Tufts University, The Fletcher School

Grads Work on Trending Issues:
Technology Policy, Climate Change, Refugees

Graduates of The Fletcher School at Tufts University are finding jobs in fields fueled by some of today’s most significant trends: a demand for expertise in technology-related policy, from data security to internet regulation; deeper awareness of the risks imposed by climate change; and a growing number of forcibly displaced people.

The Fletcher School offers fields of study in each of these areas, says Elana Givens, director of career services. “Any good school picks career fields that are growing. Schools also must make students aware of other meaningful paths.”

In response to skyrocketing need in the last decade for expertise in technology-related policy, Fletcher has developed degree options in technology, cybersecurity, internet policy, and related fields. For example, the school created an MS in Cybersecurity and Public Policy program, in collaboration with the Department of Computer Science in the Tufts School of Engineering. Recent Fletcher graduates have found a range of intriguing jobs in this field: as a privacy engineer for Google, as a cyber-risk consultant for Deloitte, and as a policy analyst in the Office of Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure Protection for the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

In the field of international development and environmental policy, Fletcher’s expertise is bolstered by its dean, Rachel Kyte, who is a leader in climate change issues and worked at the United Nations and World Bank Group. Recent Fletcher graduates are now working as the manager of responsible sourcing for the Hershey Co., with the United Nations Environment Programme, and with CDP (formerly Carbon Disclosure Project), a not-for-profit that runs the global disclosure system for investors, companies, and governments to manage their environmental impacts.

The issue of refugees and migration policy is researched by the Henry J. Leir Institute, housed at Fletcher. Globally, forced displacement increased in the first half of 2021 to an estimated 84 million, and the issue gained even greater urgency when a significant number of people fled Ukraine as a result of Russia’s invasion. Two recent Fletcher graduates have found employment in this area with the nonprofit International Rescue Committee, one working as a data and evaluations specialist, and the other as an Afghan evacuee response staff member.

To prepare students for these and other careers, Fletcher requires them to conduct a personal “gap analysis” using job description requirements in career fields of interest, so they know which skills they need to develop.

“I say to students, look at what you want to do in your life and the skills and knowledge that are required,” Givens says. “You should use that to determine how to use your time at Fletcher.”

Contact
https://fletcher.tufts.edu/careers-outcomes
https://fletcher.tufts.edu
[email protected]
617-627-3040