A model for integrating professional development in graduate education

College Student Journal, Sept, 2001 by Michael C. Poock

There is a growing national interest in the professional development of graduate students. Predicated on a variety of factors, voices both inside and outside the academy are calling for greater preparation of graduate students. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to offer a model to assess the professional development needs of graduate students and the steps taken to implement a comprehensive professional development program.

Focusing on the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, data were collected through both qualitative and quantitative methods. Participants were representatives from five groups of stakeholders: junior faculty, current graduate students, recent alumni, employers of alumni, and academic chairs and directors of graduate studies.

The results indicate a clear need to assist graduate students to perform effectively in both academic and non-academic professional settings. Towards that end, this study found that graduates need competencies in the following areas: Communication, leadership, teaching and instruction, professional adaptability, and self-awareness.

This paper concludes with a discussion on the means by which these competencies were formally adopted by the Graduate School and the broader campus community. This includes strategies utilized to address professional development from a campus-wide perspective as well as on a school and department level.

Introduction

In 1993, Leonard Baird noted that "although graduate education enjoys enormous prestige, it is relatively unexamined" (p. 81). Much has changed since those comments were printed, as graduate education has received increasing attention in such areas as enrollment management, distance education, and orientation. One of the areas receiving the greatest attention may be the professional development of graduate students.

Professional development has long been a major focus in professional schools such as law, medicine, etc. (Conrad, Duren, & Haworth, 1998). However, such a focus has been lacking in programs offering traditional academic degrees (e.g., M.A., M.S., Ph.D.). Not only are discussions of professional development quite limited in earlier works on graduate education, but the scarce attention this topic did receive tended to focus exclusively on graduate assistantships as preparation for careers in the professorate (e.g., Malaney, 1988; McGovern & Tinsley, 1976; Perna & Hudgins, 1996).

Professional development has recently received the attention of the academic press and professional organizations such as the Council of Graduate Schools, National Science Foundation, and American Association of Colleges and Universities. The reasons for the increased attention are many, but clearly the dominant contributors are a decrease in faculty opportunities, the consequence of master's and doctoral graduates seeking employment in private industry, and the realization that professional development has a positive impact on retention, career preparation, and the quality of graduate education (Cheatham & Phelps, 1995; Gonglewski & Penningroth, 1998; Miller, Brueggemann, Blue & Shepherd, 1997).

The purpose of this study, therefore, is to present a model used to assess the professional development needs of graduate students and the steps taken to implement a comprehensive professional development program. These activities were conducted at a major research university and were the result of efforts by the Committee on Integrating Academic and Professional Development in Graduate Education, a cross-disciplinary body comprised of faculty, staff and graduate students.

Background

The changing demographics of graduate students over the past decades are quite dramatic. For example, graduate students tend to be increasingly older, more ethnically diverse, and increasingly more female (National Center for Education Statistics,1998). In addition to this demographic shift, there is also an increase in the number of people who pursue and receive graduate degrees. With these changes in number and makeup, faculty must understand the backgrounds and experiences of newly enrolled graduate students as well as the environment that awaits the students when they graduate (Fischer & Zigmond, 1998).

This latter point is clearly the case for both master's and doctoral students. Master's students are increasingly enrolled in career-related degrees, as close to 85% of master's degrees have a practitioner focus (LaPidus, 1998). As for doctoral students, many seek non-academic positions (Fischer & Zigmond, 1998), and those who do seek faculty appointment may encounter "a new and rapidly changing set of conditions and values defining the enterprise" (LaPidus, 1998, p. 96).

Clearly, efforts have been made to improve the preparation of aspiring faculty. Such efforts range from increased emphasis on developing teaching skills (Slevin, 1992) and graduate assistantships (Ethington & Pisani, 1993), to more comprehensive Preparing Future Faculty programs (Gaff & Pruitt-Logan, 1998). However, researchers increasingly call for professional development to be woven into the fabric of graduate education. For example, using their experiences at the University of Pittsburgh, Fischer and Zigmond (1998) suggest successful graduate students need to master four sets of skills: basic skills related to being a successful student, communication skills, employment skills, and advanced skills such as personnel management and teaching. Gonglewski and Penningroth (1998) offered related findings in their study of Departments of German at 28 institutions. Specifically, they stress the importance of developing communications skills, career goals, and other professional development activities.