PhD Reform?

Attention has been drawn to doctoral education in the popular media lately. An article and blog post in University Affairs call for PhD reform in Canada, prompted by the release of exclusive date on completion rates and times to completion that have not been published elsewhere. While this data is not comprehensive, representing only eight of the 15 top research-intensive universities- none of them identified, it helps to create a picture, of what has been termed elsewhere the ‘crisis’ in doctoral education. This data, provided by a group of the country’s leading research-intensive universities, known as the U-15, shows that of a 2001 PhD cohort, 55.8% of those in humanities, and 65.1% of social science students completed their programs, compared to 78.3% in the health sciences and 75.4% in the physical sciences. Times to completion were also highest in these disciplines, with humanities students taking, on average, 18.25 terms, or just over six years, and those in social science programs averaging 17 terms. This data substantiates earlier research that found that fewer than half of those who start a doctoral program in the humanities and social sciences actually graduate; these faculties have the lowest completion rates at both the master’s and doctoral degree levels. Doctoral students in these fields of study are also reported to have the longest times to completion, with averages hovering around 77 months, according to statistics released by the Canadian Association of University Teachers.

Graduate Student Support Services

Two weeks into a new semester, I am gearing up to begin research for my doctoral dissertation, "Student support services and graduate student persistence in the social sciences and humanities disciplines." The purpose of this study is to identify graduate students' needs, particularly with regards to academic success, and the role of institutional-based support services in addressing these needs. This study aims to contribute to the existing literature on graduate student persistence, the role of student support services, and the experiences of graduate students, while filling a gap in the literature on Canadian graduate education and identifying future directions for research. The overall aim of this research is to elicit feedback that may better enable the provision of support services to the burgeoning graduate student community at Canada's universities.

Doctoral Student Satisfaction

A recent article, entitled "Doctoral Student Satisfaction: An Examination of Disciplinary, Enrollment, and Institutional Differences", published in the journal, Research in Higher Education, examines data from the 2000 National Doctoral Program Survey (NDPS) to gain insight into the differences in satisfaction levels of doctoral students across academic disciplines and institutional types. Interestingly, no significant differences were found in the overall satisfaction of students across disciplines or institutional types (research extensive and intensive universities). Students were less satisfied with the support they received to pursue careers outside of academia, as well as the amount of information (or lack thereof) they received at the start of their program on time-to-degree and post-graduation placement assistance. Education and humanities students in particular were less satisfied than expected with regards to issues related to financial resources, support, and information; students at research intensive universities were less satisfied than expected with training preparation or guidance for academic careers. Not surprisingly, former students were generally less satisfied with their advisor and doctoral experience; students who had been formerly enrolled in humanities, physical science, social sciences, and life sciences programs were even more dissatisfied.

The findings of this study emphasizes the importance of institutional and departmental support for doctoral students, the need for graduate program assessments, further research into the factors that contribute to doctoral student attrition, and the experiences of students enrolled at less prestigious institutions.