Evaluative Framework for International Collaboration

The evaluation research reported here had two central aims: To provide formative evaluation of two cases of international collaborations between U.S. and German doctoral programs and to use this experience to develop a framework for evaluation of international collaboration in doctoral-level science education that allows us to assess the benefits of such international collaborations to students, faculty and graduate programs. In the course of one year of a multi-method study we evaluated the international activities of two pairs of interdisciplinary science PhD programs in the U.S. and Germany that had established program-level international components. The guiding research questions were:

• What were the programs doing to foster international cooperation?
• What did faculty members, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate students expect from program level international cooperation?
• How did faculty, postdocs and students experience participation in the international component of their doctoral programs?
• What were the hurdles for successful international cooperation? What were successful features of the international collaboration?

Sadrozinski, R. (2006) Evaluative Framework for International Collaboration: Final Report prepared for the National Science Foundation- www.cirge.washington.edu

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From Gradute Student to World Citizen in a Global Environment

Universities play a significant role in the production of new knowledge and training of future leaders. This applies particularly to doctoral education. Several countries have introduced innovative structures for training doctoral students which share many characteristics including international components and collaborations.

Nerad, M. (2005). From Graduate Student to World Citizen in a Global Environment, International Higher Education, 40, pp. 8-9.

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From Doctoral Citizen to World Citizen

Empirical data on the outcome of doctoral education leads up to question whether we prepare our doctoral students adequately for the present andn future. We can use the current trend of globalization and the move to a knowledge economy to prepare our PhD students not just to be expert scholars, but also to become world citizens who are aware of the negative effects of globalization and who are equipped to operate as informed leaders and responsible citizens on the world stage.

Nerad, M. (2005). From Doctoral Citizen to World Citizen: The Chance for Innovative Doctoral Education, Miegunyah Lecture given at the University of Melbourne, Australia. Feb. 16.

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CIRGE Charts Work/Family Paths of Female PhDs

Evidence from the survey, PhDs—Ten Years Later suggests that gender equality in the career paths of PhD recipients is still hampered by conflicts between family lives and career structures.

Rudd, E. and Homer, L. (2005). CIRGE Charts Work/Family Paths of Female PhDs. in Women in Higher Education, September 2005, pp 36-37.

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Innovation in PhD Training – IGERT evaluation report

Evaluation of an IGERT at the University of Washington which aims to train its students to become disciplinary experts who are also highly skilled in collaborative team work and interdisciplinary problem solving. The evaluation was performed at the end of the third year of a five-year grant in order to assess which activities were working in pursuit of their goals, identify barriers to achieving project goals, extract larger lessons learned for doctoral education and interdisciplinary programs, and provide ideas and recommendations for next steps.

Heg, D., & Nerad, M. (2004). Innovation in PhD Training: An IGERT at the University of Washington Mid-Term Program Evaluation. Report for the National Science Foundation.

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Promovieren in den USA

This paper explains the structure and functioning of US PhD education, views the process from the perspective of a doctoral student, discusses the role of the US graduate school and ends with an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of US doctoral education.

Nerad, M. (2004). Promovieren in den USA (Getting a PhD in the USA) written for the handbook, Die Internationale Hochschule, Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD), Germany.

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Innovation in PhD Training – IGERT evaluation report

Heg, D. & Nerad, M. (2004). Innovation in PhD Training: An IGERT at the University of Washington Mid-Term Program Evaluation. Report for the National Science Foundation.

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The PhD in the US: Criticisms, Facts and Remedies

Several initiatives have been developed to address recent criticisms of doctoral education in the U.S. In addition, three major surveys have been undertaken to better understand the process, content, and outcome of doctoral education. This paper explores the criticisms and outlines the initiatives for change. It argues that initiatives for change in doctoral education are important first-step responses to the criticisms; however, they must be accompanied by ongoing research that can provide empirical data on doctoral student experiences, career paths, and on the impacts of the initiatives themselves.

Nerad, M. (2004). The PhD in the US: Criticisms, Facts and Remedies, Higher Education Policy, 17, pp. 183-199.

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So you want to become a Professor

Respondents give high marks to their history programs for “academic rigor,” and training in “critical thinking” and “data analysis and synthesis.” They also identified areas to target for improvement, including training in writing and publishing reports and articles and in how to teach, as well as providing concrete feedback to students on their progress, socializing students into the academic community and having a diverse student population. Surveyed historians urged programs to address the fact that the academic labor market cannot absorb all the doctorate holders, to be aware of opportunities for historians outside academia, and to recognize the value to society of historians working in diverse employment sectors. Even knowing what they know now about the history job market, more then 80% of respondents would get a PhD in history again.

Nerad, M., Aanerud, R. &, Cerny, J. (2004). So You Want to Become a Professor! Lessons from the PhDs—Ten Years Later Study. in Donald H. Wulff, Ann Austin, & Associates, Eds., Paths to the Professoriate: Strategies for Enriching the Preparation of Future Faculty. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass

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Career Outcomes of Political Science PhDs

The PhDs – Ten Years Later study, allowed us to provide detailed information about the actual employment patterns of nearly 4, 000 PhDs recipients in biochemistry, computer science, electrical engineering, English, mathematics, and political science. This report, offers a specific examination of the career paths of those who completed the PhD. in Political Science.

Surveying PhD recipients in political science ten years after degree completion provides rich information about the career paths, job satisfaction, and their retrospective evaluation of the usefulness of the PhD. Understanding the variety of educational outcomes and the high job satisfaction of PhD recipients outside academia, leads us to conclude that a too narrow focus on the academic job market in doctoral education leaves a large proportion of doctoral student unprepared for a variety of intellectually satisfying careers.

Center for Innovation and Research in Graduate Education – University of Washington, 2003. Career Outcomes of Political Science PhD Recipients: Results from the PhDs–Ten Years Later Study. Report for Political Science Association.

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