Wednesday, September 29, 2010

U.S. Doctorate Program Assessment



Yesterday the National Research Council released a report entitled A Data-Based Assessment of Research-Doctorate Programs in the United States. According to the report brief, this assessment consists of data on over 5,000 doctoral programs in 62 fields at 212 universities, and includes "information on faculty research productivity, institutional support for students, and the diversity of faculty and students, among many other characteristics."

The assessment provides data for each program on 20 characteristics, which were collected from the academic year 2005-2006 through questionnaires sent to doctoral faculty, as well as heads of doctoral programs, administrators, and students. Information on characteristics such as publications and citations came from public sources and uses a considerably longer timeframe.Data on these 20 characteristics also served as the basis for the illustrative rankings included in the assessment.The report also offers illustrative ranges of rankings for each program on three separate dimensions of doctoral education- research activity, student support and outcomes, and diversity.

Finally, the report examines findings and trends in doctoral education. Some interesting points are as follows:

-The number of students enrolled has increased in engineering (4%) and in physical sciences (9%) but declined in the social sciences (-5%) and humanities (-12%).

-On average programs in all fields have experienced a growth in the percentage of female students. The smallest growth (3.4%) was in the humanities fields, which were already heavily female, while the greatest growth (9%) was in engineering - to 22% overall.

-Over 50% of students complete their degree in six years or less in the agricultural sciences and in engineering. In the social sciences 37% complete in six years or less, while the same percentage of humanities students complete by eight years.

-The majority of students in the five fields surveyed for the report (chemical engineering, physics, neuroscience, economics, and English) were "very satisfied" or "somewhat satisfied" with the quality of their program. Over 60% in most fields felt they benefited from the program's intellectual environment, but only 40% or less of were satisfied with the program-sponsored social interaction.

According to the news release, the assessment is designed to help universities evaluate and improve the quality of their programs and to provide prospective students with information on the nation's doctoral programs.

Further information, and a download of the full report, can be accessed here.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Global Perspectives

A lucky group of Ph.D. students at Virginia Tech recently had the chance to explore higher education systems abroad, traveling to Switzerland and Italy as participants in a program that offers insights into higher education and the professoriate on the global scale. According to this article, the 13 graduate students from Blacksburg, Virginia were joined by seven counterparts from Universität Basel in Switzerland to participate in Global Perspectives, an interdisciplinary program developed by Karen DePauw, vice president and dean of graduate education at Virginia Tech.

“Global Perspectives enables graduate students to examine differences in academic practices worldwide and to develop innovative and effective approaches that foster international awareness and education,” said David Kniola, assistant director of Virginia Tech’s Office of Academic Assessment and a coordinator of the program.

As part of the program, students from Universität Basel traveled to the United States to visit several universities. The Virginia Tech Ph.D. students who participate in Global Perspectives are funded by the university’s Graduate School.

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Graduate Student Orientation

Today I attended Memorial University's Graduate Student Orientation. The event featured welcome talks by the new university president, Dr. Gary Kachanoski, new Dean of Student Affairs, Dr. Rob Shea, as well as keynote speaker, dean of the School of Graduate Studies, Dr. Noreen Golfman. Students could browse booths set up with information on numerous programs, services, and activities available on campus, enjoy a complementary breakfast, and attend afternoon discussions on the role of the supervisor/advisor and graduate officers; how to achieve a work/life balance while completing graduate studies. The day concluded with a campus tour.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Trends in U.S. Graduate Education

According to this news release, the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS)has released a report today entitled "Graduate Enrollment and Degrees: 1999 to 2009". The report contains statistics on graduate applications and enrollment for fall 2009, degrees conferred in 2008-09, and trend data for one-, five- and ten-year periods. Data is based on the findings of an annual survey of U.S. graduate schools, co-sponsored by CGS and the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) Board, and "the only annual national survey that covers enrollment in all fields of graduate study and is the only source of national data on graduate applications." Interesting findings include the following:

* Applications for admission to U.S. graduate schools grew 8.3% from 2008 to 2009

* Enrollment of new students at U.S. graduate schools grew 5.5% from 2008 to 2009

* First-time and total graduate enrollment in 2009 was higher for men than for women. First-time enrollment of men increased 6.7%, compared to 4.7% for women, while the growth in total enrollment rose 5.2% for men compared to 4.4% for women.

* The enrollment of new international graduate students declined in 2009, by 1.7%, compared to 6.0% growth for U.S. students.

* For the first time ever, women earned the majority of doctorates (50.4%) in the 2008-2009 academic year. Women also accounted for 6 out of 10 graduate student enrollments. Inside Higher Ed
notes that female graduates are still under represented in such fields as engineering (22%), math and computer science (27%), and physical and earth sciences (33%).

* First-time graduate enrollment increased faster at the doctoral level than at the master’s level: 6.3% vs. 5.1%.

* The representation of minority groups in U.S. graduate schools rose from 28.3% to 29.1% of first-time domestic enrollment.

* Approximately three-fourths of all graduate student enrollments were at the master’s level, and almost 90% of graduate degrees conferred in 2008-09 were master’s degrees.

* The number of master’s degrees awarded increased 4.3% and the number of doctoral degrees conferred grew 3.9% between 2007-08 and 2008-09.

The full report can be read here

Friday, September 10, 2010

Post-Doctoral Transitions

New opportunities are available for experienced faculty looking for a career change. Tulane University and the University of Florida are two of five universities now offering the Post-Doctoral Bridge to Business Program, endorsed by The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSG); which aims to prepare experienced doctoral faculty from non-business disciplines for new careers as business faculty and to qualify them to teach in such areas as accounting and finance, marketing, management, supply chain management, international business, entrepreneurship, and more. The program arose in response to a faculty shortage in business schools.

According to this article,

"All participants of the Post-Doctoral Bridge to Business Programs must have a doctorate degree from an institution recognized for producing successful scholars, and as appropriate, the institution must maintain any necessary specialized accreditation for that field. Candidates must show excellent capabilities for conducting scholarly research and teaching in a field related to the business discipline for which they are applying. Graduates receive a certificate of completion indicating that they are qualified to teach in their respective business discipline at an AACSB-accredited school for five years from the date of graduation. To maintain academic qualification past the five-year period, each graduate must perform appropriate activities as both a scholar and a teacher."

Similar programs would be beneficial to new post-docs, looking to diversify their portfolios and boost their employability. Even better, such initiatives could be offered in conjunction with traditional graduate schools.

Monday, September 6, 2010

Employment After the Ph.D.

According to Times Higher Education, a study of doctoral employment carried out for Research Councils UK found that less than 2% of those with a PhD were out of work three years after completing their doctorates.While more than half (54%)are employed outside the academy, 94% say they use their research skills in their work and about 40% say they carry out research “most of the time”.

Research was presented today at the Vitae researcher development conference; in a report on the findings, What Do Researchers Do? Doctoral Graduate Destinations and Impact Three Years On, Vitae says that doctoral graduates had established careers in sectors including healthcare, engineering and finance.It is concluded that highly skilled workers are critical to the UK's economic and social well-being.

This information may come as a surprise to those who have been warned of the lack of opportunities and fear the job search after graduating, but it could be misleading. Further information on what positions these Ph.D.'s are filling would be interesting to know.

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Supporting Graduate Students

As a new semester draws near, The University of Western Ontario is gearing up to help meet the needs of graduate students. According to Western News, The Society of Graduate Students (SOGS) provides services and benefits such as bus passes, a health plan, and financial support, as well as enrichment opportunities like the Western Research Forum, bringing grad students from all different disciplines together to present their research. SOGS also owns The Grad Club- a restaurant/bar that operates out of Middlesex College.

As graduate enrolment continues to climb at many universities, there is growing recognition and acknowledgement that graduate students have different needs from undergraduates. McMaster University has even created a new position to tackle the many unique issues these students face- that of assistant dean of graduate student life and research-the first of its kind at a Canadian university.