Three Magic Letters
Getting to Ph.D.
Published on 12. April 2006
Book
Hardback
368 pages
978-0-8018-8232-6 (ISBN)
Description
Drawing on the largest survey of doctoral students ever conducted, Three Magic Letters provides a compelling portrait of the graduate school experience and identifies key issues affecting the success and failure of doctoral students. Michael T. Nettles and Catherine M. Millett surveyed more than nine thousand students from the top twenty-one doctorate-granting institutions in the United States. Their findings, based on rational analysis of a vast amount of descriptive data, shed light on multiple factors critical to the progression of the doctoral degree, particularly adequate institutional funding and engaged and accessible faculty mentors. This comprehensive volume will provide faculty chairs, administrators, and students with information and evidence for assessing their policies, practices, and programs to improve the graduate school experience and the future of the Ph.D.
Reviews / Votes
Compelling picture of graduate school life... highlights important factors that contribute to student persistence and success. DiverseEducation.com 2006 The book is impressive for not merely telling you what doctoral students are thinking... but in relating what they are thinking to how they are doing-mentally, financially, socially and professionally. University Affairs 2006 Quite possibly, Nettles and Millet have produced what will quickly become a seminal piece of scholarship regarding the Ph.D. Teachers College Record 2006 The first major study of doctoral education since In Pursuit of the PhD (1992)... the magnitude of this accomplishment cannot be overstated. Harvard Educational Review 2006 This book undoubtedly makes an important contribution to the research literature on doctoral education... It breaks important new ground. -- Chris Golde Review of Higher Education 2006 An unprecedented look at how students race, walk, or crawl to the finish line. -- Scott Jaschik Inside Higher Ed 2006 This informative, comprehensive, and enjoyable book goes far beyond the initial question about funding to examine essentially all aspects of the doctoral experience. -- Kelly Ward; Susan K. Gardner Journal of Higher Education 2008 Impressive... Will undoubtedly contribute to debates over how to improve doctoral education both in the UK and US, and indeed other countries. -- Ingrid Lunt Educational Review 2008More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Baltimore, MD
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
With dust jacket
Illustrations
17 s/w Zeichnungen
17 Line drawings, black and white
Dimensions
Height: 236 mm
Width: 162 mm
Thickness: 29 mm
Weight
626 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8018-8232-6 (9780801882326)
DOI
10.56021/9780801882326
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Michael T. Nettles is the Senior Vice President for Policy Evaluation and Research at the Educational Testing Service in Princeton, New Jersey, and Catherine M. Millett is a research scientist in the Policy Evaluation and Research Center, Educational Testing Service.
Content
List of Figures
List of Tables
Preface
Acknowledgments
1. A Map from the Past to the Present
2. Context, Trends, and Conceptual Framework for Research
3. Survey Design and Research Logistics
4. Demographics of the Sample
5. Admissions and Screening
6. Financing a Doctoral Education
7. Socialization
8. Research Productivity
9. Satisfaction, Performance, and Progress
10. Rate of Progress, Completion, and Time to Degree
11. Predicting Experiences and Performance
12. Interpreting Field Differences
13. Group-Specific Implications
14. The Doctoral Student Experience: New Answers and New Questions
Afterword
Appendix A: Criteria and Broad Major Fields Used in This Study
Appendix B: Social and Academic Outcomes of Doctoral Students in the Biological and Physical Sciences
Appendix C: Survey of Doctoral Student Finances, Experiences, and Achievements
Appendix D: Methodology
Appendix E: Differential Effects of Attendance at Historically Black Colleges and Universities
Appendix F: Predicting Experiences and Performance Regression Tables
Appendix G: Graduate Record Examination Scores: Missing Data and Distributions
References
Index
List of Tables
Preface
Acknowledgments
1. A Map from the Past to the Present
2. Context, Trends, and Conceptual Framework for Research
3. Survey Design and Research Logistics
4. Demographics of the Sample
5. Admissions and Screening
6. Financing a Doctoral Education
7. Socialization
8. Research Productivity
9. Satisfaction, Performance, and Progress
10. Rate of Progress, Completion, and Time to Degree
11. Predicting Experiences and Performance
12. Interpreting Field Differences
13. Group-Specific Implications
14. The Doctoral Student Experience: New Answers and New Questions
Afterword
Appendix A: Criteria and Broad Major Fields Used in This Study
Appendix B: Social and Academic Outcomes of Doctoral Students in the Biological and Physical Sciences
Appendix C: Survey of Doctoral Student Finances, Experiences, and Achievements
Appendix D: Methodology
Appendix E: Differential Effects of Attendance at Historically Black Colleges and Universities
Appendix F: Predicting Experiences and Performance Regression Tables
Appendix G: Graduate Record Examination Scores: Missing Data and Distributions
References
Index