Mya Le Thai, a recent doctoral recipient in chemistry from the University of California, Irvine, led a research study at UCI that could revolutionize commercial batteries by greatly lengthening their lifespans. Her work resulted in the “development of a nanowire-based technology that allows lithium-ion batteries to be recharged hundreds of thousands of times.” This breakthrough could affect a wide-range of electronics, including computers, smartphones, appliances, cars, and spacecraft, and moves us closer to batteries that will never need to be replaced.

Nanowires, thousands of times thinner than a human hair, are highly conductive. The challenge: fragile filaments eventually crack after cycles of charging and discharging. The UCI researchers, led by Thai, discovered the remedy: coat the filaments with a manganese dioxide shell and encase that in a Plexiglas-like gel. The difference? Batteries that would generally die after 5-7,000 cycles were now surviving hundreds of thousands of cycles without losing capacity. Thai is running follow-up studies to gain a better understanding of why this solution works.

"The coated electrode holds its shape much better, making it a more reliable option," Thai says. "This research proves that a nanowire-based battery electrode can have a long lifetime and that we can make these kinds of batteries a reality." To learn more about Mya and her work, visit the University of California, Irvine website.

**Photo Credit: UC Irvine

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contact: Katherine Hazelrigg (202) 461.3888/ khazelrigg@cgs.nche.edu

Project will Join Humanities Initiative, Expanding Project to All Broad Fields of Study

Washington, DC — The Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) has been awarded a major grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF #1661272) to help universities collect data on the career pathways of PhDs in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields. Through a competitive sub-award process, CGS will select doctoral institutions to implement surveys of STEM PhD students and alumni, gathering information about their professional aspirations, career pathways, and career preparation. The project complements a parallel endeavor to collect and analyze data on humanities PhDs through a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

The project builds upon two earlier phases of CGS research: a feasibility study supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and a survey development phase supported by the Mellon, Sloan, and National Science Foundations (NSF #1534620). In the most recent phase, CGS developed two surveys—one for current PhD students and one for PhD alumni— by gathering input from senior university leaders, research funders, disciplinary societies, researchers, PhD students, and alumni.

The two surveys address important workforce questions not currently answered by existing national data-collection efforts. For example, the surveys will help faculty and university leaders understand whether participation in professional development activities is associated with certain career preferences and career pathways. Because universities will be collecting their own data, the project will ultimately allow them to conduct program-level analyses of data with the intention of improving programs.

CGS President Suzanne Ortega believes the project will assist universities in assessing their students’ career outcomes and enhancing graduate training for the next generation STEM workforce. “As we work to improve the career preparation of our students, we need to understand how the professional development experiences of PhDs align with the demands of the 21^st century workforce. This project promises to provide universities with this critical information.”

CGS has issued a Request-For-Proposals (RFP) to CGS member institutions to participate in the project as funded partners. The RFP is accompanied by the survey instruments and an Implementation Guide that offers guidance on incorporating the survey administration into existing university processes. To support broad institutional adoption of the instruments, universities that are eligible to apply for both humanities and STEM funding are encouraged to submit a combined proposal.

The initiative complements other CGS endeavors to support career diversity for PhDs, such as a recently-completed project to understand the professional development needs of graduate students in STEM fields. Through a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), CGS has also established the Next Generation Humanities PhD Consortium, a collaborative learning community for the 28 NEH Next Generation PhD grant awardees. 

Released this week, the Trump Administration’s FY2018 budget, “America First: A Budget Blueprint to Make America Great Again,” calls for the elimination of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). As one of the organizations that recommended the founding of NEH, we affirm our belief that humanistic study and professional activities are in the national interest and merit continued federal funding support.

The current administration has argued that cuts must be made to rebuild and prepare our military for the future. Yet one of our military’s greatest assets is knowledge of the history, languages and cultures of the countries and regions where we are engaged. Indeed, the humanities have played a critical role in the United States’ efforts to protect our country since September 11, preparing our servicemen and women to better navigate the complex religious and cultural landscapes where they are deployed; enabling our diplomats to build alliances with key partners; and empowering our intelligence officers to brief our leaders on military strategy.

The NEH strengthens our nation’s preparedness and commitment to its soldiers through programs such as Teaching the Middle East, which provides resources for K-12 teachers to introduce their students to the history, cultures, and languages of the Middle East, and Our Warrior Chorus, which trains Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans to connect with the civilian public through “modern stories anchored by the shared experience of classical works.” 

The humanities and the arts also serve the national interest by helping us to explore what is common to all human experience—to seek peace, and to resolve conflicts that drain human and material resources both at home and abroad. Created Equal, a film series about the struggle for African American equality in the United States, is one notable example among many in NEH’s history.

NEH grants have benefited every state, region, and territory of the United States, and its programs serving rural areas have stimulated growth and preserved important history that may otherwise have been lost. For example, NEH supports Appalshop, a cultural center, which “celebrate[s] the culture, voice and concerns of people living in Appalachia and rural America.”  NEH’s digital initiatives bring important and rare texts into the hands of students, researchers, and interested readers across the country, including one preserving and digitizing the papers of President George Washington. Regional cultural museums supported by NEA not only enrich our understanding of American culture, but contribute to local economies by attracting tourism.

A skeptic might reply: Americans can still benefit from the humanities and arts without federal support. But philanthropic organizations do not have as their mission to support the national interest. If our goal is to protect this interest and preserve our history, we must continue to preserve the NEH and NEA, two of America’s great and historic institutions.

Suzanne T. Ortega                          
President                                                                           
Council of Graduate Schools                                       

Contact:

Julia Kent, jkent@cgs.nche.edu

Other Statements of Support:

Earl Lewis, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

Pauline Yu, American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS)

Lanre Akinsiku started writing stories four years ago, because “there’s such a dearth of stories about kids of color getting to be human and alive in their own world. I know growing up I didn’t see a lot of those stories,” said Akinsiku. In the past four years, he has finished his MFA at Cornell University, published three books (almost four), and was honored by the New York Public Library’s selection of two of his books for inclusion on its annual list of best books for children and young adults. Akinsiku, who writes under the name LJ Alonge, is the first student in the history of Cornell’s MFA writing program to have three books published before completing the program.

After receiving his B.A. in international political economy from the University of California, Berkeley, Akinsiku spent several years working in political consulting. He gave that up to become a freelance travel writer before entering the MFA program at Cornell. Penguin editors approached him after his first year of graduate school to write a series for young adults. What resulted is Akinsiku’s Blacktop series, a collection of four books that explore topics including racism, relationships between police and teens of color, and gentrification, through the voices of teenagers with a shared love for basketball. To learn more about Lanre and his work, visit the Cornell University website.

**Photo credit: Lindsay France/University Photography

Data Sources: Four out of Five: A Closer Look into Master’s Degrees

October 2017

A large majority of graduate students in the United States pursue master’s degrees. According to the most recent CGS/GRE Survey of Graduate Enrollment and Degrees (GE&D), more than twice as many applications for admission were submitted to master’s programs than doctoral programs, and four out of five first-time graduate students enrolled in Fall 2016 were enrolled in programs leading to a master’s degree or a graduate certificate. Furthermore, the large majority (83%) of degrees awarded in 2015-16 were master’s degrees, while the share of doctoral degrees was 11% and graduate certificates was 6.2%. The sheer size of the student body and degrees awarded make master’s education a critical part of the graduate education enterprise that affects institutional missions, enrollment models, and financial planning across different sectors of higher education. This article highlights several results from the most recent GE&D survey that pertain specifically to master’s education.

Data Sources: Admission Yields of Prospective International Graduate Students: A First Look

July 2017

With nearly one out of five U.S. master’s and doctoral students being international students, the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS), graduate deans, and graduate education community has a high stake in supporting the recruitment and success of international graduate students and scholars pursuing their studies in the United States. Though it has been over five months since the first immigration executive order was signed, much uncertainty still remains as to how the current political climate and immigration policies may be affecting that flow. A short survey conducted by CGS finds that member deans are seeing a decline in admission yields of prospective international graduate students, a sign that the global appeal for U.S. graduate education may be suffering.

Data Sources: Highlights from the 2017 CGS Pressing Issues Survey

April 2017

The CGS Pressing Issues Survey is an important vehicle for the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) to stay apprised of the key priorities for our member deans. The 2017 survey was administered to all 485 graduate deans or equivalent at CGS member institutions based in the U.S. and Canada via email between February 1 and February 17, 2017. The response rate was 42%, with 205 institutions recording their survey responses. The survey asked a range of questions regarding priorities for graduate deans, graduate schools, and their home institutions for the upcoming twelve months, as well as observations of graduate application trends. This article provides insights into three key areas: graduate application trends, advocacy, and diversity.

Data Sources: A Quick Look into the Latest Survey of Earned Doctorates Data

January 2017

It’s that time of year again! The NSF’s National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES) has released the latest Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED) data tables. SED is the comprehensive source of information about newly-minted research doctorates since 1957, collecting the annual census of this population. The higher education community monitors this survey with keen interest, as the SED data is often used as a key national indicator of doctoral education in the United States. his article offers a quick look at statistics from the latest data release of SED compiled by the CGS research team. Full data tables are available on the NSF website and table numbers referenced in this article correspond to the web tables.

Data Sources: Preliminary Data Indicate Growth in Domestic First-Time Graduate Enrollment

December 2015

Although the focus of the CGS International Graduate Admissions Survey is on the participation of international students in US graduate schools, the 2015 survey also asked respondents to provide preliminary data on the participation of US citizens and permanent residents. As this analysis will show, there was a 2% increase in first-time graduate enrollments among US citizens and permanent residents between Fall 2014 and Fall 2015.

Data Sources: Graduate Student Debt Data: What We Can and Cannot Tell

November 2015

Student debt has become a dominant topic of discussion in graduate education in recent years. The topic of graduate student financial support has also been consistently noted as one of the chief concerns among CGS member graduate deans (Allum, 2014); however, as the circumstances vary by each and every campus, there is no single data point or figure that can fully capture the condition of graduate student debt. More detail is the key to shedding some light on this issue, and graduate deans wishing to explain the state of graduate student debt on their respective campuses will need to either uncover some data on their own or in collaboration with other campus offices. This article will help do that by expanding upon an existing CGS resource, Understanding Graduate Student Debt Data (Council of Graduate Schools, 2014b), offering some specifics about the current state of graduate student debt, and posing some general questions that graduate deans might consider answering for themselves.

Data Sources: An Examination of First-time Graduate Enrollment at Doctoral Institutions

October 2015

There is little disagreement about the overall size of doctoral institutions in terms of graduate enrollment at U.S.-based institutions. According to the most recent CGS/GRE Survey of Graduate Enrollment and Degrees (Allum & Okahana, 2015), more than two-thirds (71%) of first-time graduate students enrolled in Fall 2014 were enrolled at doctoral institutions, while 25% were enrolled at master’s institutions, and 3% were enrolled at other institutions. Yet the aggregation of first-time graduate enrollment data into a single category of doctoral institutions obscures notable differences within Carnegie classifications. As this Data Sources article will illustrate, this is particularly true over the course of the past decade.

Data Sources: Trends in Engineering Reveal an Influx of International Students

August/September 2015

When examined in aggregate, it is easy to understand why data regarding graduate enrollment and degrees in the broad field of engineering should be of interest. For one, it is a large field of study.With over 150,000 graduate students enrolled in Fall 2014, the field of engineering was the largest field of study in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, and the fourth largest field of study overall, according to the 2014 CGS/GRE Survey of Graduate Enrollment and Degrees (Allum & Okahana, in press). Engineering made up 10% of all graduate students enrolled in Fall 2014, and 9% of all degrees awarded in 2013-14. The field of engineering has also been traditionally composed largely of men. In fact, three-quarters (76%) of engineering students in Fall 2014 were men, while 24% were women, a distribution that is generally the same regardless of enrollment intensity (part-time vs. full-time) and degree objective (doctoral vs. master’s and graduate certificate).

Data Sources: Academic Program Counts: A Closer Look at Arts & Humanities

July 2015

While the CGS Graduate Enrollment & Degrees by Fine Field report (Allum, 2014b) and the American Academy of Arts & Sciences’ Humanities Indicators (2015) provide detailed information about enrollment and degrees in the arts and humanities and related disciplines, neither describe the number of academic programs available across all U.S. institutions. This article aims to supplement these resources, as well as departmental-level studies conducted in recent years (White, Chu, and Czujko, 2014; White, Ivie, and Czujko, 2009) with program-level information using data from the most recent Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (U.S. Department of Education, 2013).

Data Sources: New Insights in Master’s Education

June 2015

Master’s education is a large component of the graduate education enterprise. Until now, however, there has been no comprehensive, national dataset capable of describing applications and enrollments of master’s students by citizenship. The CGS International Graduate Admissions Survey began collecting data on applications, offers of admission, and enrollment by citizenship and degree-objective earlier this year, and the results reveal new insight into the size and scope of master’s education.

Data Sources: Highlights from the Doctoral Initiative on Minority Attrition and Completion

May 2015

The Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) published Doctoral Initiative on Minority Attrition and Completion (Sowell, Allum, & Okahana, 2015), which discusses patterns of doctoral completion and attrition among underrepresented minority (URM) students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, as well as the experiences of students and graduate programs related to program completion. The publication was made possible by a grant from the National Science Foundation (#1138814) as well as the participation of 21 U.S.-based CGS member institutions. The report gives the most comprehensive account of completion and attrition rates of URM STEM doctoral students in the U.S. to date. The full report is available at the CGS website, and this article highlights some of findings.

Data Sources: Trends in Degrees Awarded to International Students

April 2015

The CGS International Graduate Admissions Survey is beginning to collect data and reporting findings in ways that disaggregate applications, offers of admission, and enrollment of students according to whether their degree objective is a master’s/certificate degree or doctoral degree. Results generated by this redesign should provide a new way of examining trends in international graduate student application, admission, and enrollment trends, and in anticipation of this new report, this article examines trends in degree production among temporary residents using data from the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS).

Data Sources: Revisiting Applications Data

March 2015

Since the launch of the CGS/GRE Survey of Graduate Enrollment & Degrees, the number of applications to U.S. graduate programs has grown almost three-fold, from 684,100 in Fall 1986 to 1,971,553 in Fall 2013 (Syverson & Robinson, 1987; Allum, 2014). Although much of the growth in applications has occurred within the past decade, the rate of growth appears to be slowing (Allum, 2014). Examining application patterns in depth may be useful as graduate enrollment management strategies continue to evolve with changes in the higher education ecosystem. The CGS/GRE Survey of Graduate Enrollment & Degrees is ideal for this purpose, due to the fact that it is the only national survey that collects data on applications to graduate schools by field of study and degreeobjective. This Data Sources article explores changes in applications received, accepted, and not accepted between 2009 and 2013.

Data Sources: Highlights from the Fall 2014 CGS Pressing Issues Survey

January/February 2015

In October of 2014, CGS asked graduate deans at member institutions to identify the three most important or “pressing” issues or challenges they currently face in the Fall 2014 version of the CGS Pressing Issues Survey. The findings from this survey will not only inform the graduate community about the concerns of graduate deans, but also help shape sessions at the CGS Summer Workshop and Annual Meeting. These insights will also provide impetus for new CGS best practices projects and research initiatives. The Fall 2014 version of the CGS Pressing Issues Survey was sent to 518 U.S. colleges and universities that were members of CGS as of September 2014. A total of 166 institutions responded to the survey, for a response rate of 32%. Recruitment, admissions, and enrollment tops the list as the most pressing issue for graduate deans as of the fall of 2014, followed closely by student financial support. Graduate program financing and capacity building were ranked third and fourth. Of particular concern are growing demands to generate revenue during times of flat or falling enrollment.

Whither Knowledge: Notes on the Credibility of Evidence for Policy

March 6, 2017

Based on his recent book, The Rising Price of Objectivity: Philanthropy, Government, and the Future of Education Research, Dr. Michael J. Feuer, dean and professor of the George Washington University Graduate School of Education and Human Development and the president of the National Academy of Education offered insights into the state of education research, evidence-based public policy, and the role of philanthropy.

• Michael J. Feuer, The George Washington University

Rethinking Graduate Education for the 21^st Century

June 5, 2017

Based on past meetings of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine committee on Rethinking Graduate Education for the 21st Century, Leshner and Sherer talked about the Academies’ on-going work on Revitalizing Graduate STEM Education for the 21st Century.  Following their remarks, the audience offered feedback and insights pertinent to their work.

• Dr. Alan I. Leshner & Ms. Layne Scherer, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

Highlights from the 2016 CGS/GRE Survey of Graduate Enrollment & Degrees

September 20, 2017

A preview of the 2016 Graduate Enrollment & Degree survey results, which was released to the public on September 28, 201, was presented, including the latest trends in applications for admission to graduate school, first-time and total graduate student enrollment, and graduate degrees and certificates conferred.

• Hironao Okahana & Enyu Zhou, Council of Graduate Schools

Snapshot Report – From Community College to Graduate and Professional Degrees

December 19, 2017

Jason DeWitt, Research Manager, National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, discussed a recently released snapshot report from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. The report is the first Community College to Graduate and Professional Degrees and demonstrates that community colleges serve as a starting point for nearly 20 percent of 2016-17 master’s degree earners, 11 percent of 2016-17 doctoral-research degree earners, and 13 percent of 2016-17 professional degree earners.

• Jason DeWitt, Research Manager, National Student Clearinghouse Research Center

As a child, Joseph Taylor loved dinosaurs and wanted to be a paleontologist; but during his undergraduate work at Washington and Lee University, Taylor discovered his love for insects and spent three years researching the praying mantis.

After receiving his B.S. in biology with a minor in Russian language and culture, Taylor chose to continue his work as a doctoral student in entomology at Washington State University. Now he’s researching predator insects and their role in feeding on other insects that can potentially destroy crops. He hopes his research will lead to reduceduse of harmful broad spectrum pesticides in crops and build a healthier food supply for the world.

Taylor was recently awarded an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship and an Achievement Rewards for College Scientists to continue his work on predator insects. Once Taylor finishes his doctoral study, he hopes to work for the USDA on pest management. To learn more about Joseph and his research, visit the Washington State University website.

Rick Flores, a doctoral student in environmental studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz, is helping indigenous tribes recuperate and relearn traditional ecological knowledge and resource management after a period of colonial dispossession.

After receiving his undergraduate degree, Flores became interested in the ethnobotany of the California Indians while working at the UC Santa Cruz Arboretum. The Arboretum started the Amah Mutsun Relearning Program in 2009 with Flores leading the efforts. Through the program, Flores developed a cultural understanding and respect for the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band (AMTB). The longer Flores learned about and worked with the AMTB, the more he realized an advanced degree would enable him to have a greater impact on the tribe; pursuing his degree at UC Santa Cruz seemed an obvious choice.

Once Flores finishes his doctoral study, he plans to continue working with indigenous peoples. “I want to continue to help the AMTB in their efforts to relearn traditional knowledge and become active land stewards within their traditional territories again,” he said. “I would also like to work with public and private land managers to incorporate traditional knowledge into contemporary land management practices." To learn more about Rick and his research, visit the UC Santa Cruz website.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Julia Kent  (202) 461-3874 / jkent@cgs.nche.edu

Employers, Graduate Schools Aim to Narrow Gap between Workforce Needs and Graduate Training

Washington, DC — Graduate schools and programs play a key role in preparing students for the knowledge workforce, but more work needs to be done, according to a new report by the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS). Currently, the preparation of US graduate students is too narrowly focused on academic research skills, at the expense of professional skills such as communication, teamwork, mentoring, and leadership.

Most STEM PhDs and master’s degree recipients work in careers outside the academy. To improve graduate student preparation for multiple career pathways, CGS conducted a two-year project to map the landscape of STEM professional development programs with support from the National Science Foundation (#1413827). Project activities included a survey of over 900 university deans, STEM faculty, and professional development staff at 226 institutions; interviews with employers from across the STEM workforce; and a workshop of industry leaders, federal science agencies, entrepreneurs, graduate deans, researchers, and recent PhDs and postdocs.

“The good news coming out of this project is that graduate institutions are devoting considerable time and resources to broadening the professional preparation of students in STEM graduate programs,” said CGS President Suzanne Ortega. “But to ensure that students succeed, we will need to make it easier for them to access high-quality resources. Our ultimate goals should be supporting student success in a range of career paths, and promoting the health and competitiveness of the STEM workforce.”

Sharing a perspective held by many employers, Brian Fitzgerald, CEO of the Business-Higher Education Forum, said that innovation increasingly relies on a workforce that possesses cross-cutting skills, preferably those in technology. “Many employers seek to collaborate with universities to address the STEM skill demand. Businesses benefit from these partnerships because they get critically needed talent, and universities benefit because their students graduate with job-ready skills.”

Key Project Findings

1. Employers outside the academy seek broad “transferable skills” as well as specific scientific skills in graduates with advanced STEM degrees. Skills most frequently mentioned by employers as lacking include data science and big data skills; science policy; governance, risk, and compliance; and time-, project-, and budget management. Currently only about one in 10 programs addresses these needs.


2. Approximately six out of 10 universities reported offering structured professional development programs to help STEM graduate students develop skills beyond academic research. While programs vary in content, the most common emphasis is on preparation for academic careers and on transferable skills such as written and oral communication and interdisciplinary and intercultural teamwork.


3. Low student participation in professional development programs is a common challenge for most universities. Two factors that can prevent students from obtaining valuable skills needed for career success after graduation are student concern that faculty do not value broad professional development and careers outside academia, and federal funding structures that do not give incentives for broad professional preparation for STEM graduate students.


4. Graduate schools play a key leadership role in shaping, supporting, promoting, and sustaining professional development for graduate students who will pursue a broad array of advanced STEM and non-STEM careers. Most graduate schools do so in collaboration with staff and/or STEM faculty, combining centralized and program- or department-based activities.

Report Recommendations

The report includes recommendations for improving professional development of STEM graduate students in research degree programs. These include:

1. Improving coordination among graduate schools, graduate programs, employers, alumni, and federal funding agencies to ensure graduate student financial support and graduate education are more strategically aligned.


2. Increasing efforts to ensure professional development experiences provided to advanced STEM graduate students are relevant to employers.


3. Gathering and sharing more evidence about the effectiveness of different models for delivering relevant professional development programs to graduate students.


4. Improving assessments of professional development programs, addressing efficacy as well as student satisfaction. Best practices are also needed in the use of these data to inform graduate degree programs and professional development programs.

Survey findings were used to develop a searchable online database of university professional development programs for graduate students, which universities can use as models for developing new programs or improving existing ones.

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