Purpose: Higher education, as a field of study, is one of the few programmatic areas that offer two doctoral degrees: The Doctor of Education (EdD) and the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD). In the United States, the two degrees are often conflated. Conversations, to this point, have done more to contribute to the theoretical debate than to operationally…

In this article, we examined Kinesiology Doctoral Students' (DS) perspectives on their doctoral programs and departments. Using the Kinesiology Doctoral Student (KDS) survey, 121 current and past DS provided information on 10 different aspects related to teacher training. Specifically, the items consisted of measures of DS perceptions on: (a)…

The Doctorate of Philosophy in Visual Arts has been a subject of debate in the United States, where the currently accepted terminal degree in visual and fine arts is the Master of Fine Arts. In the United Kingdom, as in much of Western Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Asia the PhD in visual arts has been well developed and accepted. In a global…

CPED presents guiding principles, rather than a prescriptive program model, for the EdD, requiring each CPED-influenced institution to engage in a program design process specific to its context. Over 80 CPED schools and colleges of education offer an EdD program that endorses the CPED framework which "blend[s] practical wisdom with…

Several comprehensive school physical activity program (CSPAP) professional preparation and research initiatives are underway in the Department of Physical Education and Athletic Training at the University of South Carolina. The CSPAP learning experiences have been mostly integrated into existing courses to help candidates in physical education…

Publishing English papers in journals listed in Science Citation Index (SCI) has become a requirement for degree conferment for doctoral science students at many universities in China. The publication requirement engenders high pressure for doctoral students and their supervisors and shapes the politics of the relationship between the two parties.…

The University of California, Berkeley sends more undergraduate students to economics PhD programs than any other public university. While this fact is surely a function of its size, there may be lessons from the Berkeley experience that others could adopt. To investigate why Berkeley generates so many economics PhD students, the author convened…

Doctoral education in the United States had been scrutinized because of high-attrition rates reported as an average of 50 percent. Emerging from Lovitts (2001), this research examined students' attendance at Mock Orals (MO) and its relationship to their academic and social integration, cognitive maps, goals, rates of attrition, and retention in a…

Graduate students are socialized by educational institutions to become docile, timid, and conventional. In graduate school, creativity and quality are left unrewarded, while conventionality and quantity are looked upon with favor. The graduate school experience which emphasizes a dissertation supervised by advisors who threaten the student with…

Despite the worldwide prestige of America's doctoral programs in the humanities, all is not well in this area of higher education and hasn't been for some time. The content of graduate programs has undergone major changes, while high rates of student attrition, long times to degree, and financial burdens prevail. In response, the Andrew W. Mellon…

A study was undertaken to analyze the nature of selected conditions and requirements of doctoral programs in the field of education in order to identify areas needing improvement, to reveal distinctive practices which show promise, and to project future doctoral production in the field. Questionnaires were completed by administrators at 81 of the…

Detailed and wide-ranging suggestions are offered for reforming Australia's higher degree requirements. The author, an Australian PhD, compares them with requirements in other countries and finds them "particularly regressive, unenlightened, intellectually counterproductive, undemocratic, and uncivilized." (JSR)

Some of the reasons for the unduly long time required to finish PhDs at the University of Sydney are examined, and two problem areas are noted: the imposition of excessive standards for ulterior motives, and inadequate supervision. Based on questionnaires, five specific reforms are suggested. (JSR)

Reviews recent reports on graduate education and offers the following recommendations: train specialists for social service, continue federal fellowships, develop long range planning for graduate level manpower preparation, and develop equality of access for disadvantaged and minority students. (Author/PG)

Dissertations have been an important aspect of doctoral degrees for many years. However, some educators feel that dissertations are an outdated and ineffective part of the doctoral program. A study examined the role dissertations play in doctoral programs. Questionnaires sent to educational administration faculty at the University of Arkansas,…