HARVARD GRADUATE SCHOOL OF DESIGN CAREER SERVICES
www.gsd.harvard.edu/career
GSD Graduate Career Paths
What do Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) graduates do? Where do they work? What fields to they pursue? We reviewed the Harvard alumni/ae database to answer some of these common questions. The Harvard alumni/ae database offers one way to learn about Harvard alumni/ae. As is the case in any database, some information may be missing or out of date, but this information gives us a good idea of general trends.
Where do GSD alumni/ae live? 87% of GSD alumni/ae live in the US, with 13% of GSD alumni/ae living abroad.
GSD Alumni Living in the US by State
MD 2% WA 2% VA 2% PA 2% TX 3%
CT 2%
other 21%
MA 25%
The chart to the left shows that within the US, most GSD alumni/ae reside in Massachusetts, California and New York. Within those states, many GSD alumni/ae live in the metro areas of Boston, New York City, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
CA 16%
IL 3%
FL 3%
DC 4%
NY 15%
GSD Alumni/ae Internationally
Australia/ Middle East New Zealand 5% Africa 6% 2% South America Europe 7% 35% Canada+ Mexico (North America excluding US) 15% Asia 30%
The chart to the left shows where GSD alumni/ae are by “continent” and “region” excluding the US but including Canada and Mexico. As the chart shows, most GSD alumni/ae living outside of the US live in Europe, Asia and North America.
What fields to GSD alumni/ae practice? This question is best answered according to the program. To learn more about the programs described below, please see the GSD Official Register at www.gsd.harvard.edu/register. The Harvard alumni/ae database only allows for one occupation to be listed, but keep in mind that alumni/ae may practice multiple fields. For instance, many who teach architecture also practice architecture. Architecture: MArch 1, MArch 2
MArch 1 and MArch 2 alum
Other 16%
The majority of GSD alumni/ae who graduate from the MArch 1 and MArch 2 programs list their primary occupation in the Harvard alumni/ae database as Architecture/Design. The 16% of alumni/ae in the chart that listed other fields as their primary occupation included these (as well as other) fields: 3% Education/Research 3% Business 2% Planning/Government 2% Real Estate 2% Visual Arts/Entertainment 1% Building Construction 1% Consulting
Architecture /Design 84%
Where do they work? MArch 1 and 2 alumni/ae work in firms both large and small.
Firms GSD MArch 1 and MArch 2 alumni/ae work in include: Gehry Partners (Frank Gehry’s office), OMA (Rem Koolhaas office), Skidmore Owings and Merrill, Elkus/Manfredi, Cooper Robertson and Partners MArch 1 and 2 students who choose to leave architecture work at places including: Fidelity Investments, National Museum of American Illustration, National Capital Planning Commission, World Bank, Accenture (continued below)
Urban Design: MAUD, MLAUD
MAUD / MLAUD
Consulting Other Government 1% 2% business 1% Education 4% 5% Landscape Architecture 5% Real Estate 6% Planning 10%
The majority of GSD alumni/ae who graduate from the MAUD and MLAUD programs list their primary occupation in the Harvard alumni/ae database as Architecture/Design. Additional occupations listed include: 10% Planning 6% Real Estate 5% Landscape Architecture
Architecture/ Design 66%
Where do they work?
MAUD and MLAUD graduates often work at design firms including: Skidmore Owings and Merrill, SMWM, EDAW, Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership, RTKL, Kohn Pedersen Fox, Fox & Fowle The 10% of MAUD and MLAUD who indicated that they worked in Planning worked at places such as: Boston Redevelopment Authority, New York Dept of City Planning, City of Toronto Development Services, San Francisco Planning Department and private firms such as EDAW, SOM and The Cecil Group Inc
Landscape Architecture: MLA 1, MLA 2
MLA 1 and MLA 2
Government 3% Urban Planning Visual Arts 2% 2% Landscape Architecture 41%
Business 4%
Real Estate 4% Other 6% Education Architecture 7% /Design 31%
The majority of GSD alumni/ae who graduate from the MLA 1 and MLA 2 programs list their primary occupation in the Harvard alumni/ae database as Landscape Architecture (41%) or Architecture/Design (31%). Additional occupations listed include: 7% Education 4% Real Estate
The 41% of MLA 1 and 2 alumni/ae list Landscape Architecture as their primary field of occupation work at places such as: Firms: Carol R Johnson Associates., EDAW Inc, EDSA, Hargreaves Associates, the National Park Service, Quennell Rothschild & Partners, Sasaki Associates, SWA Group, Wallace Roberts & Todd, LLC, as well as Organizations: City and county of San Francisco, City of Portland and the National Parks Service The 31% of MLA 1 and 2 alumni/ae indicating Architecture as their primary occupation work at places such as: Firms: Gensler, HLW, Peter Walker & Partners, Citicorp Citibank Organizations: Golden Gate National Parks Association, Government of Canada, US Forest Service
Planning: MUP, MCP, MCRP
M UP, M CRP, M CP
Social Science/ 3% Engineering 3% Other 6% Consulting 8% ucation 10% Law 1% Visual Arts 1% Foreign Service 1%
Architecture Design 17% U rban Planning 16%
The GSD used to offer a Master in City Planning (MCP) and Master in City and Regional Planning (MCRP) degree. For a time during the 1980's, all planning degree programs moved to the Kennedy School of Government. The GSD restarted its planning program with the Master in Urban Planning (MUP) degree in the 1980's. Alumni/ae of the planning programs at the GSD pursue a variety of fields after they graduate, although many have to do with design, policy, or the built environment, as reflected in the chart.
Real Estate 10%
G overnm ent 10%
B usiness 14%
Arts Entertainment 3%
MUP
Consulting 2%
Government 2% Law 2% Planning 43%
Looking at only the MUP alumni/ae we see that 43% list their primary occupation as Planning, with 14% in Real Estate, and 14% in Architecture/Design. Please note that there are only 107 MUP alumni/ae as of 6/1/04 when these data were compiled.
Not for Profit 5%
Business 7%
Other 8% Architecture/ Design 14%
Real Estate 14%
Where do they work? Many people ask how many MUPs go into the public vs the private sector. Our data show that of the 107 MUPs who have graduated, about 10% go into the public sector. In the public sector, MUP graduates work at places such as: Organizations such as Boston Redevelopment Authority, Los Angeles City Planning Department, National Planning Commission, United Nations, NYC Economic Development Corp, City of Seattle In the private sector, MUPs work at places such as: Design Firms such as Sasaki Associates, Ehrenkrantz Eckstut & Kuhn Architects, HOK Real Estate Firms such as Raymond Property Co, Lehman Brothers JPI Development, JPMorganChase, Forest City Ratner Companies
Master in Design Studies
State/Local Governmt 2%
MDesS fields
Science Consulting 1% 1% Communicati ons 1% Visual Arts/ Entertainment 1% Architecture/ Design 53% Education 10% Real Estate 12%
Business 3%
Building/ Constructn 2%
MDesS students pursue several different fields of concentration, which may be viewed on the GSD official register under MDesS: www.gsd.harvard.edu/register The majority of MDesS alumni/ae list their primary occupation as 53% Architecture Design 12% Real Estate 10% Education
Other 3% Landscape Arch 5% Urban Planning 6%
Where do they work? Reflecting the chart of occupations above, most MDesS graduates work in design firms as well as other organizations. Below are a few examples of places MDesS students work: Universities such as MIT, Harvard Design School, Firms such as Kohn Pedersen Fox, SOM, Grubb and Ellis, Hart/Howerton, EDAW, Accenture Organizations such as Urban Redevelopment Authority, State of Massachusetts
Doctor of Design
DDes
Not for Profit 2% Government 4% Business 8%
DDes students pursue many fields of concentration. Samples of thesis titles may be viewed on the DDes website: www.gsd.harvard.edu/academic/asp/ ddes/thesis_titles.html DDes students listed the following as their primary occupation: 52% Education 22% Design 12% Planning
Planning 12% Education 52% Design 22%
Where do they work? Doctor of Design alumni/ae work in places such as: Universities such as Harvard University, University of Colorado at Boulder, Firms such as Kohn Pedersen Fox, SOM, Grubb and Ellis, Hart/Howerton, EDAW, Accenture, Data Integrity Organizations such as United Nations Development Program, Center for Landscape Arch. & Planning, and the City of Phoenix, Planning Dept.