How Do We Ensure Good PhD Student Outcomes?

Abstract

There is a real need in higher education institutions to systematically address the developmental and training needs of research higher degree students. Many commentators argue that traditional PhD programmes are too narrow, lacking broad professional development opportunities and producing overly specialized graduates who struggle to adapt to the workplace. Recent studies have shown that more than half of chemical engineering PhD graduates progress directly into the private sector. How do we ensure that they are prepared?. The work presented in this paper was developed as part of a multi-disciplinary research project aimed at investigating issues surrounding the development of inter-disciplinary research higher degree students. One of the first difficulties encountered was the lack of any effective and meaningful method of evaluating postgraduate research student learning and development. As a result, the project team initiated a process of graduate attribute development. The outcome was the Research Student Virtual Portfolio (RSVP). RSVP is an educational, career development package designed to develop research students’ broad graduate attributes. This paper describes and examines the two stages of developing and implementing RSVP. The first stage was the initial development of RSVP in a small interdisciplinary research centre, the Advanced Wastewater Management Centre, at The University of Queensland. The second stage was the broader implementation and extension of RSVP for use in other disciplines within the university. An action learning methodology was adopted, and the data presented was obtained from interviews and communications with individual students and supervisors. The RSVP process is found to have a positive impact on PhD student learning and career development, encourages students to develop an awareness of employer needs, and is an effective framework for postgraduate advising.