Note: Now over 90.

​In the past couple of weeks, I described different types of funding for graduate study, and why you should get external funding while a graduate student. And a few weeks ago, I shared my list of over 120 post doc opportunities related to Human Development and Family Studies (HDFS). People found that list helpful, so today I’m sharing another list I compiled (with graduate student help), of over 50 (hopefully more by the time this posts; it’s a work in progress) graduate fellowship and grant opportunities also related to HDFS.
 
As with the post doc list, it’s a broad list. I did limit it to ones that can fund you during grad school, and excluded fellowships that require you are a student at a specific university. The list includes some that cover tuition as well as a stipend, and some that are stipend only. Some are only for a couple thousand dollars (e.g., Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.), and others are for tuition plus a generous stipend (e.g., NSF, tuition plus $34,000 a year for 3 years). There are dissertation-specific grants, and grants that you can apply for earlier in your graduate education.
 
Some are very general, such as any discipline, or any social science discipline. Others are more specific, and for these, areas of research vary widely, and include childhood, health, diversity, cultural studies, studies of specific cultures, education, evaluation, gender, social services, and brain sciences. They are certainly relevant to HDFS students, but also to students from multiple psychology areas (e.g., developmental, health), social work, education, sociology, gender and sexuality studies. Some are only for US citizens, but some are only for non-US citizens. There are some that are specific to women or to underrepresented ethnic/racial groups, veterans or LGBTQ individuals. 
 
Due dates range widely, with some in summer, fall, winter, or spring.
 
I make no claims that any information, including information about citizenship requirements, is accurate.
 
I hope that you find this information useful, as you plan out your funding for your time in graduate school.
 
FIND IT HERE.
 
If you have suggestions of other graduate fellowships or that fit these criteria, please share them and I will add them to the list. If you find errors or broken links, please let me know.
 
“50+ fellowship opportunities related to Human Development and Family Studies first appeared on Eva Lefkowitz’s blog on October 11, 2018.”

For individuals considering graduate school (after taking a couple years off, of course), figuring out what kind of program to attend can be challenging. I know that among HDFS majors, we often have a huge range of interests, including medicine, law, education, physical therapy, rehabilitation, speech therapy, human resources, other business areas, and research-oriented PhD programs. Today, I want to talk about a specific set of programs -- degrees that can lead to some form of clinical work. There are a lot of different ways that you can become a clinician and/or therapist, and it can be confusing to sort out the similarities and differences. Here are a few things to keep in mind about the different programs:
 

• PhD in Clinical Psychology: Often when people think about being a clinician, they think that this degree is the one they need. With a PhD in clinical psychology, you can become a licensed psychologist, and during graduate school you get many hours toward licensing. Clinical psychology PhD programs tend to be very research focused. They are based on the scientist-practitioner model. You need to be involved in research throughout your time in grad school, you need to complete a research-based master’s thesis, and a research-based dissertation. You complete a one-year full time clinical internship as part of your degree, as well as other clinical training and clinical hours throughout your program. With a PhD in clinical psychology, you can also move into a research or academic career, including a position as a professor. An advantage of these programs over others is that you can often get a stipend and tuition coverage to support your time in graduate school. A disadvantage is that these programs tend to be some of the most competitive (I know of programs that receive 600 applications for 10 slots). If you are not interested in research and having your career involve research, you should seriously consider a different type of program.
• PsyD in Clinical Psychology: A PsyD is also a doctorate, but is less focused on research, following a practitioner-scholar model. These programs tend to take a bit less time than PhD programs, and focus more heavily on clinical training. You also complete a one-year full time clinical internship. For students not interested in research, PsyD programs are a more efficient way to get a doctorate. These programs are generally less competitive than PhD programs, and therefore easier to get into. However, there are few opportunities for fellowships/funding, so if you have to take out loans, you could end up graduating with a lot of debt.
• MSW (Masters of Social work). There are a number of different types of MSW degrees. If you want to be a clinician, you need to make sure you attend the correct program (I'll discuss this issue in more detail in a subsequent post). MSW degrees can lead to a number of different careers. With a clinical MSW you can become a therapist, but other MSW degrees include medical social work, psychiatric social work, school social work, or jobs in hospitals, criminal settings, administrative positions, etc. MSWs generally take 2 years, and require some supervision hours after graduation. There is some variation by state in how to become licensed with an MSW. These obviously take less time than doctorates. Because they are professional degrees, funding is generally not available.
• Masters or PhD in Counseling Psychology: Most counseling psychology programs are through colleges of education. Often, degrees in counseling psychology lead to school-based work, such as becoming a guidance counselor. However, some counseling psychology programs can lead to family counseling. PhD programs often have opportunities for funding, though perhaps not at the same rate as clinical psychology programs. There is a lot of variation between programs. Like a clinical psychology doctorate, if you go for a PhD, there will be much more research focus.
• Masters or PhD in Counselor Education: These programs often train you to be a professional counselor in a school or community based setting, and like counseling psychology, often are within a college of education. Training can lead to a number of different foci, including being a school counselor, a career counselor in higher education, a clinical and mental health counselor, or rehabilitation counseling. These programs often have somewhat less focus on research than counseling psychology.
• Masters or PhD in MFT/CFT (Marriage/Couple and family therapy): A masters in family therapy can lead to a career as a therapist, generally at the family level. MFT's can work in many different settings, including social services, mental health centers, schools, and private practice. There is more variability with MFT degrees across states than with some other degrees, so you want to be clear on where you are training, and where you want to be afterward (to some extent, this is true with any of the degrees listed here). As with other degrees, the focus on research will be higher at the PhD than at the master’s level.

 
There are obviously a lot of other subtler differences between different types of programs. There is also great variability across universities in different programs for the same degree. I'll address this issue more in the future.

Trying to figure out future plans can be both exciting and intimidating. Make sure you give yourself enough time so that it's more the former and less the latter.
 
“Graduate programs in clinical work first appeared on Eva Lefkowitz’s blog on October 9, 2018.”

Last week I described different types of funding during graduate school. There are some students who must apply for funding external to their department during graduate school. Students in programs that don’t guarantee funding may scramble to support themselves throughout their graduate program. For these students, applying for funding outside their department is survival.
 
Other students, however, enter doctoral programs with 4-5 years of guaranteed funding – often in an assistantship with tuition, stipend, and access to health insurance in exchange to 10-20 hours of work per week. Students with generous departmental support may believe they do not have to apply for funding outside their department during graduate school, because they already have support. Students may also feel that spending time applying for additional funds is time they could spend getting research done. However, there are several benefits to applying for external support even if you don’t financially need it. So, before you write off getting funding external to your department (whether applying within or outside your university), consider the following.
 

• Money. You may not need money to support you, but it’s rare that graduate students feel so financially comfortable that they would turn down extra money. I’ve never heard a grad student say, my stipend is so generous, I really don’t know what to do with all this money. When we have scholarship competitions (not for huge amounts of money), I’m surprised at the small number of students who actually apply. Who wouldn’t want extra money, even if it’s for more flexibility for going to the movies or out for dinner, or for your savings account?
  
• Dissertation research. You may have funds to support yourself, but what about funds to do the dissertation (or other) research project you really want to do? Students often use their mentor’s, another faculty member’s, or publicly available data. But is there a research project you really want to do during graduate school, and could a couple of thousand dollars provide support to complete that project? Grants can support a range of research expenses, such as participant payment, access to measures or software, travel, and other research costs.
• Build your CV: Demonstrating you have successfully secured your own funding positions you well for many jobs. If you are interested in a tenure track position at a top research university, demonstrating the ability to secure funding can be critical. There are other jobs with similar expectations – e.g., soft money jobs at medical schools (though sometimes you can demonstrate this ability after you start the position and start off paid on others’ projects). In addition, many people who work at research institutes have to secure external funding to support various projects. When I received a tenure track position at Penn State right out of my PhD program, I was told the only reason they considered my application was that I had gotten an F31 from NIMH. I know that was 20 years ago, and it’s even harder now to get tenure track positions without doing a post doc first, but whenever you go on the faculty job market, demonstrating your ability to secure funding is highly valuable.
• Practice: For many different careers (tenure track faculty at research-oriented university; faculty at medical school or other soft money position; research institutes), part of your job will be to obtain external funding. This need isn’t limited to researchers working at large universities and institutes. Many smaller local agencies and organizations survive on grants and contracts. So, you might as well get started as a graduate student when the stakes may be lower, and you have built in mentors to help you with the process. Also, habits you form in graduate school often stick – make yourself the person who applies for funding now, and you’ll consider it part of your job for the rest of your career.

 
“ Why you should apply for fellowships and grants during grad school first appeared on Eva Lefkowitz’s blog on October 4, 2018.”

If you are considering applying to graduate school, you may not yet know much about what funding looks like during graduate school. Even if you are currently a graduate student you still may be confused about different options for funding. So I wanted to walk you through different types of funding. As always, this mainly applies to HDFS, psychology, and similar programs, with a focus on graduate programs. Other programs may differ. In addition, I’ve only ever been affiliated with 3 graduate programs (UCLA psych, Penn State HDFS, UConn HDFS), all public universities, so there may be other options at other universities that I’m unfamiliar with.

• Assistantships: The most common type of doctoral funding is through an assistantship. Usually, you work a set number of hours per week and then the assistantship covers your tuition and a stipend and usually provides access to health insurance. Usually, your assignment is as a teaching assistant, a research assistant, or a combination of the two. For some programs, teaching your own course is another option in an assistantship position. Number of hours varies; for some programs the norm is 10 hours per week of work; for others 15 or 20. Assistantship rates vary dramatically by program. In 1998 when I was admitted to developmental psych doctoral programs, one program offered me $7000 a year, and another $12000. But, when comparing assistantship rates at multiple programs, don’t just think about the dollar amount. You also need to consider the number of hours of work, and, perhaps most importantly, the cost of living. Affording rent as a UConn graduate student while living in northern Connecticut is vastly different from affording rent in Boston, for instance. You can look at UConn’s current rates as one example.
• Paid hourly labor: Some programs hire students in various roles on an hourly basis, particularly students who were not guaranteed funding. Paid labor would not cover with tuition support. Departments or faculty may hire you to grade papers, to work on a research project, to do departmental tasks, or in the case of clinical programs, to work as a clinician. Unlike an assistantship, this type of funding does not include tuition coverage. Increasingly, graduate students are becoming unionized, and in some instances, the union prevents departments from hiring students for an hourly rate.
• University fellowship at entry: Many universities have fellowships that they use as recruiting tools. These are usually either for your first year, or for 2 or more years beginning at entry to the doctoral program. Usually you will learn about this fellowship either when you are admitted, or some time before the April decision deadline. Many programs do not even require that you separately apply for such a fellowship – you learn about it after you are admitted. These fellowships usually cover your tuition and provide an (often generous) stipend and access to health insurance. Sometimes there are specific fellowships for students from underrepresented ethnic/racial groups. Here are examples from UConn.
• University dissertation fellowship: Universities often have 1-2 year fellowships. These often (not always) are specific to your last/dissertation year. Often they come from endowments – someone donated to the university to support graduate students in a specific area. They may be specific to a discipline or area of study, or may be more general. They usually cover tuition and provide a stipend and access to health insurance.
• University scholarships: Here, I distinguish between fellowships, which cover tuition and a (hopefully) livable stipend, and scholarships, which are a lump sum but do not include tuition. Note that some awards are named fellowships but do not include tuition. Many universities have these smaller scholarships, at the department, college, or university level. They may offer anywhere from a couple hundred to several thousand dollars. They may be very specific to an area of research, for any dissertation research, or may have certain other criteria (e.g., service to the university). You may have to apply, or your department may have to nominate you. These rarely provide enough money that they can be your only source of funding.
• Institutional training grants: As I described in my post about post docs, this category includes T31’s from National Institutes of Health, which are relatively common in HDFS and related fields. A team of researchers at your university will have already applied for and secured the training grant. So, your application process is generally not immensely complicated, and is internal to the university. These address a specific topic (for instance, at UConn there is one on the social processes of HIV/AIDS). Support on a training grant usually involves a commitment to attend a seminar and/or speaker series, to identify multiple mentors in the area, and to commit to research on that topic for a 2-year period. Depending on the training grant directors, they sometimes involve a stipulation that you cannot do research assistant tasks but instead must be involved in more independent research processes like analyses and writing for your own work. They usually come with a fair bit of professional development training – activities such as support for writing papers, support for writing and submitting grants, and support for going on the job market/applying for post docs. When the PI’s apply to renew the T32, they usually have to report on the current status of all of their alumni, which makes the team of mentors highly invested in their fellows’ success.
• External Individual training grants: The most common one related to HDFS (and psychology) is the F31 from NIH. It requires that you put together a training plan – not only the research you plan to do, but all aspects of training. How do you plan to train to be the scholar you want to be by the end of the plan? It may include, for instance, mentoring in fMRI if your dissertation will require techniques you have not yet used. It might include specific advanced methodology courses. The training plan should include a lot of detail on your activities, not only your specific research study. F31s are generally very involved applications to write, and then provide stipend and tuition for 2+ years of doctoral study. 
• External fellowships: These include a huge range of possible fellowships. Perhaps the best known (and funded!) is from NSF, which provides 3 years of generous support for students from a range of disciplines. Students generally apply in their second year of graduate school. It may cover one year, or multiple years.
• External scholarships: To be clear, a lot of these programs actually call themselves fellowships, but I’m using the term scholarship to indicate that they do not cover tuition. Some universities will provide a tuition grant when students receive this type of funding. Sometimes the stipend amount is generous enough that you can cover tuition and still have enough for living expenses. Sometimes it is only a couple thousand dollars (which can still help, just isn’t enough to support you). These are often one year, frequently the dissertation year. They may be general to social science, they may cover a specific topic, may require membership in a specific organization, or they may be for a specific group of scholars, e.g., women, underrepresented ethnic/racial minorities, individuals from a specific country, etc. Sometimes they may specifically provide support for international travel or research outside of your university’s country, either generally, like the Fulbright, or to a specific country. Sometimes universities will let you have an assistantship and this type of external funding – and other times not. So it’s important to check with your university if the amount will not be enough for you to support yourself.
• External grants: Rather than providing money to the individual per se, grants cover funding for a specific project. Applying often involves a budget, and the funds should be used to cover research expenses, such as travel, data collection, and/or data analysis. More so than other external sources, they very frequently involve a particular discipline or topic.
• Dissertation completion fellowship at other institution: Increasingly, I’ve noticed specific universities offering support for dissertation year funding for students from other universities to be in residence at their university. Sometimes this arrangement involves some teaching, other times not. It seems more common, though not limited to, smaller, prestigious liberal arts colleges that do not have doctoral programs. Often, they involve the potential for future employment by the university. These fellowships frequently are specific to students from underrepresented ethnic/racial backgrounds to improve the university’s diversity long term.

 
Of course, students sometimes have jobs outside of their university. Other students work full time and attend school part time. And students sometimes take out loans to support their graduate education. Here, I focused on funding related to your graduate training.
 
What did I miss? Feel free to comment or email me if you believe I neglected another form of funding.
 
“Different types of funding during graduate school first appeared on Eva Lefkowitz’s blog on September 27, 2018.”

Previously I shared some big picture recommendations and smaller tips for writing papers for graduate courses. Another important skill to master in graduate courses is course participation.
 
I went to a relatively small university with many undergraduate courses of 10-20 students and high expectations of participation. If anything, students were over-engaged in class discussion, talking over each other or feeling the need to contribute to every point. When I became a graduate TA at a large state university, I was shocked that in my TA-led discussion sessions of undergraduate students, it was hard to get students to participate. That sense has continued at the two other large state universities I have worked as a professor. When I teach large classes in particular, it can be challenging to get even one student to answer one of my questions.
 
Once you’re in graduate school, particularly in the social sciences, the expectation is generally that you will contribute during discussion in graduate seminars. The specific expectations vary. In some courses, you need to run a whole class or part of a class with PowerPoint and content that you developed in advance. Students often (not always – your results may vary) find that type of participation easier because it is a structured, prepared contribution. But today I’m referring to more informal, but no less important, discussions where you participate in a discussion of a specific reading, set of readings, or specific topic. In some courses, a portion of your course grade relies on class participation (I often do make class participation part of the grade in graduate seminars).
 
Students approach this expectation with varying degrees of enthusiasm… and dread. Some students love the opportunity to share their reactions and opinions, and like the switch from more lecture-oriented course sessions to more interactive sessions. Other students are petrified at the idea of having to speak up in this informal way. Here are some things that I’ve learned through the years that students may find helpful for grad class participation – both for students who are afraid to speak up, and for students who speak up frequently but don’t receive the participation grade they would like.

• Come to class prepared: It should go without saying that if you want to contribute to class discussion, you should have done the readings in a thoughtful way. While you are reading, take notes on questions you have or points you may want to make during class. Don’t ask a question unless you’ve done the reading. It’s awkward when someone asks a question that makes it clear the student didn’t do the assigned readings. It’s fine to ask for clarification of ideas in the reading you didn’t fully understand, as long as you make it clear that you actually read it. Thoroughly reading the assigned papers and coming to class prepared also makes it easier to jump in when someone makes a point that relates to notes you have taken. It’s easier to make connections to others’ points if you all read the same papers.
  
• What are good contributions? There’s obviously a range of points that will further the discussion. But, much like in response papers, the types of points that can particularly impress the instructor, or can help move discussion forward, include:
  • Making connections between one or more readings
  • Making connections between theoretical constructs and empirical findings
  • Making connections to earlier weeks or, sometimes, to other courses
  • Saying something appropriately critical of a reading (but not just criticizing for the sake of criticizing)
  • Thinking about extensions/applications. For instance, can we apply these findings to intervention or clinical settings? 
  • Responding to other students’ comments
  • Disagreeing with other students’ comments, as long as it’s respectful
  • In the context of student presentations, asking classmates a question or following up on one of their points
  • Considering other ways to measure constructs in empirical work
  • Based on questions or future directions the authors posed, thinking about how to respond to those points
  • Considering cultural changes over time, and how applicable the theory or findings are in light of these changes, particularly if the reading is more than 10 years old. Do these ideas still apply in the current world?
  • How universal is this perspective? That is, can the theory be applied to people of all possible categories all over the world?
  • Describing your own thoughts on a perspective, e.g., I really liked this theory because…
• Ask questions: Asking the instructor or other students questions is always a relatively easy way to contribute. Simple questions to ask include:
  • Clarification questions
  • Has anyone ever considered this research topic in this different context? (e.g., different population, different constructs, etc.)
  • Has there been subsequent work on this topic?
• Learning how to jump in: One thing I realized through the years is that some students in general, and international students in particular, can find it challenging to jump into discussions. I’ve had students say that they have an idea but that so many other people contribute that by the time the discussion quiets down, it feels too late to make that point (or the class has moved onto a new point). So, even learning some key phrases for jumping in can be useful to students. Here are some phrases that students may find useful:
  • Related to Sara’s point…
  • Following up on Nate’s point…
  • I also wanted to say that…
  • That part of the paper made me think about…
  • That’s an interesting point. I also thought that…
  • Does that make you think about…?
  • Given what Carla said I wonder if…
  • I see what you mean about X. I also wonder if…
• Apply the concepts to your own research area: It can be interesting to classmates if from time to time you share how a particular theory or research area may apply to your own area of research – you are extending the topic and bringing in new ideas. Just don’t be the student who every single week pulls the week’s topic back to your own area of research.
• Sharing personal experiences: The issue of sharing personal experiences is a challenging one. I find that some students, rather than thinking about the work at a higher, conceptual level, think about the reading in terms of how it relates to their own lives (not even their own research). Which sometimes is fine. But there is always the student who, every week, turns the readings into self-disclosure that seems to go beyond that week’s readings. The, “my brother used to do that” student. I used to just let these students go when they talked about these personal experiences, because as an instructor, I find it awkward to stop them (how do you interrupt a student talking about her parents’ divorce?). But once, someone noted in my teaching evaluations that they wished I had done more to stop students’ discussion of personal experience. Since then, I’m more aware when a student goes into “my brother used to do that” mode. Instead of cutting the student off, though, I try to bring the student back to the topic, which is something you could also try to do if you want to share a personal experience. So, for instance, if the topic is parenting style and adolescent outcomes, and a student shares that her parents used to be really strict, and her brother was rebellious, I might then ask, does that illustrate the expected outcome of an authoritarian parent? What would the readings suggest your parents should have done differently to lead to your brother being less rebellious? How could the reading be used as general parenting advice? So, if you want to share a personal experience, make sure that it clearly relates to, and expands on, the readings rather than simply… sharing a personal experience.

 
Do you find it challenging to participate in grad class discussion? What tricks do you use?
 
“Participating in graduate seminar discussions first appeared on Eva Lefkowitz’s blog on September 20, 2018.”

Last week I wrote about some general guidelines for writing reaction papers and other grad class papers. Today I want to cover some smaller issues that arise in writing graduate papers.
 
Multiple times in my upper level undergraduate courses I’ve had students complain that I marked off for writing quality – spelling, grammar, clarity. Students’ argument is generally, I already took my W (writing) course, why should I be graded on writing in a non-W course?
 
Hopefully by graduate school you recognize that clear, accurate writing is important in any writing setting [well, hopefully you realize this in undergrad, but if not…]. So, here are some things to be aware of in your writing. Note that these issues are based on ones that I’ve noticed most frequently in graduate student class papers. Some of them arise more frequently because of the kinds of classes I teach (e.g., adolescence vs. adolescent).

• Identify your writing foibles: A general point is that everyone has different writing issues. The ones I’m listing are those I notice frequently; yours may be different. Start to notice what errors your instructors and/or advisors note on your writing. And then be aware of them. I know for myself, for instance, I have issues with consistency. So before I submit a paper, I figure out what terms I am using interchangeably, decide which ones I want, and go through and search and replace. I had an international student who had great English, but often confused she and he. Figure out yours, and check for them before submitting papers.
• Tense switching: An easy one to go back through your paper and check on. Make sure that you are not being inconsistent.             
  • Incorrect example: Lifetime rates of kissing and touching are similarly high for male and female adolescents and college students (Garcia et al., 2008; O’Sullivan et al., 2007; Regan et al., 2004), but reported daily rates were higher for female than male students (Patrick et al., 2015).
  • Corrected: Lifetime rates of kissing and touching are similarly high for male and female adolescents and college students (Garcia et al., 2008; O’Sullivan et al., 2007; Regan et al., 2004), but reported daily rates ARE higher for female than male students (Patrick et al., 2015).
• Singular/plural switching: Make sure that you consistently use singular or plural. So don’t go back and forth between describing people vs. a person. For instance:
  • Incorrect: An adolescent who feels rejected by his/her peers may be less open to seeking out new friendships. Feeling rejected by peers, therefore, may lead adolescents to perpetuate future rejection.
  • Correct:  ADOLESCENTS who feel rejected by THEIR peers may be less open to seeking out new friendships. Feeling rejected by peers, therefore, may lead adolescents to perpetuate future rejection.
• Too long sentences: Think about your sentence length. You will lose the reader if it goes on too long. It’s relatively easy to break up your points into two separate sentences.
• Contractions: Avoid contractions in formal writing. I get to use them in blog posts; but don’t use them in manuscripts, theses, or class papers
• While vs. although/whereas: Use WHILE for comparing time. Use ALTHOUGH or WHEREAS for comparing arguments:
  • Incorrect: While limited past work has examined longitudinal changes, our findings are in line with prior cross-sectional work…
  • Correct: ALTHOUGH limited past work has examined longitudinal changes, our findings are in line with prior cross-sectional work…
  • Incorrect: Some research demonstrates similar reported rates of couple-level oral contraception use for men and women, while other research demonstrates…
  • Correct: Some research demonstrates similar reported rates of couple-level oral contraception use for men and women, WHEREAS other research demonstrates…
  • Correct: While the participants completed surveys, the researcher surreptitiously rated their Tanner level.
• Since vs. because: Use BECAUSE for logical arguments; only use SINCE to describe time.
  • Incorrect: Since multilevel models allow for incomplete data, we retained all measurements…
  • Correct: BECAUSE multilevel models allow for incomplete data, we retained all measurements…
  • Correct: Researchers have recognized the value of human subjects protection since several high profile unethical research studies.
• That/which: This rule has taken me the longest to learn of any grammar rule, I think. Use THAT if the clause (defined as a restricted clause) is critical to the sentence’s meaning. Use WHICH to add additional information (nonrestrictive clause).
  • Future research might consider whether such health benefits are especially true for nonpenetrative behaviors, WHICH do not have accompanying risks of unwanted physical health outcomes.
  • We excluded behaviors THAT do not have accompanying risks of unwanted physical health outcomes from other analyses.
• Relationships/associations: People have relationships; variables have associations. This distinction is particularly important when writing about relationships. Otherwise, you end up with sentences like “the relationship between relationship satisfaction and depression was…”
• Male/female vs. women/men or boy/girl: APA style says to only use male/female as adjectives when referring to humans; use them as nouns only for non-humans. Use women/men or boy/girl for humans. Yes, this wording can be challenging when describing adolescents. Depending on the age, we sometimes use boys/girls, sometimes young men/young women, sometimes male adolescents/female adolescents.
• Adolescents vs. adolescence: For whatever reason, students often mix up these two forms. I know if asked which is used when they could quickly identify; I guess because they sound similar, in writing quickly students sometimes mistype them.
• Plural vs. possessive: Students often use apostrophes when they intend the plural form, or vice versa.
• Others: See my other posts for how to dis the this; use consistent ordering (different from consistent terms); and vanquish the vague.

 
Getting a handle on these issues, and your other writing foibles, early in your academic career isn’t just about getting better grades. It’s about your ability to communicate your ideas and your research with other academics and outside of academia.

What are your writing foibles?
 
“ first appeared on Eva Lefkowitz’s blog on September 13, 2018.”

Last week I wrote about reading journal articles and chapters for graduate courses. For many graduate courses, once you have finished reading, you have to create a written product. Oftentimes the format is a reaction paper. Many students never had to write reaction papers in undergrad, so it is a new format as a first year grad student. Other times the instructor may provide questions or prompts for you to frame your paper. Either way, though, you are frequently taking multiple readings and trying to respond in a clear way that goes beyond summarizing the readings and presents your own ideas.
 
Here are some suggestions for writing strong reaction papers:
 

• Citations: I know I sound like a broken record, but cite any sources. Sometimes students think that because they are writing about a reading assigned for class, they do not need to provide a citation. You still do. You need to attribute the source, and you need to start good habits of citing other people’s ideas, even if you aren’t quoting word for word.
• Stick to the page/word limit: Most reaction papers have word limits. Instructors do not only place word limits because they don’t want to read too much (though let’s be honest, that could be part of the motivation). If there’s a word limit, it means the instructor thinks you can achieve the task in that many words or pages. The rest of your career will be filled with word limits, for journals, grant applications, tenure narratives, etc. Practice sticking to them.
• Avoid repetition: How do you stick to the page/word limit? Get to the point quickly, and avoid repetition. Just about any time I have graded a paper that is too long it is quickly obvious to me that there are redundancies that could be cut. Or…
• Avoid irrelevant details: there are irrelevant details that do not need to be in the paper. Rarely does a reaction paper need to include specific details about the sample, such as the sample size or how the sample was recruited. Of course, there are exceptions if relevant to a point you are making, but make sure that what you write responds to the prompt or moves your arguments along.
• Be clear, don’t be vague: Be specific about what you say, and avoid being vague. Vague language does nothing to forward your argument.
• Make connections: I’ve previously discussed the importance of integrating across multiple studies in journal article introductions. Integration and making connections are also important in reaction papers. Instructors do not want you to simply summarize the readings. They know the papers – they assigned them. Instructors want you to demonstrate your own critical thinking. To do so, you need to integrate across the readings, and make connections between them.
• Limitations/future directions: Another way to demonstrate your own critical thinking is to describe limitations of prior theories/research, and suggest future directions in this area. I’ve previously written about how, in an article introduction, you shouldn’t focus on others’ weaknesses but instead should write about your strengths. A reaction paper is a bit different in that you aren’t presenting your own data/analyses, so you have to spend more time critiquing prior work. Prior work often has flaws, and it’s fine to critique it. However, do remember that just because someone didn’t ask a specific research question in their work, doesn’t mean their study was flawed. It just means they asked a different question. You can discuss new directions/next steps without calling it a flaw in prior work. One pet peeve of mine is when writers (not just students) suggest future work without explaining why. An easy go to is, future work should consider samples that are X. E.g., this sample was all White and middle class, and future work should consider more diverse populations. That’s probably true, but explain why. What differences might you predict? Perhaps families from lower economic status have fewer resources and thus time spent supervising homework might be more challenging for that sample, and less indicative of poorer parenting quality. Explain why considering these other groups may be important.  
• Know your instructor: I would never suggest catering to your professors. But paying attention to your instructors and the kinds of arguments they may can be useful in thinking about the kinds of arguments they may find compelling. It can also be useful in the details. In grad school, we had an instructor who often used the expression “on the one hand… on the other hand” during lecture. I made sure that every reaction paper used those phrases, and the instructor consistently wrote “good point!” next to those points in particular. Other instructors might prefer a more one sided perspective. You can get a sense of the instructor, and write accordingly.
• Outlines: When you are working to improve your writing, I recommend two outlines. First, write an outline before you start writing, to help organize your writing. I imagine everyone knows about that outline already. But I also recommend writing a second outline of your paper after you finish writing, based on your actual paper. This second outline helps demonstrate the logical flow (or lack thereof) of your paper, can point out repetition to you, and generally helps you see your paper in another way.
• Don’t write the first sentence first: Students often get stuck on first sentences. Jump in, and return to it later.
• Timing: Do not start your paper the day before. There is no way you can fully proofread your paper if you write it all in one day. Write it at least 2 days before, so you can reread it the day before. I even save drafts of every blog post I write and read them 24+ hours later before posting them. I still have errors, as I don’t spend as much time rewriting them as I would more formal writing, but I definitely notice and fix errors and find ways to make my points more clearly.
• Read aloud: If you’re struggling with awkward writing, try reading your paper aloud. It can make a huge difference in noticing when your writing is awkward or unclear.
• Talk to your professor: If you want to improve your reaction papers, and aren’t sure how, go talk to your professor about one you’ve already written and received feedback on. Don’t go in asking to get a better grade on that paper. Go in asking to understand how to improve in the future. Professors want their students to do well, and are generally happy when students reach out to try to improve. They just don’t like grade grubbing.  

 
“How to Write Strong Papers in Grad School first appeared on Eva Lefkowitz’s blog on September 6, 2018.”

So, you just started your first semester of graduate school, and this week your professors handed out your syllabi. You are feeling shell-shocked. How in the world are you supposed to read 15-25 articles a week across your 3-5 graduate seminars? Not only that, you started reading them, and some seem dense, wordy, or convoluted – some you’re not even sure you can follow. And, you are likely balancing this reading with writing (new blog post coming soon), learning methods, starting a new research or teaching assistantship, or both, adjusting to living in a new city/state/country, and trying to maintain something of a life outside of school. And sleep. Precious sleep.
 
Okay, maybe you don’t feel that way, but I know I did during my first semester of grad school. I remember that some of the readings for my cognitive development class in particular felt as though they were written by people intentionally trying to confuse me.
 
Most of my advice is targeted at students in HDFS or similar social science programs, that predominantly assign journal articles and chapters. I know that other disciplines frequently assign books, and I know that journal articles in physical science disciplines are often substantially shorter than in the social sciences, so advice may differ.
 
Hopefully, you first chose your courses well, so that you are taking courses that suit your future plans. That definitely helps with motivation
 
I recommend reading some other posts on the topic, including Miriam Sweeney, and Sink or Swim in the APA GradPsych Magazine.
 
Based on these two posts, as well as my own experiences and mentoring, I recommend these strategies:

• Plan by the week: Plan out your reading across all courses a week at a time. There are going to be weeks where you have more or less for certain courses. Figuring out the ebb and flow at the start of each week is going to help you manage your time. You don’t want to approach each day thinking, what do I need to read for my family seminar tomorrow? You want a bigger picture.
• Think about the order: Don’t just read the papers in the order they appear on the syllabus for that week. When I teach my grad seminars I try to recommend an order to read things in. Even if your instructor doesn’t do the same, you can get a sense by looking at the readings. Read theory chapters/articles first, then review chapters/articles, and finally any empirical articles. If many empirical papers are assigned, group them either by date (e.g., read older/foundational papers first, newer ones second) or if the week’s readings cover a range of topics, read them by topic (e.g., read the depression articles first, then the anxiety ones).
• Read strategically: Sweeney recommends reading strategically, and I agree with that point at a general level. However, I don’t agree with the order she recommends, where she recommends reading the discussion before the methods and results. I would find that order utterly baffling. I general I think getting an overall sense of the paper by looking at titles, and then reading in order, works best for me. Don’t skip the abstract because it seems redundant – it gives you a great overview of the paper.
• Take notes: I can’t emphasize this point enough. There are many different formats by which you might take notes –annotate a PDF on your computer; open a Word file and take notes there; handwritten notes; post it notes on a print out (does anyone do this anymore?). But whatever you do, take notes as you read. If you find anything confusing, make note of it. Think about things you read that would make good discussion points, so when you go into the class discussion, you already have ideas of things to say. Although I haven’t read for courses in a long time, I can share that when I read for book club, I often think of interesting observations, but if I don’t write them down, they are utterly gone by the time we meet.
• Annotate your notes: Perhaps my most important point. I’ve written about it before, but it bears repeating. When you take notes, make sure you include annotation with citations. If you are taking notes simultaneously from multiple articles, keep annotations throughout (just jot down the source). If you are reading one article at a time, just list the article on the top of the page. But if you do any cutting and pasting, or typing/jotting word for word, put it in quotes so that your future self knows that the words are not your own. Otherwise, you may one day use these notes to write a paper/your comps/a lecture, and not remember the words aren’t your own. I’ve seen this happen. A lot.
• Read critically: Don’t just jot notes on what you read; jot notes on what you think is unclear, or incorrect, or a misinterpretation.
• Make connections: If you see connections to other readings, either from the same week or from prior weeks, definitely make note. These are the kinds of observations that instructors generally love.
• SQ3R: Azar recommends the SQ3R method: survey, question, read, recite, review. I haven’t used this method, though it seems if you have the time for it, it would be useful. I can’t see using it for 10+ readings a week, but there may be a couple key ones where using this technique proves particularly useful.
• Skimming: As a professor I can’t tell you that it’s ever okay to skim a paper instead of reading it thoroughly. But, I can say that skimming is better than not reading it at all. Don’t skim all of the papers for one class, but if you’re in a huge time crunch and need to skim one or two out of a long list, you’ll probably live. Just be strategic about which ones you skim vs. read thoroughly.
• Understanding stats: There are going to be times you don’t understand all of the statistics in an empirical article. There are certainly times I don’t understand all of the statistics in articles I read (or review for journals). It’s okay. See what you can get out of the results section, and read the discussion even more carefully than usual to make sure you understand the findings in general.
• Study groups: If you’re struggling with the content of readings, finding other grad students to discuss papers with in advance of class can be useful. It’s likely you can help each other with things the other doesn’t understand.
• Take breaks: Please take breaks. It will improve your productivity, but also your wellbeing.
  • Take breaks for your eyes every 15 minutes or so, even if it’s just 15 seconds of looking away from the computer screen. Look out a window or close your eyes for a bit. Looking at your phone or Facebook doesn’t count as an eye break.
  • Take breaks for your body every hour or so. If you’re at the lab/office, step away from your computer and go for a walk, even if it’s around the building. If you’re at home, stand up and stretch, do a down dog, figure out something to get out of the same position. I’m very bad at remembering to do so. I’ve worked with people who actually set their time for every hour to remind them to stand up and move. I will now do the same for myself, so I can practice what I preach. Done.
  • Take breaks for your brain. You can take a short break to chat to another student. Make a phone call. Go for a walk outside. Exercise. Make sure that every day you have a longer break to do something you love, so you can return to work refreshed.
• One size doesn’t fit all: Strategies that work for one student might not work well for others. Sometimes, you need some trial and error to sort out your best strategy. 

 
  What other reading strategies do you suggest to new graduate students?
 
“ How to Read for Grad Classes, Pass Classes, and Still Sleep first appeared on Eva Lefkowitz’s blog on August 30, 2018.”

*Note: now at 80.
*9/1 Note: now over 120.

It’s early for post doc applications, but somehow I have post docs on the mind, perhaps because one of my former students recently started a new postdoctoral position.
 
Recently I wrote about different types of post docs, and prior to that I discussed whether you should do a post doc. Let’s say that you’ve decided to do a post doc and don’t know where to begin to look. I’ve got you covered.
 
I have created a list of postdoctoral positions relevant to HDFS graduate students that I have shared with Penn State students (when I was grad director there) and more recently UConn students as department head. I’ve maintained and updated that list for a few years (with the help of a couple of grad students here). I thought it might be useful to a wider audience so today I share it with you.
 
It is a broad list, so not all positions will be relevant for any individual (much like the field of HDFS in general). It includes postdocs related to child development, adulthood and aging, family, prevention, policy, social science methods, diversity, demography, health (e.g., substance use, HIV, cancer, nutrition), education, and sexuality. It includes different types of postdocs, including ones sponsored by NIH or other agencies at a particular university, ones sponsored by a particular university, and some individual postdocs (e.g., Fulbright, SRCD). It does NOT include onetime postdocs supported by specific grants or research labs. We do our best to keep it up to date, but sometimes things have probably disappeared and we’ve lost track. In fact, we marked in yellow ones that we don’t think still exist, but we are not certain.
 
I make no claims that any information, including information about citizenship requirements, is accurate.
 
Even with all of those caveats, I hope that you find this spreadsheet useful. I generally recommend that students check out different postdoctoral positions a couple of years before they are ready to apply for them, so they have a sense of what is out there, and what their record might need to look like when they are ready to apply. So, even if you are not on the market this year, you may want to take a few minutes and look at what's on the list (good, productive procrastination activity).
 
It was at 50 when I wrote this post. Hopefully it is even longer by the time you are reading it.
 
If you know of any others, please share them with me and I will add them.

FIND IT HERE.
 
“50+ postdoctoral positions related to Human Development and Family Studies first appeared on Eva Lefkowitz’s blog on August 16, 2018.”

A couple of years ago I wrote about whether you should do a post doc or not before looking for a more permanent job. Today I wanted to describe the different types of post docs that exist.
 
Let me start with a giant disclaimer, and one that I end up repeating a lot when we discuss these options in my professional development graduate seminar. If you are an international student looking for a post doc in the United States, your options are relatively limited, as you won’t be able to do an individual or institutional post doc funded by NIH (or a number of other governmental agencies). You cannot, unfortunately, be as picky in this situation. I always feel the need in class to say “I’m sorry” to international students as I discuss options more generally. Though since it’s not my fault, maybe I shouldn’t apologize…
 
So, I would say at least in my discipline, there are five different types of post docs (I started with four but added a fifth as I was writing):
 
1. Institutional training grants. This category includes T31’s from National Institutes of Health, which are relatively common in my discipline. There are several advantages to institutional post docs. You do not have to plan for them a year in advance – you can apply on a regular application cycle (often late fall or early spring for a fall start date). They usually come with protected time for writing/getting your own research done. And, they usually come with a fair bit of professional development training – activities such as support for writing papers, support for writing and submitting grants, and support for going on the job market. When the PI’s apply to renew the T32, they usually have to report on the current status of all of their alumni, which makes the team of mentors highly invested in their post docs’ success.
 
2. Individual training grants. For these training grants, you apply to do a specific research project with a training program, and if you get funded, receive a stipend as well as some research funds to carry out the project. Generally, doing such a post doc involves a relatively involved application, and you have to identify a mentor before applying, often a year or more in advance. An obvious advantage of this type of post doc is that you’ve identified your own project and training – so, if you want additional skills in neuroscience/statistics/prevention/whatever, you can identify a specific team of mentors, training site, and research project to carry out that project. The disadvantage is that you have to apply so early, that you often have to identify the site and mentors up to two years in advance to be able to write the application so far in advance with the training team. In addition to F32 applications through NIH, some other common ones related to our discipline include:
NSF SBE Postdoctoral Fellowship
Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship
AAUW’s American Fellowship
Fulbright (International project)
Ford Foundation Fellowship Program
 
3. Individual fellowships outside of academia: I do not know of as many of these, but they would include things like the SRCD social policy fellows program, where you go to Washington DC and use developmental science to inform public policy in the congressional or executive branch. These are great for individuals who want to either find work outside of a university setting, or are interested in more translational research and want to get a sense of how to make an impact with that research.
 
4. Post doc position on specific research grant. Sometimes, faculty advertise for a postdoctoral position where they pay a full time PhD to work on a specific research grant. One advantage of such a position is it is generally an option for international scholars – that is, there aren’t the same citizenship restrictions. Another option is that if there is a specific researcher you want to work with, and if he has funding, it provides an opportunity to do so. The disadvantage is that, because you are paid off of a specific grant, you will be working on that grant and may have less freedom to work on other projects or to publish your work from earlier grad school projects. A lot depends on the PI you work for. In some cases, the PI really wants a project manager and you may end up doing a lot of participant recruitment, organization, running participants, and/or data management. In other cases, the PI really may need someone to analyze and write up data, so you may actually have an opportunity to build your CV and get publications out. It’s really important to get a very clear sense of what the PI will expect from you before you accept this type of position.
 
5. Teaching post doc. Some universities now have teaching post doc positions. These often require that you teach a certain number of courses for 1-2 years. Sometimes they also include dedicated time for your own research writing. For students who want a career as faculty at a smaller liberal arts college, but who are graduating without much teaching experience, such a post doc can be a good experience. However, you often also have to have a decent publication record to get the job. It’s rare that top liberal arts colleges will hire faculty without a publication record, even if they have a strong teaching record. So, think about your goals, and your record, as you decide what you need during this period before going on the academic job market.
 
I haven’t even discussed all of the personal situations that might limit your options, particularly in terms of geographic mobility and partner issues. Basically, there is no one right type of postdoctoral position. It’s important to figure out both what your career goals are, what your constraints are, and what each specific post doc option looks like, and then find the best fit for you.
 
“What type of post doc should you do? first appeared on Eva Lefkowitz’s blog on August 9, 2018.”