Too Many? Too Few? Supply and Demand for New Doctorate Recipients

November 16, 2011

Policymakers and educators periodically debate the undersupply or oversupply of new doctorate recipients. At this forum, representatives from four professional societies discussed current supply and demand issues and the state of the job market for new doctorate recipients in their respective disciplines.

• Keith Crank, American Statistical Association
• Roberta Spalter-Roth, American Sociological Association (presentation not available)
• Robert Townsend, American Historical Association
• Di Fang, American Association of Colleges of Nursing

Professional Science Master’s (PSM) Degrees: Enrollment, Degrees, and Outcomes


October 19, 2011

PSM programs, which combine rigorous study in science and/or mathematics with coursework in management, policy, law, or related fields, are designed to prepare graduates for careers in business, government, and non-profit organizations. This forum provided an overview of the PSM initiative, along with recent data on PSM enrollment and degrees and employment outcomes for PSM degree recipients, based on surveys conducted by the Council of Graduate Schools.

• Sally Francis, Council of Graduate Schools
• Jeff Allum, Council of Graduate Schools


Selected Results from the 2008 Survey of Doctorate Recipients


September 14, 2011

This presentation provided a brief description of the Survey of Doctorate Recipients (SDR) methodology, followed by some of the latest findings pertaining to doctoral scientists and engineers in the US. Results focused on demographic characteristics, field of doctorate, and employment sector.

• Lynn Milan, National Science Foundation

Trends in Student Financing of Graduate and First-Professional Education: 1995/96 to 2007/08


May 18, 2011

Using nationally representative data from graduate students participating in the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS), this presentation provides trend statistics on how graduate and first-professional students finance their education.

• Sean Simone, National Center for Education Statistics

An Examination of Disciplines and Interdisciplinarity in NSF’s GRFP and IGERT Data


April 20, 2011

Gisele Muller-Parker from the National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP), provided a historical perspective on the evolution of disciplinary fields of study over time using 60 years of data from the GRFP. Ram Ramasubramanian provided an overview of the NSF IGERT interdisciplinary training program and examined how interdisciplinary fields of study may be integrated into this framework.

• Gisele Muller-Parker and Melur Ramasubramanian, National Science Foundation

Tracking Graduate Student Outcomes: Best Practices from Society Surveys


March 15, 2011

Three presenters discussed the methodologies used by professional societies to track employment and education outcomes for graduate students, as well as the challenges they have overcome in collecting data, challenges that have yet to overcome, and ways in which the data are used by professional societies.

• Patrick Mulvey, American Institute of Physics
• Betsy Bizot, Computing Research Association
• James Maxwell, American Mathematical Society

Refueling the U.S. Innovation Economy: Fresh Approaches to STEM Education


February 16, 2011

Robert Atkinson presented the findings of a new ITIF report that challenges the U.S. approach to STEM education and argues that reforms are urgently needed to better match the talents of students, the needs of employers, and our goals as a nation.

• Robert Atkinson, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation

Diversifying Scientific Leadership: Making Effective Faculty Diversity Programs Legally Sustainable


January 19, 2011

Daryl Chubin, founding Director of the Center for Advancing Science and Engineering Capacity at AAAS, presented an overview of the Center’s recent work in support of the efforts of colleges and universities to diversify their faculty ranks.

• Daryl Chubin, American Association for the Advancement of Science