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American actress, singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur Bridgit Mendler recently made headlines after she issued a clarification on her educational degrees. Here’s what she wrote on X on March 7, 2024.
“It came to my attention that something on my LinkedIn profile is causing confusion that I want to clarify: I am 2 months away from a JD and I don’t already have a PhD.”
Her update came a couple of weeks after she announced that she co-founded satellite data start-up Northwood Space and is now its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) which earned her praises online for a prolific and diverse career path.
Bridgit Mendler has a master’s degree in media arts and sciences
Beginning her career as a child artist, Bridgit Medler took a step back from acting and music to focus on her education. Between 2013 and 2016, she pursued a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from the University of Southern California, as per Page Six. However, her LinkedIn bio says it's "incomplete/ dropped out."
Two years later, in May 2018, she joined a graduate program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and announced her career update on X.
Here’s what she wrote at the time:
“Hey guys, hope you are having a good day wherever you are. Wanted to say I’m gonna be starting a graduate program at MIT which means I’m gonna be juggling a couple [of] things for a little while.”
Bridgit Mendler further continued,
“The reason why I’m taking this time out to study is very connected to how I feel about social media. As an entertainer, for years I struggled with social media because I felt like there was a more loving and human way to connect with fans. That is what I’m going to study.”
According to Page Six, in 2020 she finished her program and earned an M.S. degree in media arts and sciences from MIT and began pursuing a PhD from the MIT Media Lab.
The bio further mentions that Bridgit Mendler joined Harvard Law School in 2021 to earn her Juris Doctor (JD) degree, which she is scheduled to complete this year. Between 2022 and 2023, she also served as the co-president of the Harvard Space Law Society.
Exploring Bridgit Mendler’s latest update regarding her academic career
In the wake of her announcement as the co-founder and CEO of Northwood Space, Bridgit Mendler’s educational background came under scrutiny for the last few weeks.
However, fans and social media users were unsure about her current status surrounding her JD and PhD degrees, which is why the former Disney actress issued an apology/clarification via X on Thursday, before updating her LinkedIn.
She cleared the air that she was two months away from completing her JD, while her PhD was currently on hold. Here’s what Bridgit Mendler mentioned about her LinkedIn profile earlier stating that she was still pursuing Ph.D. from MIT.
“The PhD is something I started working towards in 2020 and I pursued it jointly with my law degree but when I moved to California last summer and decided that for family reasons we would stay on the west coast, it had to go on pause. I apologize I really should have updated my LinkedIn page sooner.”
The Diving songstress added that regardless of the current status of her doctorate, she would continue to “fight” for it. However, she clarified that it was upon the MIT administration and his principal investigator to figure out the right way forward.
Bridgit Mendler also explained why she couldn’t juggle both degrees, saying she prioritized her motherhood after adopting her foster son in 2022, which she announced recently on X.
“My parents have a saying: ‘Do everything it’s a blast.’ I enjoy pushing the boundary of the possible and saying yes to more things but also it is important to flex the muscle of prioritization and discernment. For myself, I’ve found that learning when to say no or not right now can be more of a skill than saying yes,” she added.
The former Good Luck Charlie star also left a side note for her fans asking for recommendations on how to “best express my circumstance wrt [with respect to] the PhD on LinkedIn,” adding that she would “happily take suggestions” and make the necessary changes.
Notably, Bridgit Mendler updated her PhD column on LinkedIn with “On Leave,” in the wake of the clarification.
