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Which metrics?
(#132679)
by Sage Ross on March 13, 2009 at 3:27 PM
by Sage Ross on March 13, 2009 at 3:27 PM
Are attrition rate and graduation rate really the proper metrics to evaluate the success of graduate programs?
The institutions in the best financial shape are the ones that can bring their grad students all the way through. Rewarding those places with even more funding might simply amplify the distinction between rich and poor graduate programs.
Of course, there are many more humanities PhDs being earned than there are faculty positions for them. So a financial feedback loop like that might push small programs with little funding over the brink so that they stop taking students (which in turn puts more pressure on faculty for teaching, which possibly results in the creation of new faculty positions to relieve some of that load).
Unfortunately there is plenty of incentive (both financial and disciplinary) for taking on graduate students even when little funding is available. (Or maybe fortunately, if one views having more humanities PhDs as a social good, regardless of the number of humanities-specific jobs available. I guess it comes down to the balance between scholarship as a job and scholarship as a vocation.)
The institutions in the best financial shape are the ones that can bring their grad students all the way through. Rewarding those places with even more funding might simply amplify the distinction between rich and poor graduate programs.
Of course, there are many more humanities PhDs being earned than there are faculty positions for them. So a financial feedback loop like that might push small programs with little funding over the brink so that they stop taking students (which in turn puts more pressure on faculty for teaching, which possibly results in the creation of new faculty positions to relieve some of that load).
Unfortunately there is plenty of incentive (both financial and disciplinary) for taking on graduate students even when little funding is available. (Or maybe fortunately, if one views having more humanities PhDs as a social good, regardless of the number of humanities-specific jobs available. I guess it comes down to the balance between scholarship as a job and scholarship as a vocation.)
Re: Which metrics?
(#132684)
by Sterling Fluharty on March 13, 2009 at 5:23 PM
by Sterling Fluharty on March 13, 2009 at 5:23 PM
They count for something, but they are only part of the picture, and probably only a fraction of the overall measure we should be taking. I think chapters 2 and 3 in _The Education of Historians for the Twenty-first Century_ cover most of the important metrics by which we should measure the success of our history graduate programs.
What you say about colleges and universities with endowments was probably true as of last semester. Now I am not so sure. There are a lot of hiring freezes and reduction of staff taking place. Funding and benefits for graduate students may also be cut.
I also think there should be Pell Grants for masters students. This could solve many of the problems you describe.
What you say about colleges and universities with endowments was probably true as of last semester. Now I am not so sure. There are a lot of hiring freezes and reduction of staff taking place. Funding and benefits for graduate students may also be cut.
I also think there should be Pell Grants for masters students. This could solve many of the problems you describe.
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by Sterling Fluharty on March 13, 2009 at 2:04 PM