Discussions about the role of universities have long been framed in terms of questions of what is good for the public, as well as how and whether higher education serves that good. Today, the language of 'societal impact' has become an accepted way for policymakers to frame the matter, but just who is included in the underlying definition of…

This study aims to provide a complex account of a PhD candidate's reflexive doctoral engagement process emergent from the changing doctoral environment vis-à-vis the neoliberal higher education context. Drawing on a critical realist theory of reflexivity, it analyzed narrative interview data collected with the participant over an 18-month period.…

Over the past several decades, strategic planning has become ubiquitous in higher education. Yet, there are varying perceptions of its overall value. Perceptions of value are critically important as they can influence the effectiveness and breadth of participation in the strategic planning process, and such participation is widely held to be…

This paper focuses on exploring the intellectual basis for establishing an academic development program for international doctoral students in social sciences and humanities in Central Europe so as to cultivate a reflective scholarly approach to teaching early on in their academic career. The program conceptions and practices are embedded in the…

Research collaboration is an important aspect of internationalization in higher education. Doctoral study abroad is perceived as one way of building international research networks for future collaborations. The diversity of study abroad programs makes it difficult to specify factors relevant to improving outcomes. The study examined destination,…

Previous research suggests that it is the department, not the graduate school that bears the greatest responsibility for doctoral students' progress and success (Ehrenberg et al., Doctoral education and the faculty of the future (pp. 15-34). Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, "2009") dictating the need to examine and understand how doctoral…

This article is the result of a grounded theory investigation into the ways PhD topics are assigned by supervisors in engineering and selected by students in the social sciences/humanities in UK universities, broadly referred to as "topic arrangement", which can be regarded as one aspect of academic socialisation into academic Discourse…

Considerable scepticism still persists with the academic disciplines in higher education in the United Kingdom about the quality of the research undertaken by employees in their own workplace. Workplace "investigations" are negatively contrasted to academy-based research degrees, which are held to be a model of how research should be…

This report discusses concerns that the future of the UK's world class research base might be threatened by the decline in modern language learning and calls for a series of measures by Universities and Government bodies to address this danger. It investigates evidence for the role of language skills in academic research in the humanities and…

The problem of employment for Ph.D.'s in modern languages is discussed in terms of enrollment and employment statistics, attitudinal causes, and suggested remedies. (RM)

Guidelines for establishment of a course or series of meetings to help future college professors understand the responsibilities of the professional in six interrelated areas. (RL)

A report is made on the Conference on Alternative Careers for Doctoral Degree Recipients in the Social Sciences, Humanities, and the Arts, held in October 1975, sponsored by the School of Graduate Studies of the University of Michigan. (RM)

In 1995, doctoral degrees were granted to over 26,000 individuals in the sciences and humanities; however, many other individuals began graduate work with the same aspirations. There are no national estimates to indicate how many students make the decision each year to cease graduate work, but studies at a few selected academic institutions…

Among the results of a study of the employment of the 955 English doctorate recipients in 1978-79 were that 60 percent found full-time teaching positions, although only 46 percent of males and 35 percent of females received full-time, tenure-track positions; 12 percent found part-time teaching appointments or postdoctoral fellowships; and 16…

This critical appraisal of North American doctoral programs contends that the degree is a seriously flawed academic institution. Recent scholarship and personal experiences are utilized to illustrate the contention that doctoral programs are inflexible, cumbersome, restrictive and wasteful, and, in most fields, do more harm than good. The history…