Ph.D.S In Engineering: Getting Them Through The Door And Seeing Them Graduate Faculty And Industry Perspectives

NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract Ph.D.s in Engineering: Getting Them through the Door and Seeing Them Graduate- Faculty and Industry Perspectives Abstract This study focuses on the importance of recruitment and retention of PhD students in engineering fields from faculty and industry perspectives. Engineering faculty and industry experts were interviewed to explore their views of the recruitment and retention of domestic and international students into PhD programs in engineering fields. Findings point to a variety of ways to improve recruitment and retention of PhD students, including industry support and encouragement for graduates who work in the industry, funding issues, communicating the possible advantages of a graduate degree to students, and online degree program development. The study specifically explores the problems and barriers to attracting, retaining, and graduating qualified individuals from engineering disciplines and emphasizes possible solutions to retention and recruitment barriers from higher education and industry perspectives. Introduction Recruitment and retention of Ph.D. students in engineering fields is becoming increasingly important. Global, economic, educational trends, and college and university efforts play big roles in this process and thereby require increased attention and research. The global trade market has given rise to a breadth and intensity of competition that values flexible teams with multi-talented members1.While the educational development in countries such as China and India challenges the United States’ position as leader in engineering education at the undergraduate level2. These countries have also recognized the value of doctoral education. In the U.S., 56% of all doctoral degrees within engineering are awarded to foreign-born students3. Over the past decade however, China has seen a 420% increase in the number of doctoral degrees awarded in science and engineering2 Despite the many studies which have been conducted since ABET’s EC 2000 criterion was established in 1996, researchers have not explored empirically many studies of engineering at the graduate level. Given that U.S. engineers will represent a smaller percentage of the engineering profession in the future2 and that U.S. engineering universities will have to compete more aggressively to attract talented engineers to conduct university research, an immediate focus on the recruitment and preparation of engineering doctoral students within U.S. institutions is needed. Literature Review In the mid to late 1900s, the U.S. saw a dramatic increase in the number of doctoral education recipients. Since the Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED) began in 19574 the number of doctorates granted by U.S. universities has, on average, increased by approximately 3.5% per year. However, the growth in the number of doctorates has not been stable. Until 2006, when higher education institutions awarded the highest number of doctorates in history with 45,596 doctorate recipients, there had been periods of rapid growth and decrease in the number of doctorates awarded. Between 1961 and 1971 the number of doctorates awarded each year almost tripled from 10,000 to 31,867. This number remained stable during the late 1970s and through the early 1980s. After a second period of growth in the mid-80s, 42,637 research doctorates were