Graduate Students Give Their Programs Mixed Reviews in New Survey

By SCOTT SMALLWOOD

Graduate students are generally satisfied with their Ph.D. programs, but feel unprepared for nonacademic careers and want more training to be teachers, according to a new survey of 32,000 students.

The survey was conducted by the National Association of Graduate-Professional Students. The results, which include detailed information about individual departments, are available at http://survey.nagps.org

The survey asked students for their opinions in a number of areas, including career preparation and mentorship. The students who responded represented 5,000 doctoral programs at almost 400 graduate institutions. Organizers acknowledge that the respondents were self-selected, but they say the survey results are meaningful because of the sheer volume of responses and because the demographic characteristics of the respondents mirror the overall student population.

Kimberly Suedkamp Wells, the association's president, says the survey gave students a chance to have a say in the future of graduate education.

"There's lots of talk about reforming graduate education, but it's all at the policy level," she says. "Students don't feel involved in those conversations. This survey gives the respondents a sense of empowerment."

Because the survey collected data on individual Ph.D. programs -- instead of only on institutions, as past surveys have done -- it won't be easy for department chairmen to shrug off the concerns, Ms. Wells says. "No one can take the 'Oh, that's not my students' stance,'" she says.

Among the survey's highlights:

* While 81 percent of the students said they were satisfied with their programs over all, just 38 percent said they were satisfied with career-related services.

* Nearly 40 percent of respondents in all academic fields reported that they did not receive appropriate preparation and training before they entered the classroom as a teaching assistant, nor did they get supervision to help improve their teaching skills.

* More than 70 percent of the humanities students said they were satisfied with the career guidance they received for academic careers, but only 20 percent said the same about nonacademic careers.

Many of the programs had fewer than 10 respondents, and those results were not posted on the Web site. But for the 1,300 programs that did have sufficient responses, viewers can see what grades the departments earned in various categories. The programs can also be ranked by specific issue or overall satisfaction.

For instance, history-Ph.D. programs at New York University and the University of California at Berkeley got C's in overall satisfaction, while those at the University of Pennsylvania and Brandeis University got A-'s.

The program-specific numbers show that students on the same campus may have very different experiences. For instance, at the University of Pittsburgh, students in the program in the history and philosophy of science were generally satisfied, giving the program an A-. Their counterparts in Pitt's history department were less generous, giving the program only a C+.

The survey's Web site also includes some student comments and a forum to discuss the programs further. A student in the anthropology department of a large university in the Southwest, for example, wrote, "We are just told to go to the national meetings and present something. That seems to be the extent of the professional training."

A student in the biology department of a large institution in the Northeast complained, "Teaching assistants are glorified gophers. We do very little actual teaching, and those who wish to do more are generally discouraged. Students have very little say in the courses they teach, and students are placed according to what courses are available, not their strengths."

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