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Asks the question, if women are now receiving doctoral degrees in relatively equal numbers to men, can we anticipate nearly equal tenure achievement in the next decade?  Uses data from the PhDs - Ten Years Later national survey to show that in fields where there are strong non-academic labor markets, women have equal chances of getting tenure to their male counterparts.  However, in fields where most PhDs work in academia, men have better chances of tenure than women.

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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.

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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.

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The National Science Foundation funds IGERT programs in order to incubate new practices, not to provide long-term program funding. Once initial funding peters out, program directors and graduate school administrators face the challenge of maintaining the generous funding levels that fostered excellence. CIRGE explored ways to meet this challenge and sustain the programming initiated with IGERT funds by collecting the successful experiences of IGERT program directors, the best practices put forth by institutions on the forefront of interdisciplinary innovation of doctoral education, and the recommendations by scholars and university committees concerned with reform of interdisciplinary study and research.

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To assist in addessing 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.

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The PhDs - Ten Years Later study was undertaken to bring greater empirical understanding to PhD educaiton in the US. This article discusses some of the key findings, implications and recommendations that are most relevant to preparing future faculty.

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Findings from the Ph.D.s–10 Years Later study regarding Ph.D. recipients from abroad who earned their degrees at U.S. institutions of higher education centers and whether they stayed in the US or returned home. While, overall, 40 percent of the Ph.D.s from abroad returned home to start their post-Ph.D. careers, there was, in fact, considerable variation by field of study, region of origin, and even subregion. While many factors helped determine the choices on initial job locations made by international Ph.D. holders, one overwhelming trend that ran through the “return” data was a predetermination to return, powered by the pull of existing ties. Those who returned home were somehow “bound” to return, through the strong pull of their ties to cultural values and preferences, to friends and family, to their employers or governments, or to personal values such as the desire to contribute to their nation or society.

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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.

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