So an E-Thesis It Will Be

By the time I get ready to defend my own doctoral thesis in a few years (if all goes according to plan!), the e-thesis will be mandatory at all Canadian universities, and e-defenses will be common here on Memorial’s campus. The School of Graduate Studies (SGS) is leading the way in utilizing technology to the fullest degree, changing theses from paper-based to electronic; increasing the number of e-defenses. The switch to e-theses will cut down on printing and shipping costs, and also get research into the public domain a lot faster, according to C. Dean Barnes, programs coordinator with SGS. E-thesis development is to start in the fall of this year, and go live in winter 2012. By 2014, e-theses will be mandatory at all Canadian universities. It is also expected that by May 2011, the majority of oral defenses will be conducted via webcast, with examiners off campus being able to e-attend as opposed to being flown in from out-of-province. More information on these initiatives can be found here.

Sociologists Find Fault with NRC’s Doctoral Rankings

According to an article on today’s Inside Higher Ed, sociologists are not happy with the National Research Council’s (NRC) doctoral rankings. Six months ago, the NRC released it’s much-anticipated and much delayed doctoral rankings report (see an earlier post here), but critique quickly followed suit. Much of the criticism pertained to the methodology and/or the data. Now the American Sociological Association (ASA) has released an analysis of the assessment. Among a number of concerns that were raised, fault was found with issues such as the exclusion of books and book citations as methods for evaluating faculty productivity in the social sciences, disregard for the quality of journal article publications, the lack of distinction between single-authored and co-authored papers, and the judging of admissions quality by GRE scores alone, ignoring verbal scores, which are a significant measure for American sociology departments. There is a concern that these rankings could have a negative influence on people’s perceptions of departments ranked lower than their actual quality and may lead to pressure to change programs to improve their rankings. The ASA’s report can be found here.

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.

Aldrich Interdisciplinary Conference

Next week (Feb.21-23) the Graduate Student's Union of Memorial University will be holding the Aldrich Interdisciplinary Conference. Presentations will be centered around the following themes: socio-economic impact of research, pedagogy, and sustainability. For the first time, this year's conference will be open to student and faculty at a national level. More information about the conference can be found here.

Ph.D. Placement Statistics

There has been some recent discussion at Princeton University about Ph.D. statistics. This editorial published in The Daily Princetonian, commented on the need for graduate schools at research universities to release information on the placement of their Ph.D. graduates into academic positions to potential graduate students. Unfortunately, few schools release these statistics, although it is argued that these statistics help students to consider their options with regards to a career path- an important decision considering the job market today. The fact of the matter is that while most Ph.D. students in the social sciences and humanities are encouraged to enter academia, few will find opportunities for employment upon graduation. This reality, and the disillusionment that accompanies it, is evidenced by websites about dropping out of graduate school, such as SellOutYourSoul.com, and Leavingacademia.com. The editorial further notes that a recent report released by the National Research Council, discussed in an earlier blog, did not include data on graduate placement because of the difficulty encountered in trying to obtain it from institutions. A recent column, written in response to the earlier editiorial, says that schools should strive to provide more than just placement stats; information on completion and time-to-degree in Ph.D. programs should also be made available.

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.

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.