Master-level postgraduate professional development (PPD) programs have grown rapidly in many parts of the world. Being able to complete written assignments successfully is a significant concern for students pursuing PPD studies. Yet the nature of written assignments in such programs has been under-researched. This paper reports a study conducted…

Purpose: Recent research on graduate students' diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) socialization found that graduate colleges play a role in supporting graduate students' DEI professional development (Perez et al., 2020), but more studies are needed about how graduate colleges facilitate DEI socialization. One graduate college at a large,…

The career gains of obtaining a graduate degree are well established, but those from lower socioeconomic status (SES) and underrepresented demographic backgrounds have persistently been disadvantaged in earning those degrees. We aim to contribute to research on enhancing access, diversity, and equity to graduate education by providing insights…

The graduate school experience is a relevant part of professional development and can be instrumental in framing future careers. There is, however, a lack of resources and understanding concerning how institutions can best develop a positive culture during graduate school. In this paper, six professionals outline their graduate program experiences…

Business schools and graduate business programs have struggled since their inception to ensure that what students learn in their courses will resonate with the skills needed in their careers. To date, there has been limited attention paid to cocurricular experiential learning opportunities to assist with this challenge. In this article, we discuss…

As graduate and professional programs internationalize to provide students with global competencies and skills, more graduate students are participating in education abroad programs. Graduate students represent a growing portion of the total population participating in education abroad, with short-term, faculty-directed (STFD) programs expanding…

A key task in the professional development of counselors is the formation and refinement of their theoretical orientation, a framework based in theories of counseling and psychotherapy which helps one to understand human behavior and guide the therapeutic process. This study sought to explore counselor viewpoints on the current stage of their…

With the 2015 update to the professional competencies document for the student affairs profession, the necessity exists to explore the professional development needs in each of the ten competency areas. This study investigates student affairs professionals' survey responses to determine their self-reported needs for professional development based…

Graduate school is critical period of professional development in the lives of aspiring scholars, presenting a number of challenges and opportunities. Synthesizing insights from an online survey of individuals on The Academy of Leisure Sciences (TALS) listserv, a group of academics and professionals at various levels within the parks, recreation,…

The traditional apprenticeship model for PhD education involves supervisors mentoring students through a substantive research project and ultimately into academia. Although about half of PhD graduates enter careers beyond academia, this apprenticeship model, with a narrow focus on thesis research has continued to dominate in many countries. While…

The higher education accountability efforts of the past decade have placed pressures on universities to more rigorously evaluate the quality and outcomes of their programs while the emergence of new methodologies, from big data approaches to business analytics platforms, have also expanded ways of measuring the quality and return on investment of…

Historically, research examining graduate student socialization has attended to the structure of the socialization process, rather than how individuals interpret it. This qualitative study explored how 21 student affairs master's degree candidates made sense of surprises that emerged during their initial socialization experiences. The findings…

Early career psychologists (ECPs) are considered a distinct professional group that faces unique career challenges. Despite recent organizational efforts to increase engagement of these individuals, little is known about the professional development needs and training interests of ECPs, particularly within psychology's subfields. As such, this…

Socialization to a profession includes the development of the field's values. Socialization into student affairs often takes place through participation in a master's preparation program. This study addressed socialization to student affairs' values, in particular graduate students' perceptions of essential student affairs values. Through a…

Graduate higher education has done little to assess and understand graduate students' needs and experiences beyond the classroom. Therefore, we conducted a phenomenological study using multiple data collection tools, including survey and focus groups from two different time periods to implement a multiphase needs assessment. The goal of the…