Goals and Deliverables

Goals

Goals for the F&F II 2007 Workshop (in collaboration with and hosted by the University of Melbourne, Australia (UMelb) and Barbara Evans, Dean of the UMelb School of Graduate Studies)

1. Synthesize research.
This is the core of the F&F II workshop and builds directly on the five key topic areas identified by the network at the F&F I workshop in 2005. At F&F II, cross-national task forces will critically review and discuss the following research areas (with special attention to evaluation):

  • Meta-forces. Inquiry into the impact of globalization in labor markets, mobility, technology, and its impacts on doctoral education.
  • National/International. Evaluation of the tensions between striving for national excellence and the need for international cooperation, including problems of preserving national culture and “brain drain.”
  • What is a PhD? Examination of global consensus on what competencies PhD holders should have now and in the future.
  • Research and Data. Investigation of existing data, its usefulness for evaluation of doctoral education, and its comparability across national contexts.
  • Evaluation. What does it mean to take globalization into account when developing a framework for evaluation and quality assurance, with special attention to the role of disciplinary norms in producing high quality science?

2. Re-envision concepts of quality in relation to substantive research areas.
The second core task for each topic-defined group will be to think about how what they have learned about globalization through their synthesis research might change how we define and might evaluate excellence in doctoral education.

3. Localize quality concepts.
After topic-defined groups present their thoughts on how we might re-think quality in relation to doctoral education given what we know about globalization, participants will re-convene in country-based groups to examine the applicability of the concepts proposed by the task forces to their national situations.

4. Prepare for the 2009 F&F III policy workshop.
Participants will take responsibility for the success of the third F&F Global Network workshop, which will be devoted to policy implementation. Participants will define the focus and take on research tasks to prepare for the third workshop.

5. Strengthen network relations.
Through activities designed to integrate new members, face-to-face discussions in task forces, and planning for the policy workshop, participants will establish new cross-national relationships and strengthen existing relationships.

6. Examine Australian innovations.
Participants will become familiar with current innovations in doctoral education in Australia and at the University of Melbourne, an international leader in innovative doctoral education and the integration of international students.

Deliverables

Book 1 (currently under review by the UW Press): Forces & Forms of Change in Doctoral Education Worldwide, edited by Maresi Nerad & Mimi Heggelund. This book, an outcome of the 2005 F&F I workshop, presents doctoral education innovations in 14 countries and summarizes the data across nations in a matrix format. A second planned book will present research synthesis from the 2007 F&F II workshop.