"reason rules the world, and world history has proceeded rationally" Hegel

Research Placements: Non-academic

Those of our PhD students who have not taken the academic path, have gone on to pursue a wide range of exciting careers, including:

  • Trainee position at Crowe Clark Whitehill (accountancy firm)
  • Curator of Public Events at Tate Modern until 2005, now Curator of Education & Public Programs, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
  • Greek General Secretariat for Equality and temporary teaching at various Greek Universities
  • Strategic Director of the Department for Children, Schools and Families
  • Middle East Communications Manager for Christian Aid and now a freelance journalist
  • Research Officer at University Campus Suffolk
  • Business Operations Manager, Domain Technologies
  • Analyst within the Mergers and Aquisition field of Investment Banking

One of our recent graduates, Charmaine Coyle, describes how her PhD in philosophy helped to prepare her for her current work presenting cases for the Home Office in matters of immigration and asylum:

"A PhD in philosophy has no obvious link with immigration law and it was a baptism of fire in this role. Philosophy, however, made it easy to do the large quantities of research that I now have to do. The experience of giving papers and teaching at Essex meant that presenting in court was not as daunting as it may have been for some people, even those who had studied law. And of Module, the ability to analyse and evaluate arguments and put across clear and concise reasons for holding a position come directly from the years of reading philosophy. I wouldn’t change anything about my time at the University of Essex, it was a wonderful experience!"