PREPARATION & INCLUSION COMMITTEE PROGRESS
Overview
The Preparation and Inclusion committee convened at the Society for Biblical Literature’s Annual Meeting in November 2025. Incorporating feedback from listening sessions and focus groups at the convention with existing research, the committee developed three research questions for further investigation.
Research Questions
- How can we broaden the metrics for admissions assessment so that they more meaningfully reflect the post-PhD landscape?
- What are the implications of smaller cohort sizes on admissions, and what actions can programs take in light of these implications?
- What opportunities do graduate programs have to strengthen access and preparation?
Next Steps
All three committees are preparing to shift from reflection to action. As the committees begin moving toward developing recommendations, they plan to still engage in continued inquiry; committee members agree it would be helpful to have a few clear models that they can look to as exemplars. The objective is to work on surfacing and highlighting these examples in parallel with the development of recommendations.
The Preparation and Inclusion committee convened at the Society for Biblical Literature’s Annual Meeting in November 2025. Incorporating feedback from listening sessions and focus groups at the convention with existing research, the committee developed three research questions for further investigation.
- How can we broaden the metrics for admissions assessment so that they more meaningfully reflect the post-PhD landscape?
- What are the implications of smaller cohort sizes on admissions, and what actions can programs take in light of these implications?
- What opportunities do graduate programs have to strengthen access and preparation?
All three committees are preparing to shift from reflection to action. As the committees begin moving toward developing recommendations, they plan to still engage in continued inquiry; committee members agree it would be helpful to have a few clear models that they can look to as exemplars. The objective is to work on surfacing and highlighting these examples in parallel with the development of recommendations.
Read recently published essay “Rethinking Doctoral Education: Reflections on AAR/SBL 2025” written by Yajenlemla on our Medium site, “Doctoral Futures: Perspectives.”
