A Handbook for Supporting Today's Graduate Students

David J. Nguyen, Christina W. Yao

• Publisher: Stylus Publishing
• Year: 2022
• Print ISBN: 9781642670646
• eBook ISBN: 9781642670677
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education Administration

Despite continued growth in enrollments, graduate program attrition rates are of great concern to academic program coordinators. It is estimated that only 40 to 50 percent of students who begin Ph.D. programs complete their degrees. This book describes programs, initiatives, and interventions that lead to overall student retention and success.

Written for graduate school administrators, student affairs professionals, and faculty, this book offers ways to better support today's graduate student population, addresses the needs of today's changing student demography and considers the challenges today's graduate students face inside and outside of the classroom. The opening section highlights the shifting demographics and contextual factors shaping graduate education over the past 20 years, while the second describes institutional practices to develop the requisite academic and professional development necessary to succeed in master's and doctoral programs. In conclusion, the editors curate a conversation about different ways institutions can support graduate students beyond the classroom.

PART ONE

NAVIGATING CONTEXTS AND IDENTITIES

1

TRENDS IN GRADUATE EDUCATION BETWEEN 1998 AND 2018

David J. Nguyen

Gaps in access and attainment have persisted throughout the history of higher education and graduate education. In this chapter, I examine the demography of graduate students and how this demography has changed during a 20-year period—1998 to 2018. To illustrate this point, in this chapter, I use National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) data from the Digest of Educational Statistics to show the exponential growth in master’s education and National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Survey of Earned Doctorates to highlight key changing trends in doctoral education. Results from this trend analysis demonstrate the majority of graduate students completing degrees continue to be White; however, degree programs are seeing a range of racial/ethnic, socioeconomic, and gender diversity within graduate enrollments.

Master’s Degrees

A primary challenge with highlighting trends within master’s education is that these degrees are difficult to track institutionally and nationwide. For example, some master’s degree programs take 1 year, many are completed in 2 years, while others are designed to be 3 to 4 years (e.g., Master of Divinity). Adding to these challenges is that some master’s programs may be completed on a part-time basis, while others may require full-time attendance. Thus, record keeping for graduate education and master’s students can be a challenging endeavor.

Despite these data challenges, NCES’s Digest of Educational Statistics uses recorded data from Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), which captures data from Title IV funded institutions. In this section, I highlight the following trends in master’s data from 1998 to 2018: growth of master’s degree completions in total and across degree programs, changing participation across sex, and participation variation across race/ethnicity.

Overall Master’s Degree Production and Growth in Programs

Between 1998 and 2018, master-level degree attainment has substantially grown. In 1998, 429,296 total students completed a master’s degree, while the number of degrees conferred grew more than 90% between 1998 and 2018 to 820,102. In looking at the aggregate number of degrees earned, key nuances would be missed. For example, degree conferrals grew modestly between 2013 and 2018, while more rapid growth occurred at the 10-year (2008, 195,079 more degrees earned) and 15-year (2003, 307,456 more degrees earned) intervals.

The six most popular master’s degree programs in 1998 were education (114,691), business (102,171), health professions and related sciences (39,260), engineering (25,936), public administration and services (25,144), and social sciences and history (14,938). These six degree programs accounted for more than 322,000 or approximately 75% of all degrees awarded in 1998 (total 429,296 degrees earned). These same six degree programs accounted for more than 70%, or 581,666, master’s degrees in 2018 (total degrees earned 820,102); however, the magnitude of some programs grew considerably and a new discipline climbed into the top six (computer science displaced history). The top six in 2018 were business (192,184), education (146,367), health professions and related sciences (125,216), engineering (51,721), computer and information sciences (46,468), and public administration and services (46,294).

Certain degree programs witnessed significant volume and percentage growth. With respect to number of degrees awarded, business awarded an additional 90,000 master’s degrees and grew 88.1%. While not originally in the top six degree granting programs, computer and information sciences increased in popularity by awarding 46,468 degrees in 2018, while in 1998, 11,246 master’s degrees in this field were awarded. This 20-year increase represents 313.2% growth. Not all degree programs saw steady growth. Although education grew as a field, the 2018 total represents a substantial decrease from its 2008 peak of 175,880 master’s degrees conferred. Library science saw an 11.7% decline overall, but similar to education saw a peak in 2008 that has steadily declined over the last 10 years.

Sex and Race/Ethnicity

Table 1.1 shows that females by proportion and number earned more master’s degrees than males between 1998 and 2018. Throughout the past 20 years, the proportion of females hovered around 60%, peaking in 2008 at 60.6%. Similarly, the number of females doubled over the last 20 years to slightly less than 500,000 females earning a master’s degree in 2018.

Table 1.2 shows the percentage changes of White students participating in master’s education has steadily declined from a high of 71.6% in 1998 to 53.5% in 2018. The decline in White student proportions gave way to the growing numbers of Black, Non-Hispanic, Hispanic, and Nonresident Alien students participating in master’s education. Asian/Pacific Islander and American Indian/Alaskan Native proportions remained consistent during this time period. When considering race/ethnicity and gender together, Black, Non-Hispanic females and males, Hispanic females and males, and Nonresident alien females and males grew substantially.

Doctoral Degrees

Overall, doctoral education enrollments and degree completion have continued to increase over the last 20 years. In 1998, 42,636 doctoral degrees were conferred across all fields. In 2018, 55,195 degrees were conferred. This represents an almost 12,500 degree increase, or a 29% increase.

Across major fields of study, engineering and life sciences together account for more than a 67% increase in the number of doctoral degrees conferred in 2018. In 1998, these two fields accounted for approximately 31% (life sciences: 8,611 and 12,780 in 1998 and 2018 respectively; engineering: 5,922 and 10,183 in 1998 and 2018 respectively). Another field seeing significant growth over the last two decades is the physical and earth sciences (4,566 in 1998 and 6,335 and in 2018). The proportion of degrees earned within this field has remained steady though the number of degrees awarded has increased nearly 150%.

Certain degree programs have driven much of the growth in doctoral degree attainment between 1998 and 2018. Many of these fields are concentrated in the STEM-related disciplines. For example, there have been significant upticks in the percentage of doctoral degrees awarded in biomedical and biomedical engineering (895% increase), material science engineering (285% increase), computer and information sciences (289% increase), and health sciences (189% increase). On the other hand, education-related doctoral degrees across subdisciplines were down over time (6,569 in 1998 and 4,834 in 2018, indicating a 24% drop in degrees earned), while many humanities and social science degree programs witnessed gains, including psychology (25%), anthropology (30%), and history (57%). Table 1.3 shows the changes in 5-year, 10-year, 15-year, and 20-year doctoral degree production.

TABLE 1.1
Master’s Student Sex 1998–2018

Differences by Sex	1998		2003		2008		2013		2018
Total Male	183,982.00	42.9%	211,381.00	41.2%	246,491.00	39.4%	301,552.00	40.1%	326,870.00	39.9%
Total Female	245,314.00	57.1%	301,264.00	58.8%	378,532.00	60.6%	450,166.00	59.9%	493,232.00	60.1%

Sources:

• Digest of Educational Statistics. (2005). “Table 266. Master’s degrees conferred by degree-granting institutions, by sex, racial/ethnic group, and major field of study: 2002–03.” https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d05/tables/dt05_266.asp

• Digest of Educational Statistics. (2010). “Table 301. Master’s degrees conferred by degree-granting institutions, by sex, race/ethnicity, and field of study: 2007–08.” https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d10/tables/dt10_301.asp

• Digest of Educational Statistics. (2015). “Table 323.30. Master’s degrees conferred by postsecondary institutions, by race/ethnicity and field of study: 2012–13 and 2013–14.” https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d15/tables/dt15_323.30.asp

• Digest of Educational Statistics. (2015). “Table 323.40. Master’s degrees conferred to males by postsecondary institutions, by race/ethnicity and field of study: 2012–13 and 2013–14.” https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d15/tables/dt15_323.40.asp

• Digest of Educational Statistics. (2015). “Table 323.50. Master’s degrees conferred to females by postsecondary institutions, by race/ethnicity and field of study: 2012–13 and 2013–14.” https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d15/tables/dt15_323.50.asp

• Digest of Educational Statistics. (2019). “Table 323.30. Master’s degrees conferred by postsecondary institutions, by race/ethnicity and field of study: 2016–17 and 2017–18.” https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d19/tables/dt19_323.30.asp

• Digest of Educational Statistics. (2019). “Table 323.40. Master’s degrees conferred to males by postsecondary institutions, by race/ethnicity and field of study: 2016–17 and 2017–18.” https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d19/tables/dt19_323.40.asp

• Digest of Educational Statistics. (2019). “Table 323.50. Master’s degrees conferred to females by postsecondary institutions, by race/ethnicity and field of study: 2016–17 and 2017–18.” https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d19/tables/dt19_323.50.asp

TABLE 1.2
Master’s Student Sex and Race/Ethnicity Demographics 1998–2018

Field of Study	5-Year Change (2013–2018)	10-Year Change (2008–2018)	15-year Change (2003–2018)	20-Year Change (1998–2018)
All fields, total	9.1%	31.2%	60.0%	91.0%
White	−3.7%	7.3%	28.5%	42.7%
Black, Non-Hispanic	3.7%	40.3%	106.2%	203.3%
Hispanic	36.8%	96.9%	190.2%	346.9%
Asian/Pacific Islander	11.5%	33.9%	83.9%	137.5%
American Indian / Alaskan Native	−10.2%	−11.7%	17.0%	61.9%
Two or more races	59.8%	-	-	-
Nonresident Alien	53.6%	99.6%	102.6%	177.6%
Differences by Sex
Total Male	8.4%	32.6%	54.6%	77.7%
Total Female	9.6%	30.3%	63.7%	101.1%
Male
White	−7.1%	6.2%	23.6%	31.4%
Black, Non-Hispanic	4.3%	50.1%	115.2%	186.1%
Hispanic	29.9%	93.4%	173.0%	288.6%
Asian/ Pacific Islander	4.0%	23.5%	70.2%	107.8%
American Indian / Alaskan Native	−15.9%	−15.9%	5.3%	37.9%
Two or more races	48.9%	-	-	-
Nonresident Alien	53.7%	93.4%	88.7%	155.1%
Female
White	−1.6%	7.9%	31.6%	50.5%
Black, Non-Hispanic	3.5%	36.4%	102.5%	211.4%
Hispanic	40.7%	98.9%	200.3%	386.0%
Asian/ Pacific Islander	17.9%	42.8%	95.4%	165.6%
American Indian / Alaskan Native	−7.1%	−9.5%	23.5%	76.7%
Two or more races	66.5%	-	-	-
Nonresident Alien	53.4%	107.7%	123.1%	211.5%

Sources:

• Digest of Educational Statistics. (2000). “Table 269. Master’s degrees conferred by degree-granting institutions, by racial/ethnic group, major field of study, and sex of student: 1997–98.” https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d00/dt269.asp

• Digest of Educational Statistics. (2005). “Table 266. Master’s degrees conferred by degree-granting institutions, by sex, racial/ethnic group, and major field of study: 2002–03.” https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d05/tables/dt05_266.asp

• Digest of Educational Statistics. (2010). “Table 301. Master’s degrees conferred by degree-granting institutions, by sex, race/ethnicity, and field of study: 2007–08.” https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d10/tables/dt10_301.asp

• Digest of Educational Statistics. (2015). “Table 323.30. Master’s degrees conferred by postsecondary institutions, by race/ethnicity and field of study: 2012–13 and 2013–14.” https://nces.ed....

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Foreword
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Part One: Navigating Contexts and Identities
• Part Two: Addressing Academic and Professional Skill Development
• Part Three: Supporting Graduate Students Beyond the Classroom
• Concluding Thoughts
• Editors and Contributors
• Index
• Also available from Stylus
• Backcover