“The world is a diverse one. Publishing needs to accurately reflect the world as it is, from the books we publish to the people working in every facet of this business.”
Lee & Low Books
In 2020, Princeton University Press announced the Princeton University Press Publishing Fellowship, an initiative aimed at addressing a lack of diverse representation across the publishing industry and part of the Press-wide Equity, Inclusion & Belonging strategic initiative launched in 2018.
The Fellowship is designed for individuals with no prior publishing experience, who are from communities historically underrepresented within US publishing, which Lee & Low data shows to be a majority white, straight, cisgender, and nondisabled industry. Applicants from a diversity of educational backgrounds are encouraged to apply and should have a high school diploma or equivalent, but are not required to have an undergraduate degree.
The program supports fellows annually in full-time, salaried positions within the Press’s global publishing teams. Fellows gain immersive training in nonfiction publishing—trade, textbook, scholarly, digital, and audio—and receive mentoring and early career coaching, empowering them with the experience and industry education to successfully pursue careers in publishing.
The Press welcomed two inaugural Publishing Fellows in July 2021, based out of the Princeton, New Jersey office. The second cohort of fellows joined in July of 2022, also based at the Princeton, NJ office, with the option for remote work. The 2023-2024 fellowship will include, for the first time, a UK-based fellow in the Press’s Oxford office.
The Publishing Fellowship is funded to run for five years. Applications open in January for year-long terms starting in July. Visit the Press’s Careers page for the application link in January. Questions about the program can be sent to Christie Henry.
According to Princeton University Press Director Christie Henry, “Princeton University Press’s mission is to inspire scholarly inquiry and impact throughout the world, with a commitment to a publications program that is diverse, equitable, and inclusive. We recognize that we can’t achieve that mission with a lack of diversity in our own publishing team, nor within a homogenous publishing community more widely.”
2023-2024 Fellows
Jon Kriney, Digital Production
Faye Akpalu, Marketing and Sales (PUP Speaks)
2022-2023 Fellows
Akhil Jonnalagadda (Digital Content) and Morgan Spehar (Editorial)
Learn more about the 2022-2023 fellows in their Ideas post.
2021-2022 Fellows
Jaden Young (Production Editorial) and Alejandro Perez (Special Sales & Grassroots Marketing)
Learn more about the 2021-2022 fellows in their Ideas post