Graduate Certificate in Professional Study

If you would like to advance your professional career by pursuing additional coursework beyond your degree, a Graduate Certificate of Professional Study within the field of education from Southern New Hampshire University can provide you with the opportunity to engage with a broad range of topics. Earning your graduate certificate is a great way to add to your teaching résumé while enhancing your understanding of important educational concepts and strategies.

This field-based certificate program, available through the SNHU Vermont Campus, is ideal for practicing educators seeking applied learning and professional development opportunities within the topic areas of curriculum, exam and evaluation, education technology, learning and development, and teacher leadership.

Although this program is currently available in a limited number of districts within the state of Vermont, we encourage you to reach out to the SNHU Vermont Campus at info@snhuvt.org if you are interested in participating or learning more.

The field-based Professional Study Graduate Certificate program in education at SNHU allows you to choose from the following five subject areas: Curriculum, Assessment and Evaluation, Education Technology, Learning and Development, and Teacher Leadership. This is a 15-credit program, and you will select five three-credit courses to complete in accordance with your chosen topic.

As a private, nonprofit university, SNHU has one mission - to help you see yourself succeed. The benefits of enrolling in a field-based graduate program at SNHU include:

The Professional Study program is designed to help educators advance their careers without committing to a full master’s degree program. The goal of this program is to produce teachers who are prepared to impact their schools and their students in meaningful ways, both inside and outside of the classroom. Whether your goal is to develop new curriculum, become familiar with new teaching technology, or learn new leadership skills, SNHU can help you take the next step in your career.

In addition to the standard Professional Study Graduate Certificate in education program, SNHU also offers a Professional Study Post-Master's Graduate Certificate option. This program is similar to the standard graduate certificate version, but is designed for educators who have already earned their Master of Education. This program also features Curriculum, Assessment and Evaluation, Education Technology, Learning and Development, and Teacher Leadership as subject areas; however, many of the courses within the post-master's program cover more advanced topics.

With multiple pathways to choose from, the program will help you develop a deeper understanding of responsive, responsible teaching methods. Participants will plan and deliver purposeful learning opportunities that incorporate current research and best practices to engage students in meaningful ways. SNHU will help you learn to create strengths-based, inclusive, and collaborative learning communities in classrooms and schools. The program will also help you understand the need for professional analysis, innovation, and continually evolving professional strategies while evaluating your own personal growth, teaching practice development, and personal leadership.

Our Manchester campus aims to keep tuition and related costs low for our students so that you can pursue your degree and your goals.

Beyond low tuition rates, we help our students save through transfer credits, credit for prior learning, grants and scholarships, tuition assistance and more.

This certificate is not eligible for federal financial aid. Students seeking alternatives to federal financial aid can explore tuition assistance, grants and scholarships, as well as private loans. To learn more about private loans, visit our Funding Your Education with Student Loans page.

Study Shows Professional Women Are Less Likely To Achieve 'Last Name Fame'

Tesla. Edison. Einstein. Shakespeare. These singular names evoke instant recognition and prominence. But why is it that we rarely see accomplished women addressed in the same way, with just a last name?

New research conducted by Cornell University psychologists has shed some light on this mismatch. The paper, “How Gender Determines the Way We Speak About Professionals,” published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows that on average, male and female participants are more than twice as likely to call male professionals – even fictional ones – by their last name only, compared to equivalent female professionals.

Name cards

"So what," you might wonder. Couldn’t it be that addressing someone by a last name is just a casual, harmless shortcut?

In fact, the study’s researchers cite that this difference in naming habits is actually an example of gender bias, and may be contributing to gender inequality more broadly. The eight studies that comprised the research, spearheaded by doctoral student Stav Atir, and Melissa Ferguson, professor and chair of psychology at Cornell’s College of Arts and Sciences, shows how the difference in naming affects participants’ judgments of professionals. When men were referred to only by surname, they were perceived as more important and eminent than the women, who were more often referred to by their first and last names in domains such as science, literature, and politics.

Another study that was part of the research assessed the language of political pundits on the radio, including NPR’s Terry Gross and Rush Limbaugh. These announcers were more than twice as likely to refer to well-known men (versus women) by their last names alone. By selectively calling people by their last names, broadcasters reinforce perceptions that men are more significant and memorable.

University students exhibit similar behaviors. One study within the research looked at archival data in online domains like Rate My Professors. In an analysis of nearly 4,500 comments on that website, Atir and Ferguson found that students were 56 percent more likely to refer to a male professor by only his surname.

Most ghastly, this naming difference actually affects judgments of worthiness. Participants in the first study rated professionals described by a surname as 14% more deserving of a career award. This evaluative gender bias may partially explain the stubborn gender gap in fields like science, technology, engineering, and math where women are poorly represented.

So what can we glean from this research, practically speaking? And how we can expand our thinking beyond name recognition alone, to other areas of the workplace? Below are 4 ways employers can evolve their practices:

What are other ways this research can help us re-imagine the workplace? Let me know in the comments.