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Category: CIRGE Publication

Doctoral Education in the USA

Presents an overview of the state of doctoral education in the US and discusses the changes that will need to be made in response to external forces.

 Nerad, M.  (2007).  Doctoral Education in the USA.  In Stuart Powell and Howard Green eds.,  The Doctoral Worldwide, pp.133-140, Berkshire, England: Open University Press.

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Social Science PhDs—Five+ Years Out: Survey Methods

This working paper documents the methods used in the study, Social Science PhDs— Five+ Years Out. It describes the survey purpose and administration, sampling methods, and types of data collected. It details items that were collected irregularly.  Finally, it provides information helpful for evaluating the generalizability of results.

Picciano, J., Rudd, E., Morrison, E., & Nerad, M. (2007). Social Science PhDs—Five+ Years Out: Survey Methods. CIRGE Report 2007-01. CIRGE: Seattle, WA.

Download: Social Science PhDs—Five+ Years Out:  Survey Methods 

 

Astrobiology IGERT Student Survey Report

The surveys were designed as components of the multi-year evaluation of the University of Washington Astrobiology (AB) IGERT conducted by CIRGE in accordance with the National Science Foundation grant requirements. The results are intended to provide anonymous student feedback to the program faculty and to increase understandings of interdisciplinary graduate programs and student experiences of those programs. Students had mostly positive feedback on many of the AB components and elaborated on the rewards of the program, their expectations that it will help them in their careers, the teamwork it involves, and the writing skills it enhances.

Download:  Astrobiology Survey Report 

 

Astrobiology Student Focus Group Report

Two focus groups were held with Astrobiology graduate students in order to gain feedback on components of the AB program, including coursework, research rotations, international collaborations, interdisciplinarity, teamwork, interactions with faculty; and student recommendations for the AB program. In general, students offered positive feedback about the structure of the Astrobiology Program. They especially like the workshops, the seminar series and speaker lunches, and the core courses. They would like more interaction with other students and among the faculty, and they would like more guidance on setting up their rotations.

Blumenfield, T. & Sadrozinski, R. (2007). Astrobiology Student Focus Group Report.

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Social Science PhDs—Five+ Years Out: A National Survey of PhDs in Six Fields—Highlights Report

To assess the career path of social science PhDs and the quality of doctoral programs, the Center for Innovation and Research in Graduate Education (CIRGE) at the University of Washington, Seattle surveyed recent PhDs, asking them about the application of their education in their subsequent careers. This report concludes that students in social science PhD programs are well prepared for their careers in a number of ways, but they need additional training in essential professional competencies and better career preparation in order to fully utilize the knowledge and analytical skills they acquired during doctoral education.

Nerad, M.,  Rudd, E., Morrison, E., & Picciano, J.  (2007). Social Science PhDs—Five+ Years Out: A National Survey of PhDs in Six Fields—Highlights Report. CIRGE Report 2007-01. CIRGE: Seattle, WA. 

Download: Social Science PhDs—Five+ Years Out: A National Survey of PhDs in Six Fields—Highlights Report

 

Using an Alignment Model as a Framework in the Assessment of Doctoral Programs

To assist in addressing current issues in doctoral education, this chapter presents a particular framework for successful doctoral programs and discusses implications of that framework for program assessment.  This alignment model suggests that successful doctoral programs involve a process of aligning program activities, students and faculty/staff in their specific contexts in order to achieve desired outcomes of helping students complete their degree in a reasonable time with a satisfactory experience and with the knowledge and skills necessary for a range of careers.

Wulff, D., &  Nerad, M.  (2006). Using an Alignment Model as a Framework in the Assessment of Doctoral Programs” in Peggy L. Maki and Nancy Borkowski, The Assessement of Doctoral Education,  Virginia: Stylus.

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Paths and Perception: Assessing Doctoral Education Using Career Path Analysis

Uses the results from the PhDs – Ten Years Later survey in two disciplines, English and mathematics, to demonstrate the assessment value of understanding student career paths and student evaluations of doctoral programs in light of their career paths.

Aanerud, R., Homer, L., Neard, M., & Cerny, J. (2006). Paths and Perceptions: Assessing Doctoral Education using Career Path Analysis.” In Peggy L. Maki and Nancy Borkowski, Eds., The Assessment of Doctoral Education, Sterling, pp. 109-140, Virginia: Stylus.

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Globalization and Its Impact on Research Education

Observations on the impact of globalization on research training and promising practices for the doctorate of the future: 1) Globalization has not only brought a number of common trends to doctoral education worldwide but also has had differing effects on differing regions and on the more and more diverse doctoral student population worldwide. 2) Due to globalization, doctoral education is confronted with the tension between building a nation’s infrastructure—which means preparing for the next generation of professionals and scholars inside and outside academia—and the necessity of educating domestic doctorate students for participation in the international scholarly community. 3) We need to prepare our doctoral students adequately for times of globalization and an increasing national interest in the role of doctoral education for the knowledge economy.

Nerad, M. (2006). Globalization and Its Impact on Research Education: Trends and Emerging Best Practices for the Doctorate of the Future. In M. Kiley and G. Mullins, eds,  Quality  Postgraduate Research: Knowledge Creation in Testing Times, CEDAM, The Australian National University, Canberra.

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Feasibility of International Comparisons of PhD Program Time-to-Degree and Completion Rates

In attempting to compare doctoral times-to-completion and completion rates for institutions in different countries, it was found that issues of definitions and data availability are major stumbling blocks. National and institutional contexts also complicate matters. Because of these complications, comparisons are difficult to make, but it might be possible to account for these confounding issues to gain some insights from such comparisons.

Hall, F., Evans, B., & Nerad, M. (2006). Feasibility of International Comparisons of PhD Program Time-to-Degree and Completion Rates. Unpublished article.

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