November 10, 2005
Doctoral programs to get global look
The UW has convened a group of international innovators in doctoral education to explore the forces that are driving change around the globe and the forms that innovation is taking.
Experts from 14 countries participated in the first conference, held this September. They plan to create a worldwide network which will explore how local and global forces are causing changes in how doctoral students are educated, and to develop policy recommendations with broad application.
The conference was hosted by the UW’s Center for Innovation and Research in Graduate Education (CIRGE), which is directed by Maresi Nerad, associate graduate dean, whose interest in this subject goes back to her own postsecondary educational experience, which began in Germany and was completed at UC Berkeley.
“When I was on sabbatical (from Berkeley) in 1993, I went to both Japan and Germany and noted the changes under way there,” she said. “As I traveled and talked with my colleagues, I was struck by how often the same ideas occurred.” Doctoral programs were becoming more interdisciplinary, and doctoral training was increasingly likely to include training for life outside academia. More and more research was being pursued by teams, rather than individuals.
As a dean-in-residence in the year 2000 at the Council of Graduate Schools, Nerad again was impressed by the pace and consistency of change in graduate education, especially within the European community. As a group, European nations decided that if they were going to stay competitive in a knowledge society, they would need to support more knowledge workers at the most advanced level. Their mechanism for growing graduate education has been to increase research and development funding to 3.2 percent of gross domestic product by 2010.
In order to study these trends, Nerad proposed that the National Science Foundation fund a series of workshops on international innovation in graduate education, with the goal of creating policy recommendations that could be employed by countries around the globe. This first meeting, seen as a pilot venture by NSF, included three or four representatives from each participating country: a head of the national association of graduate deans, a representative of an agency that funds graduate education, a policy maker or policy researcher, and a representative from a research organization. The meeting was characterized by candid conversations about the similarities and differences among the innovators.
“There was broad agreement,” Nerad said, “that doctoral students are poised to become global leaders, and not just in academia. But at the same time, they also have a crucial role in passing on national culture. This is the academic version of the phrase, ‘Think globally but act locally.’ The situation in Norway is illustrative. Much of the nation’s doctoral program is taught in English, because that’s the best way to train students for global leadership. But doctoral students also have a key role in national development, as they become leaders in that nation’s drive to attract and retain the best knowledge workers for its own future. So there’s a palpable tension between these two forces. It’s clear that doctoral education influences national economies, and vice versa.”
Nerad is seeking funding for the next conference, scheduled for Melbourne in spring 2007, which will bring together the same cadre of experts, who left the conference with a pledge to conduct research and devote thought to a series of key topics, including:
- The influence of doctoral education on the global economy, and the globalization of doctoral education;
- The tension between, on the one hand, nation-building and local economic development, and on the other hand, participation in the international scholarly community;
- Whether there can be an international consensus on what competencies a doctoral degree should confer;
- The creation of internationally meaningful comparative data on doctoral education;
- Evaluating doctoral education internationally;
- Identifying policies that promote the most efficient and effective forms of doctoral education.
“It’s appropriate for this university to convene a conference of innovators in graduate education,” she said. “The UW is known as an innovator, and much energy is being focused here on becoming more international and more interdisciplinary.”
Many of the participants in the first conference submitted papers on innovation, which will become the basis of a book. Also in the planning stages is a Web site that will act as a repository for information on global innovation in doctoral education.
Nerad attributes a major portion of the success of the conference to the work of two people, Myan Baker and Mimi Heggelund. Myan Baker is an innovation consultant and facilitator. “She structured our meetings in such a way that everyone contributed, even those who were shy or reluctant to participate. Many people have told me that this is the best conference they ever attended. Participants were so enthusiastic that they have said that if we couldn’t find funding for travel to the next meeting they would pay their own travel costs to attend.” Mimi Heggelund, the CIRGE international coordinator was vital in making the conference happen and in helping the conference run smoothly. (CIRGE enjoyed the support from many other units and people on campus)
While the intent of the conference is to chart and eventually influence the trends in doctoral education globally, some of the effects will be felt locally. “There are potential benefits for UW students and faculty,” Nerad said. “If we want our students to have a broad perspective, there’s no better way than to look at education from the perspective of those from another nation.”
Some of these experiences are being explored in a pilot project, an international leadership workshop for doctoral students from the UW and the University of Melbourne. Participants will meet both in Melbourne and Seattle, with the goal of creating a collaborative research and learning experience that goes well beyond their two-week meetings. Students will gain a greater understanding about the cultural and national underpinnings of leadership, which should lead to the development of new leadership skills that are culturally sensitive. The workshops, set to occur over a three-year period, will begin next September.
Nerad, also an associate professor in education, says the UW provides an ideal atmosphere for exploring her interests. “Both of my deans, Pat Wasley and Suzanne Ortega, are very interested in international education,” she said.
