In a feature story profiling CGS President Suzanne T. Ortega as part of its annual 'Graduate School' issue, Hispanic Outlook magazine discusses current challenges facing graduate students and institutions. Diminishing federal research grants and the loss of loan subsidies for graduate students are undercutting the nation's workforce development efforts and our future capacity for innovation, Ortega explains.

The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education (JBHE) examines the latest research report released by the Council of Graduate Schools: the Doctoral Initiative on Minority Attrition and Completion (DIMAC). Among the findings called out by JBHE was the slight improvement (to 50 percent) in the completion rates of black/African American STEM PhD students over the period studied.

Completion rates among underrepresented minority (URM) students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) doctoral programs rose by five percent from 1996 to 2005, according to the Doctoral Initiative on Minority Attrition and Completion (DIMAC) project, the most comprehensive study to date on times to degree, attrition, and completion rates of URM STEM doctoral students. Study authors and participating graduate deans share new strategies for improving retention and completion.

Considering applying for graduate school? Experts advise researching the costs, learning about financial aid and student loan options, and expected salaries in your field in order to make informed decisions. Prospective students can find many helpful resources at GradSense.org, a website developed by the Council of Graduate Schools in collaboration with financial services firm, TIAA-CREF, to enhance student financial knowledge and skills. 

Contact:
Julia Kent, CGS
(202) 223-3791
jkent@cgs.nche.edu

Findings Suggest New Strategies for Improving Retention and Completion

Washington, DC — The Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) today released findings from the Doctoral Initiative on Minority Attrition and Completion (DIMAC), a 3-year study that examined patterns of degree completion and attrition among underrepresented minorities in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields. Funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF #1138814), the project collected data from doctoral students at twenty-one universities in the United States, including universities affiliated with NSF’s Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP) program.

The most recent project in a series of CGS research studies on doctoral completion trends, DIMAC has resulted in the most comprehensive account of STEM doctoral completion and attrition for underrepresented minorities (URM) in the U.S. In the context of the study, URM includes U.S. students and permanent residents who self-identify as American Indian/Alaska Native, Black/African-American, and Hispanic/Latino.

Completion Trends

The DIMAC report provides completion rates, attrition rates, times-to-degree and times-to-attrition of URM STEM doctoral students using data spanning academic years 1992/93 to 2011/12. There is some data to suggest that from the earliest cohort to the most recent, there have been slight improvements in completion outcomes.

A key finding of the data on student completion rates is that completion outcomes vary by student characteristics, with some of the most notable differences emerging in the analysis of race/ethnicity and field of study. Over a ten-year period, 54% of students completed a doctorate. Looking at ten-year completion data by student characteristics,

• doctoral students in the life sciences completed at 63%, while candidates in physical &mathematical sciences experienced a rate of 45%.
• Hispanic/Latinos completed at a rate of 58%, while Black/African Americans completed at a rate of50%.
• women completed at a rate of 56%, while the ten-year completion rate for men was 52%.
• ten-year completion was 57% for students with a prior master’s degree, and 52% for those withouta master’s.

More analysis of trend data by student characteristics can be found in Chapter 3 of the report.

Student Experiences

DIMAC also collected data on students’ experiences of their doctoral programs through a Doctoral Student Survey, conducted in fall 2012, and focus group interviews at 16 institutions conducted throughout 2013. While many respondents reported a positive sense of their peers, advisors, and their doctoral programs overall, a minority expressed uneasiness as they moved into the dissertation phase of study. Students in this advanced stage of study, for example, were more likely to report that faculty did not understand the challenges they were experiencing.

CGS President Suzanne Ortega remarked that the findings demonstrate the need to support underrepresented doctoral students at every stage of a doctoral program. “One of the striking lessons from this study is that the dissertation phase is a particularly critical time for students. Our country’s STEM workforce will lose a great deal of potential talent if we don’t help underrepresented doctoral students cross the finish line.”

Key Recommendations

The study also explored institutional practices that can help support underrepresented minorities working to complete STEM doctoral programs. Data sources shed light on the value of four particular elements: 1) conducting interventions throughout the entire doctoral process; 2) providing students with enhanced academic support; 3) monitoring and evaluating programs and interventions; and 4) cultivating a culture of diversity and inclusion.

Additional information about student experiences of program features and interventions (i.e., advising and mentoring, networking, research and professional development, and non-financial support) can be found in Chapter 4 of the report.

About the report

The DIMAC project collected and analyzed four main sources of data: student-level enrollment data provided by institutions; an inventory of institutional policies; responses to a student survey; and information obtained from focus group interviews with students and university personnel. Active participation from 21 institutions resulted in over 7,500 student records. Over 1,600 URM STEM doctoral students were surveyed and 320 URM STEM doctoral students (and as many or more faculty and administrators) participated in focus groups at 16 institutions.

As the number of master of fine arts (MFA) programs in creative writing continues to proliferate and applications grow nationwide, literary luminaries are debating whether the MFA is a must-have credential for launching a writing career. Council of Graduate Schools dean-in-residence Jeannine Blackwell points out that many prospective students value graduate education because it opens doors to career advancement and higher quality of life.

Contacts:
Julia Kent, CGS
(202) 223-3791 / jkent@cgs.nche.edu

Washington, DC — The Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) has announced that Robert M. (Bob) Augustine, Dean of the Graduate School, Research and International Programs at Eastern Illinois University (EIU), has been appointed to a two-year term as the Council’s Senior Vice President. In addition to serving two terms as President of the Illinois Association of Graduate Schools, Augustine served on the CGS Board of Directors from 2011 to 2014 and held the position of Board Chair in 2013. He will join CGS on August 1, 2015.

The newly created Senior Vice President’s role will expand the services that CGS provides to master’s-focused institutions. Working with colleagues in CGS’s Best Practices division, Augustine will be responsible for developing an infrastructure for research on issues related to the master’s degree and for delivering programs relevant to the needs of master’s-focused institutions. He will also be responsible for the management and convening of the CGS Master’s Committee.

“For a number of years now, Bob Augustine has shared his deep knowledge of trends in master’s education with CGS members through board service and voluntary leadership roles in CGS meetings,” said CGS President Suzanne T. Ortega. “I am delighted that he will be extending his impact in this important area, and in graduate education more broadly, as a member of CGS’s leadership staff.”

Augustine will bring to CGS diverse experience in developing best practices for serving master’s degree students. During his tenure as graduate dean, EIU’s graduate school earned the ETS/Midwestern Association of Graduate School’s Award for Excellence in Graduate Education for the First Choice Graduate Programs Initiative. His institution was also awarded the ETS/CGS Award for Promoting Success in Graduate Education for developing the Integrative Graduate Studies Institute, as well as the CGS/TIAA-CREF Award for Enhancing Financial Literacy, which allowed EIU to launch a center devoted to Literacy in Financial Education.

Commenting on the appointment, Augustine said, “I am energized by this fantastic opportunity to contribute to the mission and values of the graduate community through the work of the Council of Graduate Schools. I look forward to advancing my new priorities as Senior Vice President.”

Augustine holds a PhD in communication sciences and disorders from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, where he earned a Department Distinguished Alumni Award. Following clinical experience in speech-language pathology, he launched an early intervention language clinic focusing on integrative language strategies at EIU. Augustine guided expansion of the program, launched the first technology-enhanced courses, and developed the program’s first international outreach efforts before becoming Dean of the EIU Graduate School in 2000.

NatureJobs blog and podcast interviews CGS's Julia Kent for details about the Understanding Career Pathways project, the challenges graduate schools face in tracking career outcomes data, and how the CGS feasibility study is building the foundations for achieving comprehensive research on the career trajectories of doctorates. (CGS portion begins at the 10:50 mark.)

The Washington Post Express provides tips helping prospective students craft a successful application from graduate admissions experts, including CGS's Julia Kent.

The Council of Graduate Schools is organizing a new effort to create a set of standards for information to collect about career outcomes of PhD's and how to collect it. The Chronicle of Higher Education examines the need for such data and the hurdles that have to be cleared to get it.