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Director

Maresi Nerad is the founding director of the Center for Innovation and Research in Graduate Education (CIRGE) and Professor for Higher Education, in the Leadership in Higher Education Program, College of Education, at the University of Washington, Seattle.  

A native of Germany, Dr. Nerad received her doctorate in higher education from the University of California, Berkeley; directed research in the central Graduate Division of UC Berkeley for 15 years; spent 2000 as Dean in Residence at the Council of Graduate Schools, the professional Association of US Graduate Deans, in Washington, D.C; joined the University of Washington (UW) in Seattle in 2001, and opened CIRGE in 2002. 

Dr. Nerad has served on many national and institutional doctoral education reviews including the German Excellence Initiative (2006, 2011), the U.S. National Research Council (2002-3) to examine the Methodology for the Assessment of Research Doctorate Programs.  She served and still serves on US and international advisory boards, such as International Advisory Committee for Science and Engineering of the US National Science Foundation (NSF) (2011- 2013); the Presidential Innovation Broad of the University of Bremen, Germany (2014-19), the Graduate Academy of the Goethe University of Frankfurt (2011-16); and undertakes formative and summative research for flagship interdisciplinary doctoral programs of NSF (IGERT/NRT), the German Excellence Graduate Schools (Materials MAINZ), or the European Commission (UNIKE).

She has written and edited 5 books and published numerous articles on doctoral education.  The latest book appeared 2014, Globalization and it Impact on the Quality of the PhD, Sense Publishers, and received the outstanding publication award from the American Education Research Association (AERA) SIG 168 in 2015. 

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Postdoctoral Appointments and Employment: Patterns of Science and Engineering Doctoral Recipients Ten-plus Years after Ph.D. Completion

This paper highlights major findings regarding postdoctoral appointments and employment outcomes of science and engineering doctoral recipients ten to thirteen years after receiving the PhD. These results are part of comprehensive study, PhDs -Ten Years Later.

Nerad, M. & Cerny, J. (2002).  Postdoctoral Appointments and Employment: Patterns of Science and Engineering Doctoral Recipients Ten-plus Years after Ph.D. Completion. Communicator, VXXXV(7).

Download: Postdoctoral Appointments and Employment: Patterns of Science and Engineering Doctoral Recipients Ten-plus Years after Ph.D. Completion

 

 

Widening the Circle: Another Look at Women Graduate Students

Today, graduate women are still lagging behind their male counterparts. In this paper we will try to explain, both historically and empirically, the situation of women doctoral students and what problems keep them from parity with male students. We will present practical suggestions for graduate deans on how to improve the present situation and how to truly welcome women into the circle of doctoral students.

Nerad, M. & Cerny, J. (1999). Communicator Vol XXX11 (6)

Download: Widening the Circle: Another Look at Women Graduate Students

 

Postdoctoral Patterns, Career Advancement, and Problems

Postdoctoral appointments can have different functions and meanings, depending on the field and whether the postdoc is a man or a woman. This papers summarizes the findings from the Ph.D.s—Ten Years Later survey for biochemists and mathematicians.

Nerad, M. & Cerny, J. (1999). Postdoctoral Patterns, Career Advancement, and Problems, Science, Vol. 285, pp. 1533-1535

 Download: Postdoctoral Patterns

From Rumors to Facts: Career Outcomes of English PhDs

The cohorts of English doctorates sampled for this study have been called “the lost generation of humanists.” But were they really lost? This article traces the often difficult transition from receiving the PhD to stable employment, examines the level of satisfaction or dissatisfaction English PhDs have with their current employment, and discusses the value they place on their doctoral education.

Nerad, M. & Cerny, J., (1999). Communicator, Vol XXXII (7). Reprinted in ADE Bulletin no 124, winter 2000. Association of Departments of English, New York: the Modern Language Association.

Download: From Rumors to Facts: Career Outcomes of English PhDs

 

 

The Institution Cares: Berkeley’s Efforts to Support Dissertation Writing in the Humanities and Social Sciences

In the humanities and social sciences, the time to finish a doctoral degree, and especially the dissertation-writing stage of the doctoral degree, can be significantly influenced if students work in a collaborative environment; are not left alone in their struggle to progress with their disserations; interact with their advisors frequently; are given information about academic publishing; and have a financial support package that fits their particular program and research structure.

Nerad, M. & Sands Miller, D. (1997).  Rethinking the Dissertation Process: Tackling Personal and Institutional Obstacles in  Goodchild, L. Green, C.E., Katz, E., & Kluever, R. C., eds. The series New Directions in Higher Education. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers, no. 99, pp. 75-90.

Download: The Institution Cares: Berkeley’s Efforts to Support Dissertation Writing in the Humanities and Social Sciences

Part 1

Part 2

 

Increasing Student Retention in Graduate and Professional Programs

Using the assessment model from the University of California Berkeley, describes how research can inform policies and strategies for increasing graduate student retention by focusing on the interplay of institutional, disciplinary and student characteristics.

Nerad, M.  &  Sands Miller, D. (1996). Increasing Student Retention in Graduate and Professional Programs.  In  Haworth, J. G. Assessment in Graduate and Professional Programs: Demand, Processes, Outcomes. ed. In  Jossey-Bass Publishers, no.92,  San Francisco, pp. 61-76.

Download: Increasing Student Retention in Graduate and Professional Programs

From Facts to Action: Expanding the Education Role of the Graduate Division

Breaking out of its traditional administrative role, the Graduate Division at the University of California, Berkeley, undertook research and used the findings to design and implement programs which encouraged students to complete their degrees and to do so in a reasonable amount of time. An excellent example of how a graduate school can play an active role in improving graduate education.

Nerad, M., & Cerny, J. (1991).  From Facts to Action: Expanding the Education Role of the Graduate Division. Communicator, Special Edition – May.
Reprinted in  Leonard L Baird (ed), Increasing Graduate Student Retention and Degree Attainment, New Directions for Institutional Research No 80, Winter 1993, Jossey-Bass.

  Download:  From Facts to Action

 

Implementation Analysis

This paper reflect on the the use of implementation analysis as a means both for analysis and prediction of higher education reforms in Germany. It argues that the implementation approach is useful as an analytic tool but does not help determine the success or failure of reform.

Nerad, M. (1984). A New Magic Tool for Research in Higher Education or Why Don’t we Learn from History in the Case of the West German Gesamthochschule

Download: Part 1; Part 2; Part 3