Report on Data from the 2004–05 MLA Guide to Doctoral Programs in English and Other Modern Languages

Abstract

File: Steward_data_140_P5T1.indd Job #: 320-30 11/3/06–JF/JR/DC Adobe Garamond Pro: Titl: 22/24; Auth: 14; Auth note: 9/10 It; Issue info: 8/10.5 osf & It (0 tr); © Info: 8/10.5 sc (+11 tr); ICap: 22; Txt: 10.5/12.25 (cd 4%); Extr: 8.5/10 This report is based on data collected by the MLA for the 2004–05 edition of the online MLA Guide to Doctoral Programs in English and Other Modern Languages, a project called for by many members and by the MLA Committee on Professional Employment. The first (pilot) edition of the Guide, based on 2000–01 data, became available online in 2004. A report on English department data from the pilot edition appeared in ADE Bulletin 137 (2005): 81–88, and data from the pilot edition for both English and foreign language departments are available online at www .mla .org/ gdp_ intro. The data for the 2004–05 edition include the responses of 333 voluntarily participating departments: 134 English departments, 158 departments of foreign languages, and 41 departments of comparative literature and other types.1 The MLA solicited departments’ information through an online survey form. Except where noted, this report refers only to the data for the 2004–05 academic year. Departments were invited to verify and correct the information they submitted before the Guide became publicly accessible online at www .mla .org in fall 2005.2 Of the 333 departments 307 are in the United states; 26 are in Canada. Table 1 shows the breakdown of participating departments. Departments offer the PhD in several dozen languages, as tables 2 and 3 illustrate. Table 2 shows that reporting foreign language departments offer the PhD most commonly in French (66 depts.), followed by spanish (60 depts.); German (50 depts.); italian (21 depts.); Chinese, Japanese, and Russian (15 depts. each); and Portuguese (14 depts.). Table 4 shows that, in the 289 departments that answered the question, the lowest number of enrolled doctoral students was 3, the highest 305. On average, responding departments had an enrollment of 42.2 students, with a median enrollment of 52. in total, over 12,200 students were enrolled in the departments. When the submitted data make it possible and significant, information is broken down by department type. in other cases, the data were either too sparse to be disaggregated by department type or there was no significant difference in the data among types. similarly, when possible and significant, data are disaggregated for United states and Canadian departments. Report on Data from the 2004–05 MLA Guide to Doctoral Programs in English and Other Modern Languages