Study challenges PhD student profile
By Shelly Simonds Many fixed beliefs about PhD students are outdated, according to a study commissioned by the Department of Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (DEETYA). Instead of a person in their 20s studying full time on campus, the average PhD student was likely to be well into their 30s and many are engaged in a flexible pattern of research and study, both on and off campus, in part-time and full-time work, said the authors of the study, Ms Margot Pearson, the Director of the Centre for Educational Development and Academic Methods (CEDAM) and Ms Lys Ford, also of CEDAM. "PhD research culture and practice is changing, as is the nature of higher education. It is important that discussions of PhD education are sensitive to these changes and reflect that reality and complexity. As it stands, our present framework hasn't captured the diversity that's out there," said Ms Pearson. The study found nearly two-thirds of all PhD students in Australia were 30 years or older and 39 per cent studied for their PhD part-time or externally. Only 28 per cent were completing PhDs in science. The findings would serve as a "reality check" for those engaged in education policy development, Ms Pearson said. "Educators have been looking for the answer to improving graduate education, but this study shows we may not have been asking the right questions," she said. Ms Pearson has submitted a summary of her research to the West review, which recently released the discussion paper Learning for Life to alert the committee that the typical PhD student is not who they might think. "The diversity of the doctoral student population has implications for the kind of support students need and the type of relationship they might expect with their supervisors. Only a minority are the 'young persons' who seem to be assumed in Learning for Life," Ms Pearson said. The research also had implications for the way DEETYA collected data on the PhD population. Categories like "external" and "part-time" were unsuitable in an environment where many students engage in mixed modes of study - including research conducted at private laboratories and study with experts in other institutions or overseas. Other findings of the study include: · An array of flexible supervisory arrangements are used by universities to accommodate the varying needs of students. For instance, many PhDs had more than one supervisor and some had supervisors who were based at other institutions. The study also recommends that the Australian Vice- Chancellor's Committee guidelines regarding supervisory arrangements be reworked to accommodate this growing diversity. · The "open campus" was already a physical reality at most universities, which were already quite flexible and accommodating of many styles of PhD education. Some universities have PhD programs intentionally designed to accommodate fluctuating periods of on and off campus study or research linked to the work place. · Many PhD students were professionals looking to gain more advanced qualifications for career advancement purposes. Traditional PhD programs have adjusted to accommodate the needs of these students, making drives toward specialised "professional PhD" degrees less necessary. · A large group of PhD students were mature-aged university staff up-grading their credentials to the doctorate level. Like many universities, Griffith University has plans to increase the number of academic staff with PhDs from 60 per cent today to 85 per cent in 1999. Deakin University also has over 100 staff members pursuing PhDs. · PhD students are increasingly in areas which are specialised and interdisciplinary, requiring students to look off campus for mentoring and networks in their field. Universities should foster collaboration between students and mentors on a regional, national and even international level. Programs such as the Federated PhD in Housing and Urban Studies, the National Physics Summer Schools and the Instructional Maths Workshops at the ANU were of great importance in this regard.