Department of Philosophy

College of Humanities and Sciences

Current StudentsGive

Alum Success Story: Andrea Jackson

Photo of Andrea Jackson

Name: Andrea Jackson
Degrees: B.A. in philosophy from VCU, 2014
Current role: Analytics Developer

My Philosophy degree truly started me down a career path I love and I feel very grateful to VCU’s Philosophy Department for that. 

When did you graduate from VCU?

I graduated from VCU in the Spring of 2014. 

Where did your career path take you post graduation?

My first job post graduation was as a Caseworker for Chesterfield Department of Social Services. It was a very fulfilling job that allowed me to help people in their time of need. This gave me the policy experience to then work as a Technical writer in Corporate Training for a State Contractor. 

What is your current role?

I currently work in the field of Data Science as an Analytics Developer. 

What is your take on how a philosophy degree prepares students for success in their future careers?

The Socratic nature of the program taught me how to think critically and comfortably share my line of thought with an audience. This is especially important when you are in a field with stakeholders whether they are Trainees or Senior Management. I also discovered my love of math through taking a course in Logic. The rigor of the course gave me the confidence to take other math classes and eventually graduate with a masters in Statistics. My Philosophy degree truly started me down a career path I love and I feel very grateful to VCU’s Philosophy Department for that.