The New PhD: How To Build A Better Graduate Education PDF
Preview The New PhD: How To Build A Better Graduate Education
THE NEW PhD This page intentionally left blank The New PhD How to Build a Better Gradu ate Education Leonard Cassuto and Robert Weisbuch Johns hopkins University press Baltimore © 2021 Johns Hopkins University Press All rights reserved. Published 2021 Printed in the United States of Ameri ca on acid- free paper 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Johns Hopkins University Press 2715 North Charles Street Baltimore, Maryl and 21218-4363 www . press . jhu. edu Library of Congress Cataloging-i n- Publication Data Names: Cassuto, Leonard, 1960– author. | Weisbuch, Robert, 1946– author. Title: The new PhD : how to build a better gradua te education / Leonard Cassuto and Robert Weisbuch. Description: Baltimore : Johns Hopkins University Press, 2021. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2020011604 | ISBN 9781421439761 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781421439778 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Doctor of philosophy degree. Classification: LCC LB2386 .C376 2021 | DDC 378.2/42—d c23 LC rec ord available at https:// lccn . loc . gov / 2020011604 A cata log rec ord for this book is available from the British Library. Special discounts are available for bulk purchases of this book. For more informa- tion, please contact Special Sales at specialsales@press . jhu . edu. Johns Hopkins University Press uses environmentally friendly book materials, including recycled text paper that is composed of at least 30 percent post-c onsumer waste, whenever pos si ble. To our partners, Debra Osofsky and Candy Cooper This page intentionally left blank CONTENTS Why We Need a New PhD and How We Can introdUction Create One 1 Then and Now: Two Recent Eras of Reform 32 chapter 1 Purpose, Then Path: A Practical Guide to Starting chapter 2 the Conversation 91 Career Diversity: A Liberal Arts Approach chapter 3 to the PhD 113 Admissions and Attrition 144 chapter 4 Student Support and Time to Degree 177 chapter 5 Curing the Curriculum and Examining chapter 6 the Exam 199 Advising 222 chapter 7 Students as Teachers 237 chapter 8 Degrees: What Should They Look Like? chapter 9 What Should They Do? 266 Public Scholarship: What It Is, Where It Came chapter 10 From, and What It Requires 291 From Words to Actions 319 conclUsion Gradu ate School a fter COVID-19 347 postscript Acknowl edgments 349 Notes 353 Index 389 This page intentionally left blank Introduction Why We Need a New PhD and How We Can Create One Imagine an entering cohort of eight doctoral students sitting around a table in a department seminar room or laboratory conference room. They’ve just arrived at gradu ate school, and they’re eager to see what their new adventure w ill hold for them. All of them know that the aca- demic job market is depressed, but most (perhaps all) are hoping for a college or university teaching job of some kind. Now let’s flash forward in time. According to current statistics, four of the eight—50 percent!—w ill not complete the degree.1 Of the re- maining four who do finish, two w ill not get academic positions and will seek jobs elsewhere. The remaining pair will get full- time teach- ing jobs, most likely at teaching-i ntensive institutions. Perhaps they’ll get tenure-t rack assistant professorships, though the supply of those positions has been shrinking. And maybe one of t hose two will get a position at a research university like the one where t hose eight stu- dents assembled years e arlier.* * We are of course dealing with aggregate (and pre-COVID) statistics here. Certain disciplines, such as economics and computer science, produce dif fer ent outcomes, but the contours of this thought experiment apply broadly across disciplines. 1
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