Leadership and Management

Leadership and Management

Leadership, management, and entrepreneurial skills are often overlooked in academic training. Yet these skills are vital for success within the academic realm and highly transferable for those seeking careers in industry, government, and the non-profit sectors. GradPathways offers workshops and panel discussions featuring faculty and industry experts on these topics, often in collaboration with the Graduate School of Management and the Mike and Renée Child Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

Skill Review

Review these skills, and consider if you have already developed the skill enough for your future career plans, expect to develop the skill as part of your program, or need to find additional resources to support developing the skill:

  1. Understand and practice strong and respectful leadership
  2. Understand and practice strong and respectful followership
  3. Articulate my leadership style
  4. Form and manage teams for specific projects
  5. Delegate tasks to team members, as appropriate
  6. Address and manage conflict from a position of authority
  7. Address and manage conflict from a position of no authority
  8. Build collaborative partnerships to achieve organizational and personal goals
  9. Manage a professional budget
  10. Manage timelines for projects and teams
  11. Understand and adopt a entrepreneurial mindset

The UC Entrepreneurship Academy

The three-day UC Entrepreneurship Academy helps students, postdocs and faculty in science and engineering gain the knowledge and networks needed to develop the commercial potential of your research or idea. Each academy combines focused lectures, practical exercises, networking sessions and hands-on experiences in an innovative format to help you explore how your research can make a broader impact in industry, the marketplace and the world. You’ll learn to identify market needs and opportunities and develop a network of experts to support your venture.

Fellowship Programs

Professors for the Future is GradPathways' own leadership program for doctoral students and postdoctoral scholars. The program supports Fellows in strengthening their leadership, teaching, and professional skills while contributing to the graduate and postdoctoral community through meaningful service.

Leaders for the Future is a nine-month program is designed for UC Davis Ph.D. candidates and postdoctoral researchers in all disciplines who are interested in developing leadership, innovation and business skills while engaging in an experiential project or applied experience outside academia.

The Keller Pathway Fellowship Program is a nine-month program is for UC Davis Ph.D, masters and undergraduate students, and postdoctoral researchers with a specific business idea. 

Business and Poster Competitions

The Mike and Renée Child Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship hosts three annual competitions, along with a number of preparatory workshops, to spark the campus' entrepreneurial spirit:
- The Ideas Competition is an entry-level competition open to all UC Davis students and encourages them to share their initial ideas for products, services, or businesses that can solve problems and create positive change
- The Little Bang! Pitch + Poster Competition is open to any currently enrolled student at the high school, undergraduate or graduate level in California. The competition is designed to help participants define their business idea and communicate it concisely using a poster and short pitch.
- The Big Bang ! Business Competition helps students grow as entrepreneurs and as leaders. Teams will find opportunities to connect with fellow innovators, learn and apply business concepts in educational workshops, grow their networks—and compete for cash prizes.

Regional Opportunities

With the capital of California so close by, UC Davis graduate students and postdocs have access to some preeminent opportunities.

The UC Center Sacramento (UCCS) offers the Presidential Graduate Opportunities for Leadership Development (GOLD) Fellowship. This fellowship offers a doctoral-level graduate studentw in any academic discipline an opportunity to spend a quarter, semester, or summer term in residence in Sacramento for the purpose of conducting public policy research on issues germane to California, engaging with state policymakers, and supporting undergraduate education at UCCS.

The Center for Regional Change (CRC) hosts the Bradshaw Student Engaged Scholars Program. The goal of the Bradshaw Scholars Program is to create opportunities for students to deepen their leadership, applied research, and communication skills through hands-on experiential learning. In this program, students are matched with ongoing projects designed by host organizations and/or UCD faculty members. 

Leadership Opportunities

Join Graduate Student Organizations through the Center for Student Involvement, You can find existing student organizations to match your interests - or start you own! There are many graduate student groups representing diverse communities and interests on campus, with opportunities for volunteering, leadership, and advocacy.

Serve as a Representative to the Graduate Student Association (GSA) - the Graduate Student Association (GSA) is the primary student government body for graduate students on the UC Davis campus. Each department and graduate group is granted a set number of representatives based on enrollment, and attendance at monthly GSA Assemblies returns funding to students in those programs. 

Serve as an Officer of the Graduate Student Association (GSA): The GSA is led by seven graduate student officers who ensure leadership, advocacy to university administration and to the State of California. 

Serve as a volunteer or officer of the Postdoctoral Scholars Association (PSA): The PSA is led with six postdoc officers who provide leadership, planning, and advocacy to campus administration. 

Participate in the Graduate Academic Achievement and Advocacy Program (GAAAP), the first UC-based, student-initiated, student-run recruitment and retention program for graduate students. The GAAAP is dedicated to empowering and retaining graduate and professional students.

Become a Teaching Assistant Consultant (TAC): The Teaching Assistant Consulting (TAC) Fellows Program promotes and facilitates professional development programming for graduate student instructors and postdoctoral scholars. 

Become a Writing Consultant at the Writing Center: Writing Fellows offer one-on-one writing consultations with graduate students and postdoctoral scholars, host writing retreats, and create and lead workshops.

Serve as Graduate Student Assistant to the Dean and Chancellor (GSADC): As a key leadership position, the Graduate Student Advisor to the Dean of Graduate Studies and to the Chancellor (GSADC) is the campus graduate student representative serving as a voice for graduate student concerns, needs and perspectives.