Keynote Speaker

Strategizing and Communicating the Career Ed Tech Stack to Engage Students

There is change happening all around us. One of the most relevant changes for career education professionals is the growing technology available for career development and job search. There are now over 400 companies dedicated to providing services to higher ed career professionals and their students. In fact, we now have a “career services edtech stack” available. In addition, the line between marketing/communications and technology has blurred.

Dr. Sheetal Patel will speak about the current career edtech stack ecosystem, and how career services can strategize and communicate about it to engage an ever-changing new generation of students: Gen Z.

Dr. Sheetal J. Patel

Dr. Sheetal J. Patel is a fourteen-year veteran of creating engaging brands,  marketing communication strategies, and stories that effectively impact people’s lives. Her recent research has focused on transforming learning and technology for Generation Z and brand management in higher education.

She is currently the Associate Director and Content Lead for the Career Management Center at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and consults regularly in the area of marketing and branding.

Throughout her career, Patel has served in marketing communication roles in Stanford Student Affairs, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of Texas at Arlington, Sulekha LLC, and freelanced for advertising agencies. She also served as tenure-track faculty at the University of Texas at Arlington. She has a PhD in Strategic Communication from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and a Master’s
degree in Advertising and two Bachelor’s degrees in Advertising and Public Relations from the University of Texas at Austin.

Patel has published work in journals, such as International Journal of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Marketing, Journal of Advertising Education and Journal of Health Communication. She was awarded the prestigious NACE/Chevron Award by the National Association of Colleges and Employers for achievement and innovation in branding. She has also been the recipient of over $225,000 in fellowships, grants, and scholarships for her research.

She is dedicated to developing stories that serve her communities in her spare time as well, participating in such activities as the classical dance performance art of Kuchipudi, photography, and writing about women
and balance.