Citing data from the latest CGS/GRE Graduate Enrollment and Degrees report, Brain Gain magazine highlights the growth in international graduate students from fall 2012 to fall 2013. Temporary residents now account for one-in-five new students in graduate programs, the report finds.

Crucial steps for protecting U.S. economic competitiveness include investing in graduate education opportunities for domestic students and welcoming more international graduate students to stay and work after completing their degrees, CGS President Suzanne T. Ortega tells Times Higher Education. Data from the latest CGS/GRE Graduate Enrollment and Degrees report show that first-time enrollments are stagnating, even as shortages in graduate-level talent are looming.

Contacts

Maureen Terese McCarthy, CGS: (202) 223-3791 / mmccarthy@cgs.nche.edu
Sandy Woolfrey-Fahey: (709) 864 4873 / sandywf@mun.ca

St. John’s, Canada (September 10, 2014) — Leaders of graduate institutions from 14 countries today agreed on a set of principles supporting interdisciplinary learning in graduate education.

The statement was released at the conclusion of the Eighth Annual Global Summit on Graduate Education, “Interdisciplinary Learning in Graduate Education and Research,” co-hosted by the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) and Memorial University of Newfoundland. The Global Summit is an annual event designed to promote international best practices in master’s and doctoral education.

This year’s theme was chosen by an international steering committee to recognize that complex questions in a global society cannot be answered using a single method or approach. Master’s and doctoral students will be called upon to approach these questions as researchers, and graduate institutions are challenged to prepare them to conduct research and collaborate beyond the bounds of one academic discipline.

Summit participants shared examples and background on the national and international context for interdisciplinary learning in their countries and institutions.

Session topics addressed the organizational and administrative challenges to supporting interdisciplinary methods, including:

• creating institutional cultures that value interdisciplinary learning;
• structures for interdisciplinary research and collaboration within science, technology engineering and mathematics (STEM) and the humanities, as well as across broad fields;
• assessment of learning outcomes;
• innovations in program design, including tuition allocation, credit requirements, advising of interdisciplinary students, and informal and extracurricular opportunities for interdisciplinary learning; and,
• new models for funding interdisciplinary programs, including partnerships with public, private, and non-profit funders.  

Dr. Noreen Golfman, provost and vice-president (academic) pro tempore and dean of Graduate Studies at Memorial University, commented that, “We tend to agree on the importance of interdisciplinarity as a concept, but practicing interdisciplinary teaching, research, and learning presents real challenges for graduate schools and administrators. This week we established a set of principles to guide graduate communities when considering how best to incorporate interdisciplinary learning and research as core values in their academic programs.”  

CGS President Suzanne T. Ortega noted, “The questions that will advance human knowledge often lie at the boundaries of current disciplines, so interdisciplinary knowledge and ways of thinking are central to today’s master’s and doctoral education. It is essential that graduate students learn to communicate across disciplines in the full variety of contexts they will encounter throughout their careers.”

Participants in the summit included deans and other leaders of graduate schools and representatives of national and international associations devoted to graduate education. Along with Canada and the United States, the countries represented were: Australia, Belgium, Brazil, China (PRC and Hong Kong), Croatia, Germany, Hungary, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, and the United Kingdom.

The consensus statement is below.

Principles for Supporting Interdisciplinarity
in (Post)graduate[1] Education and Research

Interdisciplinarity is an important feature of (post)graduate education. Established academic disciplines inform and are informed by interdisciplinary scholarship. With a firm basis in principles of interdisciplinarity, students will be poised to succeed as the researchers, teachers, and leaders of the future. Diverse understandings exist, however, as to the definitions, practices, and purposes of interdisciplinarity—and these definitions themselves, along with the borders of academic disciplines, continue to change. Practices of interdisciplinarity vary, and may include extracurricular offerings and events, interdisciplinary programs or degrees, incentives for interdepartmental collaboration or co-mentoring, and problem-based research teams and curricula.

Many stakeholders stand to gain from an increased commitment to interdisciplinarity, including university administrators, academic staff, students, and faculty, as well as regions, nations, and societies at large. Documenting the impact of interdisciplinary research and programs is important for accountability to these stakeholders, as well as for facilitating assessment and improvement of any offerings. Interdisciplinarity is not, however, an end in and of itself. Interdisciplinarity in graduate education and research must answer specific, identifiable needs.

Representing 14 countries, the participants in the 2014 Strategic Leaders Global Summit recommend that (post)graduate institutions consider the following principles when making decisions about interdisciplinarity in (post)graduate education and research.

1. Articulate the added value of interdisciplinary approaches and initiatives within institutional contexts.
2. Communicate and advocate for the value of interdisciplinary research and learning to the broader community. Education efforts should include not only the broad value of interdisciplinary research and learning, but also the specific relevance and benefits to each stakeholder group.
3. Identify and develop the skills (post)graduate students will need engage effectively in interdisciplinary research collaborations or research projects throughout their careers.
4. Provide opportunities and spaces for (post)graduate students and faculty to meet colleagues in other disciplines, work on interdisciplinary research teams or on interdisciplinary research projects.
5. Build administrative bridges to encourage interdisciplinary research and learning. Where existing structures inhibit cross-disciplinary collaborations, find ways to remove barriers and provide incentives.
6. Value interdisciplinary mentoring or research in faculty tenure and promotion procedures.
7. Encourage funding agencies to support interdisciplinary research projects and training.

The number of applications to U.S. graduate schools from prospective students in Africa increased by 9 percent in 2014, according to the Council of Graduate Schools' International Graduate Admissions report.

Admission offers from U.S. graduate schools to Chinese nationals, who make up one-third of all international master's and doctoral degree students in the U.S., flattened this year after nearly a decade of rapid annual growth, according to the Council of Graduate Schools.

Brazilian students are a small fraction of the total international enrollees at U.S. graduate instititions, but their numbers are growing quickly, according to the latest report of the CGS 2014 International Graduate Admissions survey.

The Eighth Annual Strategic Leaders Global Summit on Graduate Education.

Co-hosted by the Council of Graduate Schools and Memorial University Newfoundland

14 countries to be represented

Press Contacts

If you wish to attend the press conference or conduct interviews with summit leaders prior to the event, please contact:

Maureen McCarthy, CGS: (202) 223-3791 / mmccarthy@cgs.nche.edu

Meaghan Whelan, MUN: (709) 864-2455 / mcwhelan@mun.ca

September 7 – September 10, 2014

Newfoundland, Canada

Overview

From September 7 to September 10, 2014, the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) and Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN) will convene the eighth annual Strategic Leaders Global Summit on Graduate Education. The summit will address pressing questions about preparing the next generation of research professionals to learn and collaborate beyond the bounds of one discipline:

• What are the advantages of mixing academic cultures and methods among STEM, Humanities, and Social Sciences? How can degree programs be designed, administered, and evaluated for student success?
• How can institutions overcome barriers such as a lack of funding or administrative support, and the difficulties of publishing research across disciplines?
• How can graduate schools build and sustain partnerships with public, private, and non-profit funders to create interdisciplinary research and learning opportunities for students?

Event Details

The event will take place at the Sheraton Hotel Newfoundland, in St. John’s, and at Fishers’ Loft in Port Rexton, Newfoundland. The session open to media guests will be from 11:00 a.m. to noon Wednesday, September 10, at the Sheraton Hotel Newfoundland. This year’s summit will assemble 31 leaders in graduate education who represent a diverse range of national graduate education systems. Presentations will be made by speakers from 14 countries: Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China (PRC and Hong Kong), Croatia, Germany, Hungary, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Attached is a list of participant names, institutions, and countries.

Topic

An international steering committee conferred on the 2014 summit theme, “Interdisciplinary Learning in Graduate Education and Research.” In choosing this theme, the steering committee recognizes that complex questions in our global society cannot be answered using single methods or approaches. Master’s and doctoral students will be called upon to approach these questions, and summit participants will consider how best to train students to meet these challenges.

Summit panellists were asked to explore interdisciplinarity in master’s and doctoral education with regard to their own local contexts. The presentations to be shared at the event discuss how interdisciplinary learning and research might be integrated into graduate programs in order to train tomorrow’s global leaders.

Outcomes and Press Release

CGS and MUN will share the summit outcomes and resulting consensus statement at a media forum on September 10 at 11:00 a.m., Sheraton Hotel Newfoundland, in St. John’s, which will be attended by CGS President Suzanne Ortega and Dean of the MUN School of Graduate Studies and incoming Provost and Vice President (Academic) pro tempore, Noreen Golfman, and other summit speakers as available.

Journalists are invited to conduct interviews with the leaders of the sponsoring institutions. Arrangements may also be made to interview summit leaders from specific countries. Speakers will be available to discuss the consensus statement and answer questions about topics relevant to their countries and institutions.

Background

The Strategic Leaders Global Summit is the only annual international forum for leaders in graduate education. Past summits have explored topics including program quality, dual-degree programs, graduate career outcomes, and the global mobility of graduate talent.

Participants

Professor Vahan Agopyan, University of São Paulo, Brazil

Dr. Marie Audette, Université Laval, Canada

Dr. Robert Augustine, Eastern Illinois University, United States

Dr. Sue Berners-Price, Griffith University, Australia

Professor Verena Blechinger-Talcott, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany

Professor Hans-Joachim Bungartz, Technische Universität München, Germany

Dr. Chen Shiyi, Peking University, China

Professor Denise Cuthbert, RMIT University, Australia

Dr. John (Jay) Doering, University of Manitoba, Canada

Dr. Noreen Golfman, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada

Professor Roger Horn, Deakin University, Australia

Professor Lucy Johnston, University of Canterbury, New Zealand

Dr. Mohan Kankanhalli, National University of Singapore, Singapore

Dr. Barbara Knuth, Cornell University, United States

Dr. Melita Kovacevic, University of Zagreb, Croatia

Dr. Nancy Marcus, Florida State University, United States

Dr. Liviu Matei, Central European University, Hungary

Dr. Maureen McCarthy, Council of Graduate Schools, United States

Dr. Shireen Motala, University of Johannesburg, South Africa

Dr. Suzanne Ortega, Council of Graduate Schools, United States

Professor Laura Poole-Warren, University of New South Wales, Australia

Dr. Nirmala Rao, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong (China)

Mr. Rafael Sidi, Senior Vice President, ProQuest

Dr. Mark J.T. Smith, Purdue University, United States

Professor Zaidatun Tasir, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Malaysia

Dr. Tao Tao, Xiamen University, China

Dr. Stefanie Thorne, University Campus Suffolk, United Kingdom

Dr. Jiaping Wang, Zhejiang University, China

Dr. Lesley Wilson, European University Association, Belgium

Dr. James C. Wimbush, Indiana University, United States

Dr. Lisa Young, University of Calgary, Canada

For years, U.S. university administrators have worried that China’s massive investment in higher education would eventually mean fewer Chinese students seeking to earn advanced science and engineering degrees at their institutions. A new survey from the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) hints that the time may be approaching.

CGS President Suzanne T. Ortega tells Inside Higher Ed that data from the 2014 CGS International Graduate Admissions report show a robust applicant pool for U.S. graduate institutions. As growth continues in the number of admission offers to students from India and Brazil, the long-run of increases from China has ended, meaning that U.S. graduate schools cannot rely on one or two countries alone to achieve continuous enrollment growth.

After nearly a decade of double-digit increases, American graduate schools probably will not have a record number of students from China in this fall’s incoming class.