize and analyze
others' situations and lives with a depth and fullness that
makes her a more effective and careful
caregiver.
Religious
Vocation
Given UD’s Roman Catholic and
Marianist identity, it is not surprising that quite a few
philosophy majors have been called to religious vocations, both
in religious orders and in other church-related positions and
agencies. An undergraduate major in philosophy has long
been a traditional path in preparation for seminary study and
ordination.
UD philosophy majors have served
religious vocations as bishops, priests, religious brothers and
sisters, missionaries in the U.S. and abroad, provincial
administrators, campus ministers, hospital chaplains, retreat
leaders, youth ministers, and religious educators at both the
secondary and university levels.
Some of our
philosophy majors have also found religious vocations outside
of Catholicism. For example, we count a Jewish rabbi, an
Episcopalian priest, and the founder of a Protestant halfway
house among our
alumni.
Business
One
indication of the broad usefulness of the skills developed in
the philosophy major is that our majors have been just as
successful in business fields as they have been in the more
traditional professions of law, medicine, teaching, and the
clergy. While the philosophy major does not give students
immediate entry into a business career, philosophy majors’
skills in analytic and creative thinking, as well as their
strong reading, writing, and speaking abilities, often help
them rise quickly in business organizations, once they get a
starting position.
Michael Carroll, a former UD
philosophy graduate who is now senior vice president and chief
administrative officer for Rodale Publishing, says that
philosophical thinking has been a key to his success in the
corporate world, allowing him to question systematically,
assess situations logically, use language well, and develop
creative solutions for problems.
The companies for
which our alumni work include American Standard, AT&T,
BankOne, Bethlehem Steel, Control Data, Cray Research, DuPont,
Eastman Kodak, IBM, Lexis-Nexis, Massachusetts Mutual Life
Insurance, Owens-Corning, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Prudential,
Rockwell International, and Warner-Lambert. They hold
virtually every kind of position imaginable: CEO, president,
senior vice president, chief administrative officer, director
of human resources, senior investment analyst, audit manager,
financial services consultant, director of programming
management, corporate executive for social services,
environmental analyst, systems analyst, sales representative,
accountant, and insurance agent.
Some of our
philosophy alumni have started their own businesses.
David Bich?, who runs a prosperous construction company, Bich?
Custom Construction, tells us that he uses his philosophical
training daily when negotiating with clients and subcontractors
and when making decisions.
Public and
Social Service
Since philosophy majors
commonly study theories of political life, the nature of
democracy, and the responsibilities of citizenship, quite a few
of our majors have become active in public service. Their
positions have included: U.S. congressman, deputy general
counsel for the FBI, Brazilian federal research director,
director of the Bureau of Information Services for the
Pennsylvania State Treasury Department, educational researcher
and administrator for the U.S. Office of Education, and urban
planner for the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and
Welfare.
Other positions in public service that our
majors have held include city solicitor, museum project
proposal director, air traffic controller, budget specialist,
supply logistics manager, police officer, welfare casework
instructor, officer in the armed forces, and Peace Corps
volunteer.
Philosophy majors have often sought
careers in social service agencies as well, working for
children’s services organizations, community development
corporations, Catholic Social Services, the American Red Cross,
United Cerebral Palsy, Women in Crisis, and other public and
private
agencies.
Writing
Writing
is often a central component of philosophy majors’
careers. Those who become teachers or scholars write for
academic audiences. Outside of academia, there are many
kinds of work that value the writing skills developed in the
study of philosophy. UD philosophy majors have pursued a
variety of careers as professional writers, becoming legal
writers, print journalists, newspaper editors, editors for
university presses, novelists, public relations consultants,
technical writers, media specialists, and publishers.
