Consumer Behavior & Family Economics

Welcome to the page for the Human Ecology PhD – Consumer Behavior & Family Economics! The Human Ecology PhD is housed within the School of Human Ecology and broadly aims to understand how humans interact with their lived environment. The Consumer Behavior & Family Economics named option does so by using social science theories to examine how market structures and policy, along with consumer decision-making, impacts the social and economic well-being of individuals and families.

Graduates of this program are prepared for tenure-track academic faculty positions, especially in other schools of human ecology, consumer science, or related units; government, nonprofit, or think tank research positions; and applied research in the public and private sectors, including market research, policy research, and consulting.

Why are we unique?
Research Interests
Info Session Slides
Career Paths & Recent Alumni
Student Stories
Program Resources
Faculty
Graduate Students
Apply
Department Affiliation

Prospective Student Information Sessions

No events returned.

Join program faculty and current students to learn more about the Department of Consumer Science, the CBFE PhD program, and how we might further your academic and professional goals. If you have any questions or require accommodations to attend, please contact gradprog@sohe.wisc.edu.

What makes this program unique?

A minimum of four years guaranteed funding, including tuition remission, health benefits, and a living stipend
In-depth skills and training for professional researchers, including:
- Causal inference techniques
- Analysis of major public datasets as well as administrative data
- Understanding and applying consumer and household well-being theories to solve real world problems
An emphasis on applications and applied research for strategy and policymaking in the public sector
Access to the extensive courses, faculty, resources and expertise of disciplinary departments and centers across the UW-Madison campus
The potential for an intensive, four-year time to degree
The ability to develop disciplinary or field sub-specialties, certificates and minor designations
A focus on teaching, teaching experiences, outreach and presenting findings for the public
An emphasis on publication and dissemination of research as a graduate student, including support to attend professional conferences
Access to high quality statistics servers and unique datasets
Opportunities to work with UW-Madison research centers and institutes across campus
A small program with approximately 20 students total

Program Emphases

- Applied research in consumer and household decision making that can inform market structures and policy
- Contributing to our understanding of consumer well-being (broadly defined)
- Applying a variety of methodological and theoretical approaches to consumer issues
- Serving as a central hub for research on retirement and disability (RDRC) and a training ground for younger scholars from across the country (JSIT)

Faculty Research

- Consumer Decision-making processes (Ashton, Collins, Robb, Wong, Zhang)
- Household Finance (Collins, Robb, Zhang)
- Food insecurity (Bartfeld, Bublitz, Fitzpatrick)
- Financial Capability (Collins, Harvey, Robb)
- Financial Well-being (Bea, Collins, Robb, Wong)
- Financial Inequality (Bea, Collins, Harvey, Pate)
- Cultural Values and Consumption Decisions (Wong)
- Health Policy (Fitzpatrick)
- Public Policy Considerations (Bartfeld, Collins, Fitzpatrick, Harvey, Pate)

Information Session Slides

Career Paths

Tenure-track academic faculty positions, primarily in other schools of human ecology, human sciences, consumer science, or related fields.

Recent examples:

State University of New York at Buffalo
The University of Alabama
University of Utah
University of Georgia
University of Rhode Island
University of Sussex Business School
University of Washington St. Louis

Research administration positions in government, non-tenured academic units, nonprofit organizations, think tanks, and related entities.

Applied consumer research in the public and private sector, including market research, policy research, and consulting.

Alumni

Student Stories

The journey to a PhD: Four graduates of the Consumer Behavior & Family Economics program reflect on their experiences

"Earning a PhD is a long journey. You will encounter difficulties in both research and life. However, you will also meet smart & fantastic people, and you can learn so much from them. Not everyone has the opportunity to experience this, so enjoy it!"