JOINT PHD PROGRAM
The Joint PhD Program in Public Policy is a collaborative effort between the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and the departments of Economics, Political Science, and Sociology.
DEMOGRAPHICS
The Joint PhD Program follows a “discipline plus” structure. The “discipline” means that all
Total number of students: 38
students complete a PhD in a basic social science, and the “plus” means that they apply social
Number of applicants in 2013: 172
science theory and knowledge to public policy problems. Joint PhD students will be awarded
Average age: 24.73
doctoral degrees in Economics and Public Policy, Political Science and Public Policy, or
Female: 63.16%
Sociology and Public Policy. These titles reflect a fundamental characteristic of the program:
Male: 36.84%
students are simultaneously full members of their disciplinary departments and participants
Underrepresented (U.S. only): 40%
in an interdisciplinary public policy community. The program is designed to appeal to students who want to pursue research careers in a traditional social science discipline but who also see themselves as committed to the study of public policy. Our goal is for joint PhD students to bring the most rigorous tools of social science to bear on fundamental public policy questions. Recent recipients of the Joint PhD degree have taken academic positions at Brown University, Cornell University, Duke University, Harvard University, Penn State University, Princeton University, University of Maryland, University of North Carolina, University of
PHD JOBS BY SECTOR Other 6.89% Postdoc Fellowship 17.2%
Virginia, WestPoint, Williams College, and Yale University. Other recent graduates have accepted research positions with the
Government/ National Lab Research 20.68% Research: Other 10.34%
Faculty 44.82%
World Bank, the U.S. Treasury, the Federal Reserve Board, the U.S. State Department, Rand, Mathematica, the International Food Policy Research Institute, the Gates Foundation, and McKinsey.
MEET ALUM ANGEL HARRIS
Dissertation: “Do African
Current job: Associate
Americans Really Resist
professor of sociology and
PHD IN PUBLIC POLICY AND SOCIOLOGY (2005)
School: An In-Depth
African American studies at
Examination of the
Princeton University
Oppositional Culture Theory”