2000 Conference: Selected Bibliography

Selected Bibliography on the topic of Emerging Issues in Graduation Education - Specific

U.S. Programs

Bowen, W. G. & Rudenstine, N. L. (1992). In pursuit of the Ph.D. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

This text is a comprehensive 30 year study (1958-1988) of doctoral programs in English, history, economics, political science, math and physics at ten research universities. It examines many issues including degree completion rates by field, impact of teaching assistantships on time to degree completion, curricular changes and the job market, and the influence of educational expansion on doctoral education, and so on. It calls for organizational changes, particularly in the humanities and related social sciences, and includes policy recommendations.

Brooks, P. (1996, December 20). Graduate learning as apprenticeship. Chronicle of Higher Education, A52.

The author proposes that humanities doctoral programs adopt an apprenticeship model similar to scientific programs in order to revitalize graduate education. The assertion is made that calls to abolish the dissertation or reduce the period of doctoral study are misguided.

Council of Graduate Schools. (1990). The doctor of philosophy degree: A policy statement. Washington, DC: Council of Graduate Schools.

This updated booklet characterizes the typical academic and institutional contexts of Ph.D. programs in the U.S. and Canada, identifying standards of quality and procedures likely to lead to successful Ph.D. degree programs. Designed to provide guidance to administrators reviewing or establishing programs, the booklet also gives students a general sense of the purposes of the Ph.D., tasks to be completed, level of performance to be achieved, and expected schedule for degree completion.

Goldberger, M. L., Maher, B. A., & Flattau, P. E. (Eds.). (1995). Research-doctorate programs in the United States: Continuity and change. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

This report summarizes assessments of the quality of specific doctoral programs in the U.S. Updating a similar 1982 report, these quality assessments are based on descriptive statistics and the views of faculty "peers." Scholars, potential graduate students, administrators, institutional planners, and policy makers are encouraged to consider the report's summary ratings of various programs in their own decision-making processes. Rather than recommending specific changes in educational policies to address what seem to be negative trends or to encourage positive developments, however, the committee advises researchers to make use of the available database themselves in order to conduct additional analyses that could yield important insights into the nature and changes in research-doctorate education over the past decade.

Magner, D. K. (1999, January 8). Record number of doctorates awarded in 1997. Chronicle of Higher Education, A14-A15.

These pages provide tabular statistics and analysis on doctorates earned in 1997: where; by whom; demographics; disciplines; time-to-degree; and where recipients plan to seek employment.

Menand, L. (1996, September 22). How to make a Ph.D. matter. New York Times Magazine, 78-81.

In this article, Menand points out that graduate school has become stressful for those wishing to become the new professors, there are fewer jobs now but universities have not cut Ph.D. programs, and competition for limited jobs results in the production of more articles of lesser quality. The article argues that dissertations should be eliminated and that doctoralprograms should become more like law (JD) degrees which are completed in three years.

Murrell, P. H., & Davis, T. M. (1991). Visions and priorities: The future of higher education doctoral programs. New Directions for Higher Education, 19(4), 103-113.

This piece briefly describes: societal forces impinging on higher education institutions; the changes those institutions must make to meet those forces; the leadership skills necessary for higher education professionals who will direct the institutions and programs of the future; and doctoral program necessary to educate and train those professionals. The authors take into account the changing demographic, social, cultural, and economic factors that are shaping the face of the American educational enterprise. They argue that the most useful programs will be those that recognize the changing human context and the particular needs of the students and clients we serve, as well as the requirements of the educational settings in which these students and clients are located.

Patterson, W. (1997, December). A survey of graduate certificate policies, procedures, and programs. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Council of Graduate Schools, Washington, DC. [On-line]. http://www.cgsnet.org/pdf/certif.pdf

This paper reports on a survey of CGS members concerning their stand on Graduate Certificate Programs. The summary findings presented here were generated in an effort to illuminate the general nature and policies of these certificate programs; detailed survey responses are also available on-line.

Tobias, S. & Chubin, D. E. (1996, July 12). New degrees for today's scientists. Chronicle of Higher Education, B1-B2.

In light of the gloomy job market for Ph.D.s in the physical sciences, this article proposes that bold strategies are needed to prepare people for jobs in science and mathematics. One strategy is the design of new master's programs in science, understood to be substantially different from, but no less valuable than, a research Ph.D. Currently, only 2% of master's degrees awarded in the U.S. are in the physical sciences. The authors suggest that: departments must advise prospective students about the uncertain job market in physical science; departments should also reduce the number of doctoral students they admit; and universities should undertake studies to determine the potential demand for recipients of master's degrees in science.

International Programs

Deem, R. (1998). Doctoral routes: Different paths to the same destination? Paper presented at the summer conference of the U.K. Council for Graduate Education. University of Greenwich. Available: r.deem@lancaster.ac.uk

This paper focuses on the changing form of the British Ph.D., specifically four forms: the "long thesis" Ph.D.; Ph.D. by publication; professional doctorates; and portfolio Ph.D.s. In order for the Ph.D. to remain a meaningful qualification, the author advises a close look at assumptions about these forms. The "long thesis" Ph.D. is seen as an unalterable "gold standard" in the U.K., although it is not ideal, given evolving skills requirements and the increased emphasis on research with practical relevance. Seven differences surface between these four forms of the Ph.D.: the candidates each form attracts; the registration status of students; the development of students' knowledge of their field of research; the extent to which research contributes to academic knowledge and/or professional knowledge; the presentation forms of candidates' research material; assessment of the students' original research; and the degree to which the work is the student's own.

Massue, J., & Schinck, G. (1987). Doctoral training in Europe. Higher Education in Europe, 12(4), 56-67.

This article seeks to fulfill three tasks: giving a rapid and systematic overview of doctoral programs by country in Western Europe; describing certain initiatives taken by specific countries with the aim of improving third cycle (doctoral) studies; and of arguing in favor of the establishment of so-called European inter-university doctoral programs. The authors note that all but two of the countries concerned have opted for the so-called Ph.D. type of doctoral program rather than for long-cycle programs. They give particular attention to efforts made in the Federal Republic of Germany to create separate doctoral level institutions. The authors also sketch a networking process by which inter-university and inter-disciplinary doctoral programs are being created in specific disciplines, particularly scientific ones. The authors consider that such doctorates hold great potential but that their elaboration is being held up by lack of resources and by difficulties in finding, matching, and linking partners.

Newhouse, M. (1999, July 2). The view from Britain. Chronicle of Higher Education [On-line]. Available: http://chronicle.com/jobs/v45/i44/4544beyond.htm

The assistant director of career services for Ph.D.s at Harvard compares the experience of American Ph.D. students and post-docs with their British counterparts. The article identifies four specific examples of promising programs and resources in use in the U.K.: 1) career offices actively seeking out employers' input; 2) an interactive CD-ROM developed to help post-graduates develop career-management skills; 3) the "Graduate School," a week-long intensive course developed and supported by various National Research Councils, offering self-assessment exercises, games and simulations for developing business understanding and skills, and job search, resume, and interview advice; and 4) the career services office at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology collaborating with departments to introduce aspects of career management and planning into the curriculum of "Taught Master's" programs.

Spinelli, G., & Yopp, J. H. (1999, December). Inter-national articulation programs for graduate education. Presentation at the 11th Annual Conference of the European Association for International Education, Maastricht, The Netherlands.

This presentation reviews the nature and proliferation of international joint degree and double degree programs at the graduate level. It also examines the changing concepts of transnational certification and accreditation. The speakers argue that these programs facilitate the exchange of students and ideas, substantively contributing to the growth of knowledge. Using examples from engineering, the natural sciences, and the humanities, the speakers argue that international education needs to increasingly examine the integration of content and method of inquiry across disciplinary boundaries.

Weisbuch, C., Coueson, C., Courtois, J-Y., & Tixier, R. (1997). The Doctoriales: A French seminar to prepare for life after the doctorate. Unpublished manuscript. Available: tixier@abg.asso.fr

Doctoriales are seminars organized to improve the employability of doctoral students in France. Deliberately, they have not been shaped as a formal education module, the emphasis being put on awareness and motivation. Doctoral students, after having gone through the seminar, should feel able to valorize their competencies in the economic world, find their own way of doing so, and understand how their theses can help in doing so. The thesis supervisors themselves are involved as much as possible in the seminars in order to have relationships with doctoral students on a more professional basis, and to induce long-term changes in graduate studies at universities.

These seminars are run in cooperation with industry.

Transnational education is defined as that which is "delivered to the learners of a particular country by providers in another." This presentation reviews the major driving forces behind the expansion of transnational education, such as multinational business, new trade agreements that widen educational mobility, and developing countries' desires to meet international standards. Included are detailed data tables.