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.

Canadian and Local Trends at the Highest Levels of Tertiary Education

A new report has been released by the Canadian Education Statistics Council, entitled Education Indicators in Canada: An International Perspective 2011. With regards to graduate education, here are some highlights:

- Graduation rates at the tertiary-type A level (bachelor and masters degrees; other university degrees or certificates above a bachelor's degree but below a doctorate) for first-time graduates were higher for women in all Canadian provinces in 2008. The Canadian average was 45.8% for women and 28.3% for men. The earnings of women with any kind of tertiary education were still only 63% of men's however, an increase of only 2% since 1998.

- International students accounted for 1/5 (20.2%) of enrollment in advanced research programmes (doctorates and post-doctorates) in Canada in 2008. In Newfoundland and Labrador, international students accounted for 30% of those enrolled in these programmes.

-At the highest levels of tertiary education (Type-A and advanced research), Canada exceeded the international figure (25% versus 21%) for completion.

-While Newfoundland and Labrador exceeded the Canadian average (40.3% versus 36.9%)for completion of tertiary-type A education as a first-time graduate, the province had the lowest employment rates of those aged 25-64 years at all levels of educational attainment.

Funding Issues for International PhD Students at Canadian Universities

According to Western News, six philosophy Ph.D. students at the University of Western Ontario have recently raised concerns about funding for students who take more than four years to complete the degree. Western guarantees funding for all doctoral students for four years, or five for those who have been admitted directly from a n undergraduate program. This benchmark is based on criteria set by the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges, and Universities’ (MTCU). As a result of recent federal policy changes, international student applicants who formerly qualified for the Federal Skilled Worker program will not longer be eligible. These changes restrict international students from applying for permanent residency status while on a study permit, and those students who do not complete their degree within four years risk being deported. Previously, PhD students who qualified for permanent residency status could pay domestic tuition fees, which at Western are less than half of what international students pay. It is being argued that this is not only an international issue. Both Canadian and international students sometimes require more than four years to complete the Ph.D. But while Canadian students are eligible for government funding programs such as the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), international students are not. The Associate Dean of Research for the Faculty of Arts at Western notes that there has been an issue of slow completion that the university is working to improve. Nonetheless, Western, along with other Canadian universities, has brought its concerns about the policy revisions to the federal government.

Doctorate Degrees Granted in U.S. Reach Record Levels

According to a recent article in the International Herald Tribune-the global edition of the New York Times, the number of doctorate degrees granted by American Universities has reached the highest level ever recorded: 49,562 students in the 2008-09 academic year; an increase of 1.6% over the 2007-08 year. The stats are provided by the National Science Foundation's Survey of Earned Doctorates. Some of the findings were as follows:

-In 2009, 67.5% (33,470) of doctorates went to students in science and engineering (S&E), 13,593 of whom were women- a 4.8% increase over 2008. The number of men earning these degrees declined slightly.

-The number of doctorates awarded in non-S&E fields increased from 2008-2009 for both men (1.2%) and women (0.8%).

-The number of doctorates earned by international students declined- by 3.3% in science and engineering; and 4.6% in other disciplines.

The full report can be found here.

University Rankings: Do Grad Students Not Count?

Today’s blog post is a bit of an opinion piece, so I apologize in advance for those not fond of blog naval lint. I was excited to have finally gotten my hands on a hard copy of Maclean’s 2010 University Rankings. My excitement was diminished, however, when I discovered that once again, a significant portion of Canada’s student population was virtually ignored- graduate students. The focus of the rankings, has, and continues to be, high school students and graduates seeking advice on choosing ‘the right university’. I feel very strongly that this focus should now shift to include those students considering the option of continuing on or returning to school to enroll in graduate programs. Indeed, as the number of students choosing to do so continues to increase, the needs of this burgeoning population beg to be addressed. Information that I myself would be interested in knowing include university rankings and student opinions with regards to such matters as access to and quality of various student services, including professional development initiatives, resource availability, funding for research, and opportunities for teaching. The only segment of the graduate student population that is singled out, is, interestingly enough, international students. Other than this mention, the views of graduate students are lumped together with the voices of undergraduates attending primarily Medical/Doctoral and Comprehensive Universities. In the meantime, I was quite pleased to see issues of gender over- and under-representation being addressed, as well as other concerns of great relevance to both current and potential students.

International Graduate Students in the U.S. and Canada

According to a news release, The Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) reported yesterday that first-time international graduate student enrolment has increased by 3% from 2009 to 2010. Other findings from the report, Findings from the 2010 CGS International Graduate Admissions Survey, Phase III: Final Offers of Admissions and Enrollment, were as follows:

- Total enrolment rose only 1%, the smallest increase in four years.

- Most of the institutions that participated in both 2009 and 2010 reported an increase in first-time enrolment, with an average increase of 14%.

- China and India send the most graduate students to the U.S., but while the former noted a first-time enrolment increase of 20%, the latter noted a 3% decline.

- Education is the only ‘broad field’ that reported a decline in first-time enrolment (down 7%).

- Overall, there was a 5% growth at institutions granting the largest number of degrees to international students, while there was no increase at schools outside the 100 largest.

- Doctoral institutions saw first-time enrolment rise by 4%, while masters-focused institutions dropped 7%.

The report is based on the final phase of a three-part annual survey of international graduate student applications, admissions, and enrolment among CGS U.S. member institutions, and can be found here.

In Canada, increased efforts to recruit international graduate students - particularly PhD candidates, has been hotly contested recently. The Ontario government has announced that it will fund 75 new international scholarships, each worth $40,000 annually for four years. Starting in 2011-2012, the Ontario Trillium Scholarships will be divided among the province’s universities funded two-thirds by the government and one-third by the various schools. Earlier this year, the Ontario government announced its goal of increasing foreign enrolment in postsecondary institutions, currently at 38,000, by 50% in five years, and also introduced measures to fast-track graduate students into permanent resident status. As this article states, “But these 75 new spots are more about luring elite minds who might otherwise land prestigious places elsewhere, such as the United States.” The Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada has reported increases in foreign enrolment for fifteen consecutive years.

According to critics, the new program is insulting to students in the province, who already pay the highest fees in the country, as well as to taxpayers, who will be putting out $20 million of the $30 million project. Follow the debate here.

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.

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

Internationalizing Graduate Programs

This blog post has been a work in progress for some time, as more and more has been written on the topic in recent weeks, and I have found myself doing a lot of reading and thinking on the matter. At a time when the job market for new Ph.D.’s is particularly dismal, especially in the United States, there seems to be increasing attention and interest in recruiting and training international scholars, not just graduate students, but top researchers as well.

A recent article discusses the rise in the number of international students admitted to American graduate schools, according to a report recently released by the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS). Findings of the report are based on the most recent surveys conducted by the CGS. Interestingly, admissions offers made to international students increased by 3% in the past year, while offers to Americans fell 1%. China leads, with a 16% increase in admissions offers. While there was a 9% increase in graduate applications among American students in the survey, the number of offers remained the same at doctoral institutions, and went down 6% at master’s institutions. While the report cautions that these figures are probably not final for American students, due to late admissions, I admit I find these numbers a little disturbing, although not surprising. At Canadian universities, too, the number of international graduate students admitted continues to rise, as the number of domestic graduate students admitted decreases.

This past spring, the Government of Canada announced its first group of Canada Excellence Research Chairs. This program awards each of the chairholders- who are selected among the world’s top researchers, and their research teams, up to $10 million over seven years. The chairs’ research is to focus on the four priority areas outlined in the Government of Canada's science and technology strategy: environmental sciences and technologies; natural resources and energy; health and related life sciences and technologies; and information and communications technologies. Another recent initiative is the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships program, which aims to attract and retain the world’s best doctoral students. Canadian and international students are eligible to be nominated for a scholarship, which is valued at $50,000 per year for three years.

An article by Amit Chakma, president and vice-chancellor of the University of Western Ontario, discusses some of Canada’s recent initiatives to attract he world’s best researchers, and the benefits of such programs. Chakma cites the obvious benefits of recruiting the best and brightest from abroad, but claims that we should be doing even more. He only briefly acknowledges the need for similar financial incentives that would enable Canadian students to study abroad; he cites a recent study conducted by Queen’s University that found that less than 3% of Canadian undergrads venture overseas. While I suspect that number may be higher for graduate students, this is a concern. Internationalizing the academic experience is a needed change to the insularism that currently prevails. Too many students in North America are either ill-informed or not supported, due in part to issues such as faculty ignorance and cost. More initiatives like the Canada-U.S. Fulbright Program, which provides educational exchange opportunities for graduate students, faculty, professional and independent researchers, are needed.

Memorial University has recently initiated the Professional Skills Development Program for international graduate students.According to the dean of Graduate Studies, this program includes 7 weeks of workshops focusing on topics such as preparing a curriculum vitae, and job interview preparation, as well as community/service learning and networking opportunities. There are now plans to extend the program and its services to other students. Perhaps increased opportunities for Canadian graduate students to study and conduct research abroad will be a part of these services, and similar programs will be implemented at other Canadian universities.

This article emphasizes the importance of understanding different educational systems and how having that international experience can be seen as an asset when applying for academic jobs. Those advising students need to be aware of global opportunities and to share this information. While supporting international students is certainly commendable, and their recruitment is important to achieving and maintaining a sustainable workforce, I feel there is a lot left to be done to support Canadians students at both undergraduate and graduate levels of study; to make international exchange programs a more viable option for those looking to expand their cultural and educational experiences.