This monograph seeks to inform faculty, staff, administrators, and students about the nature of and structure in doctoral programs that lead to doctoral student development. It is accomplished through succeeding chapters, focusing first on an overview of existing student development theory and then on the structure of doctoral education and its…

A developmental process consisting of four phases that emerged from graduate students' reports of their experiences in a course promoting self-direction is outlined and compared with research on similar processes in other groups. (MSE)

Based on interviews with graduate students in English, biochemistry, and psychology the author discusses common characteristics of graduate students (lifelong observers with faith in authority and strong emotional attachment to a minute field of inquiry) and notes implications for their teaching and their contributions to society. (JT)

A study of 479 doctoral students at an urban university examined the relationships between 4 educational strategies (divergent, assimilative, convergent, accommodative) of doctoral programs and subjects' perceptions of their gains in 4 domains of professional competence (thinking, decision making, valuing, and acting). Additional variables…

Many graduate students lack the capacity for self-authorship, the ability to develop one's own perspective. Data from a longitudinal study of sixteen students, begun in their first year of college, illustrates the difficulty of moving from embracing multiple perspectives to constructing self-authored perspectives. The stories of three graduate…

Many studies in higher education have focused on the development of late adolescent and adult personality change on the assumption that such change was brought about by the college experience. The focus of this study is on the value changes that occur during college years and the changes that endure beyond college. Group and individual values…

Perspectives on going through the education system are offered by an adult who was diagnosed with learning disability. Experiences are shared concerning elementary school, high school, college, employment, and graduate school. Ten tips are also offered for teachers of students with learning disabilities. (SW)

This study examined the process of identity development and explored the relationship between identity status of college students and their expectations of faculty. The Ego Identity Process Questionnaire (EIPQ) which yields exploration and commitment scores and a questionnaire about the role faculty should play in identity development was…

Patterns that emerged from reviewing syllabi for courses on the American college student are discussed, and two sample syllabi are presented. These courses are offered as part of graduate level studies in the field of higher education administration. Five major objectives of courses on the college student are identified. In general, the objective…