Physics education research to date has predominantly focused on the undergraduate level. This has left critical avenues of research in graduate education relatively understudied and has motivated much of my research. Numerous studies across the education research landscape have analyzed undergraduate admissions practices, but few have critically…

The goal of an educational system or degree program is to "educate" students. This immediately raises the question of what does it mean to "educate" students. All academic institutions, degree programs and content areas are typically expected to answer this question and establish appropriate academic expectations both within…

This study sought to determine whether GRE subscores (or GMAT) could predict graduation rates in related areas (math-oriented majors for GRE quantitative, etc.) in a sample of over 9,000 graduate students at a major public research university. Because few low quantitative scores were present in math-oriented majors, an attempt was made to…

Using a data base compiled by the Graduate School of Northwestern University, a longitudinal study of the graduate school careers of 2,211 students in 14 programs was conducted. Among the most prominent findings was the increase in the enrollment of foreign students. The patterns of attainment of graduate school milestones, such as Ph. D.…

The Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) Aptitude and Advanced Tests were evaluated as predictors of a dichotomous criterion of whether or not the candidate attained the doctorate within a specified length of time. More specifically, the project attempted to define subgroups for which the GRE tests have varying degrees of validity, and to provide…