Students in the doctoral program gain in-depth exposure to interdisciplinary research with faculty spanning fields including developmental psychology, family studies, education, anthropology and public policy. Doctoral students conduct their own research, collecting data under close supervision of a mentor that they choose. Additional mentoring in teaching is another valuable feature of this program, as it improves our graduates’ competitiveness in the job market.

Doctoral students receive individualized attention from faculty members, and these students frequently hold assistantships working with their primary advisors. It is also common for students to work closely with other faculty members on research projects, independent studies, or publications. Students also have access to offices shared with a small number of other students, which fosters proximity to both peers and faculty members.

As a department deeply engaged in applied research and community engagement, HDFS offers students first-hand experiences in settings such as New Directions Early Head Start, the Lab School, the National Leadership Consortium on Development Disabilities, and the Delaware Stars program. Doctoral students hold assistantships within these programs, conduct their own research, and gain valuable experience learning from professional staff members devoting their careers to these applied topics.

We have been successful in supporting full-time doctoral students with assistantships that offer full funding and tuition waivers. These assistantships typically involve providing support to faculty research projects or serving as teaching assistants. Some doctoral students independently teach courses as part of their assistantships or participate in undergraduate advising. These are particularly marketable skills for students seeking faculty jobs after graduation.