Pathways to Entrepreneurship (PAtENT) Program: Reimagining STEM Doctoral Programs

This Work in Progress paper describes the development and implementation of a new pathway for doctoral candidates in STEM programs to satisfy their capstone degree requirements that has the potential to modernize the STEM Ph.D. The model, Pathways to Entrepreneurship, aims to bring greater alignment between doctoral degrees and the rapidly changing employment landscape. Programmatic and curricular innovations to the current Ph.D. model are described along with the rationale. Project goals are to develop an alternative roadmap for STEM doctoral students, that is scalable, and to investigate pedagogical implications of these innovations, for doctoral education and for broadening participation of women, veteran students, and those traditionally underrepresented in STEM. We present the assessment approach to evaluate program efficacy, and share baseline information regarding student self-efficacy toward entrepreneurship. The aim of this project is to increase entrepreneurship rates among graduates, and to propagate evidence-based practices to STEM graduate programs. Should our program innovations be adopted by other programs based on our findings, a separate Doctor of Innovation track might emerge as a viable alternative to the current Doctor of Philosophy track.