Graduate Student and Faculty Trends from the CAUT Almanac

Some interesting tidbits from the 2012-13 CAUT Almanac: In 2009-10, women accounted for 54% of degree enrollment at the Master's level (down from 56% last year); holding steady at 47% at the Ph.D. level for 2009-2010. In 2010, 44,919 master's, and 5,736 degrees were awarded in Canada. Women accounted for 61.5% of Master's degrees; 44.3% of Doctorates that were awarded for 2009-2010. In 2011, 2,034 new full-time university teachers were appointed in Canada. 44.2% were women. The proportion of full-time university teachers employed beyond the age of 65 more than quadrupled between 2001 and 2011, to 5.1% of males and 3.8% of females. The number of 'senior' full-time university teachers exceeded the number of 'junior' teachers in 2010-11: 5.7% were within the 30-34 age bracket; 5.8% were between 65-69 years of age.

Canadian Trends in Graduate Education

The Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) has released its annual Almanac of Post-Secondary Education in Canada. Highlights with regards to graduate education include the following:

- In 2008, Canadian universities awarded 36,423 Master's and 4,962 Doctorates.

- Women accounted for 56% of Master's program enrollments and 47% at the PhD level in 2008-2009.

- In 2008-2009, International students made up 15% of Master's and 21% of PhD program enrollments.

- In Newfoundland and Labrador, at the Master's level, the majority of Master's degrees awarded in 2008 went to women in all disciplines, with the exception of Architecture, Engineering, and Related Technologies, where they accounted for only 22.2%; and Mathematics, Computer and Information Sciences (28.6%). Overall, women accounted for 58.5% of Master's degrees that were awarded in the province.

- at the national level, women lagged behind men in the number of Doctorates awarded in 2008 in most fields, with the exception of the following fields: Business, Management and Public Administration (50.8%); Education (67.8%); Health, Parks, Recreation and Fitness (59.1%); Social and Behavioural Sciences, and Law (60.2%).

The full Almanac can be read here.

Steps Forward in Graduate Education

The Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) has released a new document entitled "Steps Taken on the Path Forward", which reviews the impact of "The Path Forward: The Future of Graduate Education in the United States", a report released in April 2010 that addresses issues and challenges of graduate education. The Path Forward was developed by the Commission on the Future of Graduate Education, a joint initiative of the CGS and Educational Testing Services (ETS) and drew a connection between the country's "need for a highly trained workforce to drive innovation and competitiveness" and the strengthening of the current graduate education system. That system is struggling, much like the Canadian system, with changing demographics, poor degree completion rates, and competition in the higher education sector. Two initiatives were proposed to support graduate education: a COMPETES doctoral traineeship program that would provide financial support to students in areas "of national need"; and a grant program to provide partial funding for the creation of new, and revision of existing, master's degree programs.

This new document outlines outcomes and impacts of the report to three stakeholders: higher education, policymakers, and business leaders. Perspectives were shared at the CGS Legislative Forum. According to the news release, the report has been responsible for a number of advances, such as the following:
• Influenced critical decision processes by helping to shape institutional strategic plans and goals for graduate
education programs;
• Changed institutional priorities by highlighting the importance of graduate education, the report resulted in
making graduate fellowships the top priority for one institution’s fundraising;
• Created new communication channels, such as catalyzing new online discussions between deans and faculty about
graduate education issues and development of a video aimed at clarifying career pathways for students;
• Shaped evaluation metrics and affirming the commitment of graduate deans to developing and using outcome
measures and offering more information to prospective and current students;
• Introduced new programs, particularly professional development programs for graduate students.

While the Canadian system of higher education is quite different from that of its neighbours to the south, it is not immune to the problems identified in these reports; what is concerning is that these current and potential issues are not generating the same sort of discussions that they should be.

Canadian Doctoral Graduates, Class of 2005: Where are they now?

A report was recently released by Statistics Canada, entitled, “Expectations and Labour Market Outcomes of Doctoral Graduates from Canadian Universities.” Data for the report was drawn from two sources- the Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED), and the National Graduates Survey (NGS). In summary, two concerns are raised about doctorates in Canada: the number being produced; how doctorate holders (graduates) are employed in this country. With regards to the first concern, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) reports that Canada lags behind other developed countries in the production of doctoral degrees. In 2005, about 4,200 candidates earned a doctorate degree in Canada- approximately one tenth the number awarded in the United States in the same year (43,400). While differences in population size and number of institutions are not accounted for, this is still concerning.

A related concern that is noted in the report is where graduates live and work after completing the doctorate. Slightly more than a quarter of 2005 doctorate graduates (about 27%) moved out of Canada upon completion of their degree and many still resided in the United States two years after graduation. However, 24% of those who moved to the United States after graduation in 2005 had returned to Canada by 2007, and many others were still planning to return. Slightly more than one out of ten 2005 doctoral graduates (12%) were living in the United States in 2007. About seven out of ten graduates who lived in the United States in 2007 (69%) moved for work-related reasons. The majority of those who moved (9 out of 10) had a job awaiting them. However, more than eight out of ten graduates living in the United States in 2007 (83%) intended to return to Canada.

Of those graduates of Canadian universities who are employed in this country, fewer are employed by the private sector than in other countries. Employment rates were found to vary according to field of study; graduates from the humanities reported the highest unemployment rate at 16%. The median income for doctoral graduates in 2007, two years after graduation, was $65,000. While women accounted for 46% of doctoral graduates in the class of 2005; an increase of 11 percentage points compared to their proportion in the class of 1995, across all fields of study, men were paid a median income of $65,000 compared to $61,000 for women. Approximately one in five graduates(19%) said they were overqualified, compared to 30% who reported that less than a doctoral degree was needed to obtain the job they were in. The majority of graduates (56%) were employed in educational services; with most working in a university (87%).

It would be interesting to know what current attrition rates are. What is needed is a longitudinal study examining the total number of students enrolled in first year doctoral studies in a given year, following up at several points to determine the number who complete, average time-to-degree, as well as the number that do not complete. Differnces between institutions and disciplines could be analyzed; comparisons made with American data.