Research Catalog

In pursuit of the PhD

Title
In pursuit of the PhD / William G. Bowen and Neil L. Rudenstine ; in collabortion with Julie Ann Sosa [and others].
Author
Bowen, William G.
Publication
Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, ©1992.

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Details

Additional Authors
Rudenstine, Neil L.
Description
xx, 442 pages : illustrations; 27 cm
Summary
"What percentage of graduate students entering PhD programs in the arts and sciences at leading universities actually complete their studies? How do completion rates vary by field of study, scale of graduate program, and type of financial support provided to students? Has the increasing reliance on Teaching Assistantships affected completion rates and time-to-degree? How successful have national fellowship programs been in encouraging students to finish their studies in reasonably short periods of time? What have been the effects of curricular developments and shifts in the state of the job market? How has the overall "system" of graduate education been affected by the expansion of the 1960s and the subsequent contraction in enrollments and degrees conferred? Is there "excess capacity" in the system at the present time?" "This major study seeks to answer fundamental questions of this kind. It is based on an exhaustive analysis of an unparalleled data set consisting of the experiences in graduate school of more than 35,000 students who entered programs in English, history, political science, economics, mathematics, and physics at ten leading universities between 1962 and 1986. In addition, new information has been obtained on the graduate student careers of more than 13,000 winners of prestigious national fellowships such as the Woodrow Wilson and the Danforth. It is the combination of these original data sets with other sources of national data that permits fresh insights into the processes and outcomes of graduate education." "The authors conclude that opportunities to achieve significant improvements in the organization and functioning of graduate programs exist--especially in the humanities and related social sciences--and the final part of the book contains their policy recommendations. This will be the standard reference on graduate education for years to come, and it should be read and studied by everyone concerned with the future of graduate education in the United States."--Jacket.
Subjects
Bibliography (note)
  • Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contents
Ch. 1 Introduction and Principal Findings -- Part One: Trends in Graduate Education -- Ch. 2 Recipients of Doctorates -- Ch. 3 The BA-PhD Nexus -- Ch. 4 Graduate Programs: The Dual Questions of Quality and Scale -- Ch. 5 The Evolution of Selected Tier I Programs in the EHP Fields -- pt. 2 Factors Affecting Outcomes -- Ch. 6 Completion Rates and Time-to-Degree: Concepts and General Patterns -- Ch. 7 Fields of Study -- Ch. 8 Scale of Graduate Program -- Ch. 9 Student-Year Cost and Its Components -- pt. 3 Policies and Program Design -- Ch. 10 Financial Support for Graduate Students -- Ch. 11 National Fellowship Programs -- Ch. 12 Requirements and Program Content -- Ch. 13 Program Design, Oversight, and "Culture" -- Ch. 14 Recommendations -- Appendixes: -- Appendix A The Ten-University Data Set -- Appendix B The National Fellowship Data Set -- Appendix C Survey of Mellon Fellows in the Humanities -- Appendix D Measuring Time to the Doctorate -- Appendix E Time-to-Degree and Faculty Promotion -- Appendix F Theory and Its Reverberations -- Appendix G Additional Tables -- Definitions of Frequently Used Terms -- References Cited.
ISBN
  • 0691042942
  • 9780691042947
  • 9780691632087
  • 0691632081
LCCN
91032321
OCLC
  • ocm24504695
  • 24504695
  • SCSB-8903740
Owning Institutions
Princeton University Library