African-Americans are finding career fulfillment by going back to school with assistance from the PhD project

Black Enterprise, Oct, 2004

A growing number of African-American professionals are finding career fulfillment not in the corner office of the executive suite, but in the cluttered office of the academic.

The PhD Project, a multi-million dollar diversity effort sponsored by some of the nation's largest companies, is assisting African-American professionals to return to academia. The PhD Project conducts a nationwide marketing campaign--identifying minorities willing to leave their corporate jobs, return to academia to earn a Ph.D., and become business professors. Top candidates are invited to a three-day conference, where they meet with current minority business professors and representatives from Ph.D. programs across the country. They get all the information they need to make the transition from business to academia. Airfare and lodging for the conference is paid by The PhD Project.

Once enrolled in a doctoral program, PhD Project participants are invited to join one of the PhD Project Doctoral Students Association. These peer support groups help minority doctoral students stay in touch to break the isolation often felt by doctoral students.

The PhD Project's success is undeniable. In 1994, when the program began, there were only 294 African-American, Hispanic, or Native American professors at U.S. business schools. Today, there are 709 minority business professors-an increase of more than 140%. Further, 415 minorities are currently enrolled in doctoral programs, and will take a place at the front of the classroom in the next few years.

The PhD Project's annual conference is held every November. For more information, and to apply, visit www.phdproject.org.

Sponsors of The PhD Project are: KPMG Foundation, Graduate Management Admission Council, Participating Universities, Citigroup Foundation, Ford Motor Company, DaimlerChrysler Corporation Fund, AACSB International, GE Foundation, AICPA, James S. Kemper Foundation, Merrill Lynch & Co. Foundation, Inc., Fannie Mae Foundation, Abbott Laboratories, State Street Corporation, JPMorgan Chase, Robert K. Elliott, Goldman, Sachs & Co., Hewlett-Packard Company, Sara Lee Branded Apparel.