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Career preparation in PHD programs: results of a national survey of early career geographers

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Abstract

Social Science PhDs—Five+ Years Out (SS5) surveyed a national sample of recent doctorate recipients, including 164 geographers, to find out how well their PhD programs prepared them for their careers. The study was motivated in part by longstanding criticism of US PhD programs as “over-producing” PhDs and failing to equip graduates with skills needed in today’s labor market (Nerad 2004). It was also motivated in part by the need for student-centered evaluations of PhD programs (Ostriker and Kuh in Assessing research-doctorate programs: a methodology study. National Academies Press, Washington, 2003; Denecke in The assessment of doctoral education: emerging criteria and new models for improving outcomes. Stylus, Sterling, pp xi–xiii, 2006). This article presents findings about geographers, including career paths, skills used in their work, and evaluations of the quality of training in these skills received during graduate school.

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Notes

  1. The Ford Foundation provided financial support.

  2. Analysis not shown here revealed that respondents who rated a skill “very important” in their current job were only slightly more likely than others to rate their training in that skill “excellent.”

References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Program Evaluation, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Policy Development and Research, 451 7th St SW, Room 8120, Washington, DC, 20140, USA

    Elizabeth Rudd

  2. Center of the Innovation and Research in Graduate Education, College of Education, University of Washington, Miller Hall, Box 353600, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA

    Maresi Nerad

Authors
  1. Elizabeth Rudd
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  2. Maresi Nerad
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Correspondence to Elizabeth Rudd.

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Rudd, E., Nerad, M. Career preparation in PHD programs: results of a national survey of early career geographers. GeoJournal 80, 181–186 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-014-9587-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-014-9587-1

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