The Surprises of Graduate School Douglas J. Sawyer Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287 Recruitment of aualitv students is a concern of - " eraduate all science and nonscience graduate programs across the countrv. Better recruitment strateaies will he develo~ed through a more clear understanding of why studentsare choosing to attend (or not to attend) graduate school. Several recent articles have addressed the subject of graduate student recruitment and admission. Olson ( I ) describes the value of bringing all graduate program coordinators of a university together for a n annual workshop to discuss successful recruitment strategies. Olson also discusses the involvement of minority students in the recruiting of potential minority graduate students. Jackson ( 2 ) describes the advantages of including alumni in the recruiting process and outlines stem for the formulation of a successful alumni recruitment'program. Scott (3) suggests that a lower GRE cutoff score fur blacks could increase the number of minoritv graduate students without necessarily compromising thk standards of a university. Informal discussions with undergraduate chemistry majors have revealed some misconceptions these students have about graduate school. Some of the students who were choosing not to pursue a graduate degree in chemistry were doing s o for invalid reasons. A study was planned and implemented to gather some national statistics about the misconceptions senior chemistry majors have about graduate school. T h e goal of the study was to reveal publicly these misconceptions and to uncover clues as to how these misconceptions could he minimized. The Suwey Two questionnaires were prepared. One questionnaire was to be completed by senior chemistry majors, the other was to he completed by first- and second-year chemistry graduate students. T h e questionnaires were mailed to 85 different chemistry departments across the United States with a request to circulate, collect, and return the questionnaires. The undergraduate questionnaire was sent to 53 denartments. and the eraduate auestionnaire was sent to 46 hepartmeits. ~ w e l v ; departmknts returned 87 completed questionnaires from undergraduates, and 13 departments returned 135completed questionnaires from current graduate students. The questionnaires were worded as follows:
Undergraduate Student Quesllonnalre This is a qurstionnaire for college srniurs majoring in chemistry. Please answer all questions t u the best of your ability.'l'ry to resist the ' I don't know" answer, unless it is clearly the only appropriate response 1. How long do you think it normally takes for a person with a
bachelor's degree to complete the requirements for a PhD in ehemistw? a. 2-3 years b. P 5 years c. 6-8 years d. longer than 8 years How do you think graduate school tuition compares with undergraduate tuition at a large university? a. graduate much higher b. graduate much lower
c. tuition is about the same d. I have no idea 3. What have you heard about the financial opportunitiesavailable for chemistry graduate students? a. Chemistry graduate students typically receive partial tuition reimbursement in exchange for teaching b. Chemistry graduate students usually receive tuition reductions and a salary of approximately$IMlO/month for teaching undergraduates and for performing chemical research c. Chemistry graduate students receive very little help with their tuition d. I have no idea about the financial aid opportunitiesof chemistry graduate students 4. What is the main emphasis of a PhD program in chemistry? If you don't know, guess. a. research b. teaching c. writing textbooks d. coursework 5. Can a chemistry graduate student obtain a PhD without first receiving a Master's Degree? a. yes b. no c. don't know 6. How would you expect the coursework in graduate school to compare with the coursework at the undergraduate level? a. graduate coursework slightly more difficult b. graduate coursework significantly more difficult c. graduate coursework drastically more difficult 7. What have you heard about thelanguagerequirements forgraduate school? a. English proficiency exam usually required during first semes+">=A
b. Foreign language exam must be passed prior to graduation c. both (a) and (b) d. neither (a) nor (b) e. I haven't heard anything ahout this 8. Are you planning to pursue a graduate level degree in chemistry? a. yes h. probably c. undecided d. probably not e. definitely not 9. List reasons for your answer to question #8 Graduate Student Quesllonnalre ehernistrv ,. ernduThis is a ouestionnaire for first- and seeond-vear ,~~ aw~tudenw. Pleaseansnerenchquestion tothe best ofyournhility. The results of this survey will be used in an attempt to pubhcly reveal rrmmon m~seonrepti~~nr about graduate school. ~
~
1. How would you compare the level of difficulty between graduate
and your undergraduate course work? a. graduate courses are easier h. graduate courses are slightly more difficult c. graduate courses are significantly more difficult d. graduate courses are drastically more difficult 2. What degree are you currently pursuing? a. PhD b. Master's Volume 68
Number 3 March 1991
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3. Does your assistantship (salary) provide enough money for you to
Results
Live without financialworries? a. yes b. yes, but barely c. I have a few financial worries d. definitely not enough money 4. What were your misconceptions about graduate school? Carefully list aspects of graduate school that you were regrettably unaware of. 5. Do you feel that there is a need to more effectivelyinform college seniors about the aspects of graduate school? a. yes b. undecided C. no 6. If you answered yes for question #5, rank the following information sources according to effectiveness (l-most effective): -brochures available in chemistry department office a lecture and questionlanswer presentation by a college professor that is open to all college seniors -a lecture and questionlanswer presentation by a professor that is required for all seniors -an optional informational session presented by a current graduate student -Other: -Other:
Undergraduate Survey The response, by institution, to the undergraduate survey questions 1-8 is summarized in Table 1. The most popular responses to question 2 were (a) and (c). Thirty-einht Dercent of the seniors throught that graduate tuition was much higher than undergraduate tuition, while 37% thought that graduate tuition was about the same. A significant percentage (22%) indicated they had no idea how graduate ruition cumoared to undercraduate tuition. Onlv 5.4Di of the undergraduates from non-phDgranting schools indicated they had no idea about graduate tuition; while 34% of the undergraduates from PhD-granting schools were uninformed about graduate tuition. Most undergraduates (63%)were informed about the financial aid opportunities of a graduate program in chemistry. A significant percentage (18%),however, indicated that they were uninformed. T h e sample of seniors from PhDgrantingschools were again less informed than the sample of seniors from non-PhD-granting schools (24% to 11%). Nearlv all of the seniors knew that research is the main emphasis of a graduate program in chemistry. Most of the senion (79%) knew that i t is ~ o s s i h l eto obtain a P h D in chemistry without first earning a master's degree. Twentyone percent did not know about this. Most undergraduates
-
Table 1. Response to the Survey of Undergraduate Chemistry Majors School A I M University Pomona College Grinnell College Cleveland State University ASU Lehigh University Charninade University of Honolulu Union College Fort HBys State University University of Connenicut University of Nevada. Las Vegas l b h a State Universily
Highest Degree Total Response B B B PhD PhD PhD B
M B PhD
M M
Totals Total Percentages PhD-Oranling Schools P ~ Schml D Percentages No+PhD-Granting Schools NorrPhD-School Percentages
212
Journal of Chemical Education
2 5 9
6 26 2 5 4 3 16 2 7
37
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0 1 0 2
lb
i 5 7 2 15
1 2 4 3 14 2 3
3 2 8 8.11 75.66
4 2 1 10.81 5.41
6 9 1 0 43.24 24.32 27.03
2 5.41
6 2 5 2 16.22 67.57 5.41
(54%)thought that the coursework in graduate school would he significantly more difficult, while 38% thought the coursework would be onlv slizhtlv more difficult. Fiftv-one percent of the seniors indicateh tl;ey bad not heard anGhing about the language proficiency requirements of graduate school. Thirtv-one ~ e r c e nof t the seniors indicated they were undecided about whether or not t o attend graduate school. Onlv 24.5% of the seniors indicated a negative response to 8. Seventy-five percent of the national sample of seniors are saying "yes" or "maybe" t o graduate schwl. Students from non-PhD-granting schools are more likely to be planning to attend graduate school than seniors from the PhD-granting schools. The seniors from the PhD-granting schools are more likely to be undecided about attending eraduate school. Eighty seniors responded to question 9. Their response is summarized in Table 2. The two most frequently indicated reasons for planning to attend graduate-school were: (1) enjoy research and (2) want to learn more about chemistry. Nine of the respondents indicated that financial reasons influenced their decision to attend graduate school. Eleven of the seniors (13%) indicated they were planning to attend medical (or some other professional) school. Only 12% of the seniors are saying "no" to some kind of postgraduate education. From this group, the most frequently indicated reason for not attending graduate school is that they do not have the money.
a t e s t u d e n t s (57.8%) indicated t h a t their eraduate coursework was bniy slightly more difficult than their undereraduate coursework. Eiehtv-four oercent of the s a m ~ l eof graduate students were &r&ing a ' P h ~Most . of the k a d u ate students indicated thev were not in financial trouble. Fifty-six percent indicated-they were free of financial worries. while 10.4% indicated thev definitelv did not have enough money. The response to question 4 is summarized in Table 4. The three most frequently indicated surprises of graduate school were: (1) the structure of the curriculum, (2) the amount of pressure, and (3) the time requirements. Two-thirds of the graduate students think there is a need to more effectivelv inform undereraduates about the a s ~ e c t s of graduate schbol. The prefirred information sobrces shown in question #6, in order of popularity, were: (1) (2) (3) (4)
..
lecture bv a colleee .orofessor (attendance ootional) lecture hy a current graduatentudent (attendance optlanal~ lecture hy a college professor (attendancerequtred) brochures from the Chem~stryDepartment
Other frequent responses to question 6, in order of popularity, include: (1)
a campus visit
(2) Why wait until we are seniors? (3) informal meetings with current graduate students (4) attend chemistry seminars
(5) participate in undergraduate research
Graduate Survey The response, by institution, to the graduate survey questions 1-3 and 5 is summarized in Table 3. Most of the gradu-
The results of this study indicate that many undergraduate chemistry majors are uninformed about some important Table 4.
Table 2. Response to Undergraduate Survey Quedlon #9Reasons for and against Maklng Plans To Attend Graduate School
Number of
Number of Responses
Number 01 Far
Responses
Against
enjoy research wamm leam moreabout chemistry wam lots of money enjoy leaching personal goal want to contribute to society responsibility, power
16 14
don't have the money
11 5
9 6 5 2
too bigacommitmem sick of school don't like ohemisby bad grades
3 3 2 2
medical schwl
R e a p o m to Graduate Survey Question #4
2
Sumrises about Graduate Schwl
RBSOO~SBJ
limited coursewa*/struclureof cuniculum pressure time requirements hidden costs/financial hardships emphasis of research advisor importance faculty/departmentquality access to research facilities English requiremem intensity lower than expecled impman~eof entrance exams obtained adequate financial support
20 20 18 10 8 6 8 6 4
2 2 2
Total number of graduate student responses: 105
Total number 01 responses = 80
Table 3. Response to the Survey 01 Chemistry Graduate Students S~hooi lllinoi~institute of Technology Virginia Commonwealth University Louisiana State University University of Minnesota Univerdty of Southern Mississippi University 01 Michigan Harvard University Oklahoma State University New Mexico State University Cleveland State University Arizona State University Brandeis University Iowa State Unlversihl
Totals Total Percentages
TotalRe~ponse
la
9
0
8
1
10 20 3 13 9 6 4
1 3 0 3 1 0
10 15 8
0 0 0 2
20 135
2
13 9.63
lb
8 4
8 8 1
8 6 4 1 6 10 6 8 78 57.76
ic 1 2 1 8 2 1 2 2 1 4 5 2 9 40 29.63
id 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
1 4 2.96
2a 8 4 9 17
3 13 9
5 3 3 13 8 I9
114 84.4
2b
3a
1 4
0
1 3 0 0 0 1 1 7 2 0 1 21 15.56
2 2 5 2 3 3 1 0 0 2 1 5 26 19.28
3b
3c
36
8 1 3 9 0 4 3 2 0 4 4 4 8
1 4 4 5 1 5 3 2 2 2 7 3 6
0 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 2 4 2 0 1
50 37
45 33
14 10.4
5a
5b
5c
2 5 1 0 2 2 1 1 1 4 1 1
0 3 0 0 2 0 1 1 0 2 3
21 16.7
13 10.3
6 4 16 3 11 5 5 2 8 11 3 16 90 71.4
Volume 68 Number 3 March 1991
1
213
aspects of graduate school. This lack of information may contribute to a student's decision against attending graduate school. The sample of students may not be representative of the national population of chemistry seniors and graduate students. Only those students whosedepartments chose to participate in the survey are represented. The students represented here are those from departments that show a genuine interest in this area. These students may he better informed than others about the aspects of graduate school. Of the students not planning to attend professional school. the most oooular reason for not planning to attend graduate school is that they do not have the money. However. onlv 10.4% of the xraduate students indicated they were in'financial trouble. several of the undergraduates who indicated finances as their reason for not attending graduate school indicated answer (c) or (d) for question 3. Clearly, some undergraduates are rejecting the option of graduate school for invalid reasons. A recent article by Montegani (4) reports the same conclusion based on a sample of student interns a t the NASA Lewis Research Center. Brazziel (5) suggests that the opportunity to work while earning a degree may help to attract a substantial number of students. He suggests this as a possible reason why one ouarter of all doctorates awarded in the United States are in lducation. Perhaps the availability of teaching assistantshios and research assistantships is not publicized well enough in the field of chemistry. The most frequently stated reasons for planning to attend graduate school were not financial. Similar results are reported by Malaney (6) for a sample of graduate students from a large university in the Midwest; and by Montegani (4). Almost all eraduate students encounter "surprises" upon entering gra&ate school. Some misconceptions, depending on the individualstudent, can result in a had experience that could have been easily avoided. The responsibility to minimize the misconceptions that undergraduates have about graduate school lies with the prospective graduate students and with all educators (secondary and postsecondary) in the sciences. The study hy Malaney (6) indicates that departmental brochures &e the most frequently cited source of information about graduate school, followed by recommendation by an undergraduate professor. The chemistry graduate students in the present study rated departmental brochures last in effectiveness among the choices in question 6.
The present study indicates that optional interaction with a colleee orofessor or a current eraduate student is the most effectLe source of informationahout graduate school in the field of chemistry. This is closely related to Montegani's (4) observation t h a t u t h e chance to talk with faculty members seems largely responsible for the weakening of the reasons against going to graduate school." The studies indicate that a better informed undergraduate is more likely to make plans to attend graduate school. Several graduate students indicated that information about graduate school should be communicated before the perspective students are seniors. The American Psychological Association (7) has published a hook entitled Preparing for Graduate Study in Psychology: NOT for Seniors Only! The APA clearly emphasizes the importance of being informed early about graduate school. Some schools are conducting seminars to promote scientific careers for high school girls (8).These schools understand that students make career decisions early and that, if someone chooses against science early in his or her academic career, he or she will never he in a position to receive information about a graduate degree in a scientific field. The study has revealed some of the misconceptions that undergraduate chemistry majors have about graduate school. Some of these misconceptions may he influencing eraduate students to decide aeainst eraduate .oersoective . school. The ~esponsibilityto effectively infirm pr&pective eraduate students about maduate school lies with the stuaents themselves and with all of us in the field of science education. Future Work A series of more focused studies i s being planned. One studv will focus entirelv on the financial aspects of eraduate school. I t will probe the reasons why some students feel satisfied or dissatisfied with their financial situation. All future studies will he performed using modern sociological techniaues in an attempt to understand hetter the transition period from undergraduate to graduate school in chemistry.
Lnerature Clted 1. 0lmm.C. J. NegroEdur. 1988,57.3142. 2. Jackson. T. J. College Uniu. 1985.60, 210-218. 3. Scott, R. R. rl Negro Educ. 1985.54, 14-23. 4. Mantegani, F.J.Eng. Educ. 1988.78.255-257. 5. Rrazziel, W. F.Edue. Raeord 1987,68.108-115. 6. Ma1sney.G. D.Coliege Uniu 1987.62. 247-258. 7 . ~~~i~.B.R.;S~sne.D.J.P~~pa~~~forGrodualaSiudyinWseholo~y:NOTlorSeniorr Only': APA: washington,1980. 8. McMillen, L. Chron. HigherEdue. 1986.33 121. 1
Ninth Annual Graduate Student's Symposium The Ninth Annual Graduate Student's Symposium will be held on May 22-23,1991, at the State University of New York at Buffalo.This year's featured speakerswill be M. Bonner Denton (Arizona)and Stephen Kaye (OakRidge National
-- - -
1.ahnratnriesl ..-. .-. . -,.
The Sympusium mas created by graduate rrudents to prot,ide a forum to present their research lo cheir prrrs. Thr Symposium often provides graduar~~tudentrtheir first opportuniry to sharpen them prufrssional communicalion skills. This yrar some new features will be introduced,including: a proposal writrng workshopconducted by Holand Hirsrh ofthe NIH,.~ employment ~ clearinghouse, and a published proceedings of the Symposium. The Symposium is open to bath the academic and industrial sectors. However,presentations are restricted tograduate students. Attendance at the talks is free, and two luncheons, a reception, and the cost of accommodations for speakers is covered hy donations from our rponsoru (industrial,academic, and ACS lucal secrions,. '1'0 rreciw an informatim packet, contact J
