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Transformative graduate education programs: an analysis of impact on STEM and non-STEM Ph.D. completion

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Abstract

Transformative graduate education programs (TGP) are programs that are national in scope and are intended to impact the reformation of graduate education in the United States. We employ data from national sources and shift the unit of analysis from the individual doctoral student to the doctoral institution as whole in order to begin to assess the impact of TGPs on the number of doctoral degrees awarded, a critical outcome for such programs, and an educational priority in many countries. In addition, we examine the critical issue of whether TGPs enhance Ph.D. degree conferral for women and minorities, and if they do so at STEM-oriented institutions, typically the least hospitable of all environments for these groups.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Paul D. Umbach, University of Iowa, for his comments on an early draft.

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Correspondence to David Kniola.

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Kniola, D., Chang, M. & Olsen, D. Transformative graduate education programs: an analysis of impact on STEM and non-STEM Ph.D. completion. High Educ 63, 473–495 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-011-9453-8

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