GSAS to Offer Business Training Program To Increase PhD Employment Opportunities

In response to a shrinking job market for Ph.D's, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) will offer a six-week program next summer to teach Harvard doctoral candidates how to apply their skills to jobs in the business world.

Peter S. McKinney, associate dean of the GSAS and chairman of the program's advisory board, said yesterday, "The program will review old stereotypes about the usefulness of people with Ph.Ds in the non-academic environment, and hopefully teach both Ph.Ds and corporation people that the Ph.D has very useful skills for industry."

The program will also show Ph.D candidates that intellectual challenges exist in the business world, he said, adding that, "We want them to know that industry is not a second-rate experience."

Restructure

McKinney said while the program will draw most of its faculty from the Business School, its curriculum will differ substantially from the Business School's MBA program.

Walter J. Salmon, Kresge Professor of Marketing at the Business School and a member of the summer program faculty, said yesterday he will restructure his marketing curriculum to better suit an older student body with little experience in marketing.

Bucks

Edward L. Keenan'57, dean of the GSAS, said yesterday the program is among several changes intended to introduce GSAS students to "the real world" and to increase the job opportunities for the school's graduates.

Outside Funds

The program has received funding from outside corporations, including the Exxon Education Foundation and General Motors, Donna G. Martyn, assistant dean placement at the GSAS and creator of the program, said yesterday. The program's tuition will be $600, she added.

The program will accept 50 applicants for the first term of next summer's session.