Actual Graduation Research Articles

Intentions versus outcomes in doctoral degree completion

ABSTRACT The decline in doctoral program completion has become one of the main challenges in doctoral education worldwide. As concern about this issue grows, the number of studies examining the topic has also increased. Many of these studies, which aim to identify the factors that contribute to high attrition rates, rely on cross-sectional data and often use students’ degree completion plans as a proxy for either completion or attrition. This approach raises a crucial question: How well do these proxies correlate with actual graduation outcomes? Utilizing a quasi-longitudinal dataset, our study investigates the relationship between various indicators of student plans, as used in cross-sectional studies, and students’ eventual completion or withdrawal from doctoral programs. Our analysis reveals a significant disconnect between student intentions and their actual outcomes, which indicates that students’ plans may not always be a reliable predictor of graduation results. The findings suggest that using these proxies can lead to misinterpretations or the omission of key factors that affect outcomes. Such insights are valuable for developing more accurate scales and indicators to measure dropout intentions in cross-sectional studies and contribute to the broader understanding and discussion of doctoral student outcomes and success.

Research in Transnational Higher Education: Mixed Methods, Mixed Locations, and Mixed Assumptions

AbstractTransnational education (TNE) occurs when higher education institutions traverse borders to provide educational experiences outside their home countries. Such mobility creates several research challenges, as such institutions exist between worlds. They must balance home and host country legal requirements, navigate home and branch administrative norms, adjust to differing cultural and learning expectations, and even serve different student populations. To understand this complexity, researchers must employ mixed-method approaches, which are currently limited in higher education studies. In this paper, we explore TNE as a unique setting for conducting research. We outline our design choices and the challenges we faced in conducting research on TNE institutions. For the paper’s central focus, we unpack a cross-cultural case study, which employs multi- and mixed-methods research, to assess the role of labor market outcomes at critical junctures of the student lifecycle at a binational university. By incorporating perspectives from the institution, alumni, and current and prospective students, we present a holistic view of perceived and actual graduate outcomes. This case vividly illustrates the limitations of mono-method studies. Furthermore, it demonstrates how mixed-method studies are useful for generating more meaningful outcomes in TNE research.

Prediksi Tingkat Kelulusan Menggunakan K-Means Pada Program Studi Informatika Unismuh Makassar

Predicting timely graduation brings numerous benefits not only to students but also to the university itself. Creating a graduation prediction model assists students and academic advisors in fostering a positive environment that encourages on-time graduation by developing a predictive model for graduation rates using the K-means data mining method in the Informatics study program at Universitas Muhammadiyah Makassar. This method is used to cluster students based on attributes such as total credits taken, semester Grade Point Average (GPA), and overall Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA). The clustering aims to identify patterns and characteristics of student graduation. Data from several semesters is collected and preprocessed, including data normalization and transformation. The research steps involve data preprocessing, cluster labeling, distance calculation to cluster centers, and result analysis. The analysis shows that the K-means method can generate student clusters with varying graduation rate patterns. The formed clusters can be interpreted as groups of students with potential for timely graduation or groups needing more attention to achieve on-time graduation. Empirical validation is performed by comparing K-means prediction results with actual graduation data. Accuracy measurement involves calculating the percentage of similarity between predictions and actual data. Empirical validation results demonstrate the accuracy level, which can serve as a benchmark for assessing the performance of this prediction model. This study aims to provide deeper insights into factors influencing student graduation and potentially support decision-making at the academic level. Keywords: Graduation Prediction, Data Mining, K-Means, Analysis, Clustering, Empirical Validation.

Transition to Virtual Graduation: Experiences of 2021 University Graduates in Zimbabwe

The research sought to investigate graduates' experiences with the shift to virtual graduation. The interpretive paradigm used in this study aided the current researchers in maintaining the integrity of the phenomenon being investigated, which comprehends the experiences of graduates on various platforms used at graduation. Qualitative method was utilized. The research included thirty randomly chosen graduates from three different institutions. Data was gathered using a semi-structured questionnaire. According to the report, institutions focused more on physical ceremony arrangements, despite the fact that the majority of students participated digitally. The study also found that other graduates enjoyed the graduation because they attended physical virtual graduation events planned by student representatives and held at various locations. Graduates, on the other hand, were financially burdened since they had to invest additional graduation expenditures in order to attend these physical virtual graduation festivities. The study concluded that the effectiveness of various virtual graduation formats as measured by participant satisfaction, ease of access, ability to optimize social presence, and engagement was not achieved. In this aspect, the survey indicated that colleges prioritized actual graduation ceremonies over virtual ceremonies. The research suggests that colleges collaborate with various event planners to supply and host their grads, allowing all graduates to experience a feeling of connection and success.

The advantage of daughters in hypogamous families: parental heterogamy and educational outcomes among children of highly educated parents

ABSTRACT Increasing female educational attainment across OECD countries is making hypogamy a widespread phenomenon. This trend provides an opportunity to re-examine the effects of educational assortative mating on children's educational outcomes. This research explores the effects of hypergamy, homogamy, and hypogamy on gender differences in children's expectation of university graduation and actual college graduation. For the first purpose, logistic regression with country fixed-effects is applied to individual-level data from PISA 2015; a similar analysis is carried out for the second purpose with data from the European Social Survey. Three characteristics make us expect higher female advantage among children of hypogamous couples: higher probability of mothers being the main family breadwinner; higher probability of gender value conflict, eventually leading to family breakup and the father's absence; and the possibility that the father's occupation discourages sons from pursuing higher education. A systematic female advantage is indeed found among children of hypogamous couples in terms of expectation of college graduation and actual college graduation. Among the possible mechanisms behind this female advantage, only the father's and the mother's occupation could be explored with the data at hand, but none of them explain this advantage.

A comparative institutional analysis on strategies deployed by Australian and Japanese universities to prepare students for employment

ABSTRACT The notion of employability has become a focal point of higher education in many countries’ strategies to prepare students for employment. Responses to this notion can differ largely from country to country and from university to university, based on their historical, political, and economic contexts. However, very little has been researched in terms of these differences. More investigation in this area is needed to conceptualise patterns of universities’ orientations towards the employment of their graduates. In this article, we utilised comparative institutional analysis as a conceptual framework to discuss differences in the practices deployed by universities in Australia and Japan to prepare their students for employment. We found that Australian universities have widely applied the so-called ‘potential maximisation mode’ with a focus on teaching technical knowledge and professional skills for increased employability. However, the ‘results maximisation mode’ has been widely utilised by Japanese universities, stressing the role of universities and academics in ensuring the use of actual graduates to connect students to potential industries directly or creating mentoring opportunities for current students and alumni.

Effective course registration, add/drop policies key to four‐year graduation rates

ATLANTA — In 2018, San Diego State University had the number‐one six‐year graduation rate for actual versus predictive graduation rates, which was determined by comparing the university's actual graduation rate to the rate analysts would expect, given such factors as financial resources; admissions data; proportion of economically disadvantaged students; social mobility; and science, technology, engineering, and math orientation. The actual number of students who graduate from SDSU over the course of six years is more than 75 percent.

Causas e monitoramento da evasão universitária no contexto brasileiro: uma revisão sistemática

O ensino superior brasileiro apresenta crescente expansão, com novas vagas, novos cursos e fortalecimento das instituições de ensino superior públicas e privadas. A possibilidade de mais acesso deve estar relacionada com a preocupação quanto à manutenção dos alunos até sua efetiva diplomação. A evasão universitária causa impactos negativos tanto para as instituições, como para a sociedade. Neste trabalho propõe-se a realização de uma revisão sistemática da literatura, com o objetivo de identificar as abordagens trazidas pelos estudos recentes sobre a evasão no Ensino Superior de universidades brasileiras. A pesquisa aconteceu nas bases Science Direct, Scopus, Educa FCC. Após aplicação dos critérios de inclusão e exclusão, chegou-se a 14 publicações que foram lidas na íntegra para análise. Por meio da revisão identificou-se que muitos autores sistematizam os motivos para a evasão em dimensões, sendo possível perceber quatro grupos principais. Questões relativas: ao aluno; às instituições; à carreira; e processo de estudo-aprendizagem. Os estudos evidenciam a importância do acompanhamento dos indicadores (apresentando algumas ferramentas) e a elaboração de ações de apoio ao aluno, minimizando as desistências - embora não tenha sido identificado nenhum exemplo de programa efetivo nos estudos analisados.

Effective course registration, add/drop policies key to four‐year graduation rates

ATLANTA — In 2018, San Diego State University had the number‐one six‐year graduation rate for actual versus predictive graduation rates, which was determined by comparing the university's actual graduation rate to the rate analysts would expect, given such factors as financial resources, admissions data, proportion of economically disadvantaged students, social mobility, and STEM orientation. The actual number of students who graduate from SDSU over the course of six years is more than 75 percent.

Effective course registration, add/drop policies key to four‐year graduation rates

ATLANTA — In 2018, San Diego State University had the number‐one six‐year graduation rate for actual versus predictive graduation rates, which was determined by comparing the university's actual graduation rate to the rate analysts would expect, given such factors as financial resources; admissions data; proportion of economically disadvantaged students; social mobility; and science, technology, engineering, and math orientation. The actual number of students who graduate from SDSU over the course of six years is more than 75 percent.

The (Female) Graduate: Choice and Consequences of Women's Clothing.

This research investigates how female students choose their graduation outfit and how clothing affects observers’ judgments. In Study 1, we manipulated the students’ graduation outfit so as to look professional or sexy. Female peers, adults, and professors formed a first impression about the students, their thesis work and guessed their graduation scores (thesis points and final mark). All participant groups judged the professionally dressed students as more competent, as having put more effort in their thesis, and as having obtained better scores than when the same students dressed sexy. In Studies 2 and 3 we replicated previous findings by using photos portraying real students in their actual graduation outfits. We found that sexy clothing, considered inappropriate for the occasion, affected estimated and actual graduation scores negatively and that this effect was mediated by perceived incompetence. Results are discussed with respect to women’s evaluation on the basis of their appearance.

The impact of rural outreach programs on medical students\u2019 future rural intentions and working locations: a systematic review

BackgroundSignificant investment has been undertaken by many countries into ‘Rural Clinical Training Placement Schemes’ for medical students in order to deal with shortages of trained health care professionals in rural and remote locations. This systematic review examines the evidence base of rural educational programs within medical education and focusses on workforce intentions and employment outcomes. The study provides a detailed description of the methodological characteristics of the literature, thematic workforce outcomes and key related factors are identified, study quality is assessed, and the findings are compared within an international context.MethodsA systematic review looking at international literature of rural placement programs within medical education between January 2005 to January 2017 from databases including; Medline, Embase, NursingOVID, PubMed and Cochrane. The study adopted the PRISMA protocol. A quality assessment of the literature was conducted based on the Health Gains Notation Framework.ResultsSixty two papers met the inclusion criteria. The review identified three program classifications; Rural Clinical Placement Programs, Rural Clinical Placement Programs combined with a rural health educational curriculum component and Rural Clinical School Programs. The studies included were from Australia, United States, Canada, New Zealand, Thailand and Africa.Questionnaires and tracking or medical registry databases were the most commonly reported research tools and the majority were volunteer programs. Most studies identified potential rural predictors/confounders, however a number did not apply control groups and most programs were based on a single site. There was a clear discrepancy in the ideal rural clinical placement length. Outcomes themes were identified related to rural workforce outcomes. Most studies reported that an organised, well-funded, rural placement or rural clinical school program produced positive associations with increased rural intentions and actual graduate rural employment.ConclusionsFuture research should focus on large scale methodologically rigorous multi-site rural program studies, with longitudinal follow up of graduates working locations. Studies should apply pre-and post-intervention surveys to measure change in attitudes and control for predictive confounders, control groups should be applied; and in-depth qualitative research should be considered to explore the specific factors of programs that are associated with encouraging rural employment.

P163 - Eat, Smart, Plan, Shop, Save, and Live; All the Best Words are Already Taken: Creating an Online Nutrition Education Curriculum for Idaho

Objective: To overcome barriers to in-person class attendance through creation of an online adult nutrition education curriculum and expand the reach of Idaho's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed), Eat Smart Idaho. Target Audience: Idaho's adult SNAP-eligible population. Theory, Prior Research, Rationale: Recommended practices from evidenced based studies and similar online curricula and websites serving SNAP eligible audiences guided the project. Design was based on several adult learning theories including the concept of andragogy and adults as self-directed learners; and the need to be motivated internally. Participants provide their own explanation of why they need to learn this material at the beginning of each lesson. Actual graduates from the in-person course explain how the content has helped them. Description: Plan, Shop, and Go—Eat Smart Idaho is more than a slide show. It includes Idaho-specific content, audience centered videos, interactive mini games, knowledge quizzes, an achievement system, and social media activities. The audience is encouraged to actively participate by sharing their experiences, motivations, and recipe ideas. Hosted on eXtension Campus, this 5-lesson curriculum covers food resource management, healthy eating, physical activity, and food safety. Evaluation: Knowledge assessment, intent-to change evaluation, and qualitative feedback on the curriculum content and design are used to determine efficacy and provide direction for continuous improvement. Conclusions and Implications: The online curriculum, Plan, Shop, and Go—Eat Smart Idaho, could help increase the reach of Idaho SNAP-Ed, and provide evidence-based, interactive, and convenient nutrition and physical activity education to limited income Idahoans. Funding: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program—Education.

Students' Graduation Project Training for Mechanical Design Specialty Based on Light Industries Transformation

For cultivating students' ability to solve problem using theoretical basis, professional knowledge and skills, a professional talent training knowledge system has been carried on the reform, which blends advanced technology specialty curriculums and the requirements of graduation design in the light industry machinery specialty of Zhengzhou University of Light Industry, according to the requirements of light industry transformation. Through the student's actual graduation project, the key knowledge points and student's exercise are discussed in this paper for an excellent graduate design which blends advanced technology curriculum knowledge. Reform Practice has proved that establishing advanced technology courses based on modern industry transformation are very useful to cultivate students' specialty ability. The work provides a reference for the similar professional teaching reform.

Market-Oriented LSP Training in Higher Education: Towards Higher Communicative Skills

In the 21st century globalization accelerates the need for English communication skills as English is recognized as a lingua franca in the business world. A high priority of university educators involved in LSP (LSP – language for special purposes) training is to equip graduates with communicative LSP skills meeting the standards of huge and increasingly competitive job market. The study addresses the issue on how to close the current gap between prospective employers’ expectations of English communication skills level and the existing LSP level of graduates. The study aims at, first, to reveal the effect of English globalization on employability from the perspective of university students; second, to identify factors leading to reticence in speaking; and third, to provide a solution to the problem of gap between graduates’ oral skills and employers’ expectations. The study uses two questionnaires as an instrument to collect data. The obtained quantitative data is used as an input for qualitative study. The study certifies that undergraduates are fully aware of the utmost importance of English language for employment. Also, the study identifies the main social and psycholinguistic reasons hindering to develop speaking skills in the university settings. Further, the research findings have been used to develop and integrate into university training curricula an intensive 3-module program meeting the real needs of students and business community. The goal of this program is to equip students with excellent English communication skills meeting the rapidly changing job market demands. The findings of the study suggest that LSP training offered at higher school should be improved to meet job market requirements. The study enabled to assess the instruction results and provide a solution to the problem of “competency gap”. It points to where the real work of closing the gap between the need for workforce skilled in English communication and actual graduates’ skill level needs to happen.

Survey on graduate education in the Confederación Americana de Urología: Opinions and reality

ObjectiveQuality graduate medical training is a concern of Confederación Americana de Urología (CAU), the third largest urological society worldwide. It is important to analyze the diversity in the state training programs and the feasibility and implications of conducting a common CAU program. Material and methodsA 20-item questionnaire was distributed to the directors of national societies who are members of the CAU concerning the graduate urological training in their institutions. ResultsA total of 28 presidents and expresidents representing 21 countries responded, the total number of independent states that constitute the confederation. In this setting, 664 residents start their training program every year, in an area that treats 645.4 million inhabitants, with an active professional force of 16,752 specialists. We present data on the realities of the training (length of the program, core curriculum) and occupation (job access, possible flow between countries) and on how accreditation and re-certification of specialists in these countries are conducted. We also present the opinions on the feasibility of a joint CAU degree, as well as a number of its implications. ConclusionsThe actual graduate training in the CAU setting is heterogeneous in its programs and in its accreditation and re-certification methods. There is a strong desire to achieve joint degrees, except in Spain and Portugal. To enable joint certification, there will need to be intervention on numerous aspects and levels, redefining the desire for healthcare coverage in each country and considering the possible flow of specialists.

Self-efficacy of the psychotherapist in the context of supervision

IntroductionIn the context of the importance of psychotherapy in mental health care the aim of our study is to highlight the importance of supervision as an integral part thereof.AimWe analyze the relationship between the assessment of the quality of supervision and the perceived self-efficacy of the psychotherapist as one of the antecedents of decision-making in the psychotherapeutic process. This framework is applied to an empirical study that focuses on psychotherapist's perception of clinical supervision in relationship to professional self-efficacy in the therapeutic process.MethodsThe study was operationalized using the Manchester clinical supervision scale (MCSS), containing a demographic questionnaire, counselor self-efficacy scale–modified version. One hundred and twenty-five psychotherapists with supervisory experience participated in the research, including 67 trainees and 58 graduates of psychotherapy training.ResultsThe results show a positive relationship between effective supervision and self-efficacy (r = 0.363; sig = 0.000; n = 125). The participants who attributed higher ratings to supervision and supervision work alliance also assigned higher scores to perceived self-efficacy–although there is a significant relationship among the participants of psychotherapeutic training (r = 0.444; sig = 0.000; n = 67), this relation is not significant among the actual graduates. Based on modeling, rapport was discovered to be the most important predictor of supervision effectiveness assessment.ConclusionsThe results support the merits of supervision in the education of psychotherapists and the importance of investing resources in its regular implementation.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Encuesta sobre la formación de postgrado en la Confederación Americana de Urología: opiniones y realidades

ObjectiveQuality graduate medical training is a concern of Confederación Americana de Urología (CAU), the third largest urological society worldwide. It is important to analyse the diversity in the state training programmes and the feasibility and implications of conducting a common CAU programme. Material and methodsA 20-item questionnaire was distributed to the directors of national societies who are members of the CAU concerning the graduate urological training in their institutions. ResultsA total of 28 presidents and expresidents representing 21 countries responded, the total number of independent states that constitute the confederation. In this setting, 664 residents start their training programme every year, in an area that treats 645.4 million inhabitants, with an active professional force of 16,752 specialists. We present data on the realities of the training (length of the programme, core curriculum) and occupation (job access, possible flow between countries) and on how accreditation and re-certification of specialists in these countries are conducted. We also present the opinions on the feasibility of a joint CAU degree, as well as a number of its implications. ConclusionsThe actual graduate training in the CAU setting is heterogeneous in its programmes and in its accreditation and re-certification methods. There is a strong desire to achieve joint degrees, except in Spain and Portugal. To enable joint certification, there will need to be intervention on numerous aspects and levels, redefining the desire for healthcare coverage in each country and considering the possible flow of specialists.

Учёт тенденций развития сферы социально-культурных услуг в образовательном процессе студентов направлений «Сервис» и «Туризм»

The article states the need of foresight of the further Service industry development in order to prepare more qualified specialists at such actual graduate studies as «Service» and «Tourism». Today educational process at these disciplines demands creative approach, which involves Professor and Student collaboration in innovative ideas production. The author of the article states that foresight of the Service industry trends allows pay attention to actual problems at the lectures and practical classes, it gives an opportunity to redistribute the instructional time, destined to theo- retical or practical work, to make the sessions more valuable, full of case – studies. The conclusion of the article is the statement that foresight is very helpful for the student auditory in a different ways – as a raised problem, as a special task, as a form of a lesson, as a method of the research. The main foresight advantage is its ability to activate creative potential of the students. The students begin to study more diligent, they try to find new and original solutions of their professional tasks. They demand innovative thinking because it increases above exist- ing algorithms, samples and models. It comes to the new progressive results. Innovative thinking development is following by the innovative behavior development and growth of the commercialization and promotion skills. The creativity of future experts is the quality, which provides their life achievements.

Theory of Planned Behavior Predicts Graduation Intentions of Canadian and Israeli Postsecondary Students with and without Learning Disabilities/Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

We tested the ability of Ajzen’s Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) model to predict intention to graduate among Canadian and Israeli students with and without a learning disability / attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (LD/ADHD). Results based on 1486 postsecondary students show that the model’s predictors (i.e., attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control related to graduation) predicted between 32% and 59% of the variability in intention to graduate. Gender made a minor contribution to the prediction equation and age was unrelated. This suggests that our TPB measure, included in Table 1, is valid for diverse samples and countries. It can be used as a quick, inexpensive way to predict intention to graduate and, as shown by previous investigations, actual graduation rates. Thus, strengthening the three predictors may result in higher graduation rates.