Graduate Student Professional Development

A new report has recently been released by the Canadian Association of Graduate Students (CAGS). Drawing on findings from earlier reports and studies, as well as survey that was administered to graduate deans across the country, the report highlights the increasing importance of prioritizing professional skills training for graduate students that goes beyond discipline-specific knowledge.

Canadian Graduate Student Satisfaction with Academic Experience and Student Life

A new report released today by the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario (HEQCO) shows that graduate students remain satisfied with their education, although satisfaction has dropped slightly since 2007. Using data from the 2007 and 2010 Canadian Graduate and Professional Student Survey (CGPSS), the report explores what influences graduate students’ satisfaction with their universities, programs of study, academic experiences and faculty supervisors; what influences students’ perceptions of the quality of teaching and learning; and how graduate student satisfaction levels differed between 2007 and 2010. The report uses data from 15 Ontario universities in 2007 and 17 in 2010. While the satisfaction levels of doctoral students have decreased slightly, the study showed greater satisfaction with the quality of professional skills development they received in 2010 compared to 2007. This may suggest the success of some institutions’ initiatives – such as the Graduate Professional Skills (GPS) Program at the University of Toronto. Policy recommnendations suugest that the government continue to work with universities and their graduate deans to promote and support initiatives and best practices that improve graduate student preparation for the labour market.

Graduate Student Life Initiative

McMaster University has once again stepped up to the plate where graduate students are involved, starting up the Graduate Student Life Initiative. The brainchild of the Graduate Student Services Committee, comprised of individuals from Student Affairs, Graduate Studies, and the Graduate Students' Association,the goal is to determine the needs of graduate students and develop a framework to meet those needs. Prompted by feedback from a survey conducted by the Student Success Centre, key areas of concern have been identified, such as time management skills; academic support; and employment and career advice. Two years ago, McMaster created the position of assistant dean of Graduate Student Life and Research Training, the first of its kind at a Canadian university. That position is currently filled by Peter Self. Graduate student enrolment at the university currently stands at over 4,000 students, an increase of over 75% since 2000. But McMaster has made it clear that the management and servicing of this growing student population is a key priority, along with recruitment efforts, setting a great example for other Canadian universities to follow. Let's hope that they do.

An Overeducated Populace

Recently, The New York Times devoted a special issue to graduate school. Among the advice columns and opinion pieces, an article titled “The Master’s as the New Bachelor’s” takes a look at credential inflation and the difficult task facing new university graduates of marketing their degree to potential, often disinterested employers. According to Debra W. Stewart, president of the Council of Graduate Schools, a master’s level education is quickly becoming the entry degree in many professions. Partly responsible for this trend is the fact that increasing numbers of graduates are returning to school at the graduate level, a common reason for this was the recent economic downturn. The high numbers of job applicants with multiple degrees is leaving employers with little choice but to use education as a way of sorting through applications, and those with graduate degrees come out on top. Rising in popularity in the U.S. is the professional science mater’s degree, which combines job specific training with business skills, and demonstrates a shifting focus towards professionalizing degrees and “learning for the real world”. This trend is spreading beyond the master’s degree to the Ph.D. level, and humanities departments are being urged to get on board. People are frequently heard joking that soon one will need a Ph.D. for the most mundane of jobs, but at what point will universities and society at large determine that enough is enough?

Graduate Student Teaching and Skills Development

This week I am traveling to the University of Toronto for a conference entitled, "Navigating your PATH: Teaching Assistant and Graduate Student Development." This is the first national conference focusing on teaching assistant and skills development in graduate students to take place in Canada. More information can be found here.

Socializing Doctoral Students for Professional Careers

A recent column in the Chronicle of Higher Education claims that Ph.D. programs are neglecting graduate student’s professional development, and the author, English professor, Leonard Cassuto, calls for the incorporation of seminars that address this topic into graduate program coursework to educate students about the culture of the profession. A part of this education involves preparing graduates for careers outside of academia.

From the column:

It amounts to this: Graduate school is professional school, but most Ph.D programs badly neglect graduate students' professional development. We spend years of their training ignoring that development, and then, only at the last moment when students are about to hit the job market, do we attend to their immediate professional needs. By neglecting their career goals, we allow their desires to coalesce from their immediate surroundings—the research university—and to harden over time.