Graduate Policy Research Articles

Contextualizing the challenges of education graduate students in the Philippines: translating needs analysis into strategic solutions

The Philippine government has described the state of the education system, including graduate education, as both "miseducation" and a "failed system," resulting in poor quality. In response, the Philippine Commission on Higher Education has introduced a new policy implicitly called the "no publication, no graduation policy" and the implementation of transnational education law in the Philippines. This study explores the interest levels, research productivity, institutional support, and challenges faced by graduate students majoring in education, particularly in light of the recent implementation of the Commission on Higher Education Memo No. 15, Series of 2019. The study employed a descriptive quantitative online survey method with 198 education graduate students enrolled in the master's and doctoral degrees at Y University using Tinto's Theory of Student Departure. The findings showed that the majority of respondents show interest in research but lack confidence in their abilities, indicating a limited publication output. Regarding the top 12 challenges of graduate students at Y University were lack of time for research, lack of research capacity building, conflict of schedule between work and study, lack of mentoring support, extended cost for residency, heavy workload as a working student, lack of academic resources, financial problems, emotional concerns, unresponsive supervisor, lack of support from the library, and lack of motivation. Respondents predominantly prefer enhancing their research skills through structured training, seminars, and workshops. The study provides a range of recommendations to improve graduate education and the need for further research in this area.

INTERSECCIONALIDADE E ORGANIZAÇÕES: UMA ANÁLISE DAS PUBLICAÇÕES DOS ENCONTROS DA ASSOCIAÇÃO BRASILEIRA DE PÓS‐GRADUAÇÃO E PESQUISA EM ADMINISTRAÇÃO

AbstractThe aim of this research is to understand whether gender issues and their intersections have been incorporated into the production of knowledge coming from the meetings of the National Association of Graduate Studies and Research in Administration in Brazil (ANPAD) over the years. A literature review of papers published in the proceedings of ANPAD Meetings (EnANPAD) between 1997 and 2021 was conducted to identify the presence of the thematic axes: gender, sexuality, class, and race. Titles and abstracts of 21,057 papers were analyzed. Were classified 682 papers, in at least one of the axes. The analysis presents quantitative data that shows the volume of scientific work per thematic axis. In addition, the qualitative analysis of the texts identified as intersectional was carried out. The results showed that intersectionality is still not very present in the research presented at EnANPAD, evidencing a weak connection with the social and economic structural context of the country. However, a growing movement, albeit slow, was noted from 2005. The theoretical contribution of this study consists in highlighting an overview of intersectionality in the field of studies in Administration in Brazil. This study can guide future research agendas and Graduation Policies.

Doctors Who Attend Policy School: Who Are They and Where Do They Work?

Many physicians are pursuing additional advanced degrees, though no study has evaluated the characteristics and career choices of physicians who have pursued graduate policy degrees. We therefore searched employment and alumni data from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government in addition to publicly available information to identify physicians who graduated with a policy degree from 1964 to 2002. We identified 258 physicians with policy degrees and found that they are increasing in number, though females are underrepresented when compared to the female physician workforce; likely to pursue clinical training in specialties highly proximate to public policy challenges, with most physicians remaining medically licensed after residency; and more likely to hold nonclinical roles in academia, clinical leadership, and the private sector than in nonprofits and government. We conclude that the importance of integrating physicians with policy training throughout various organizations warrants further research into the growth, characteristics, and career choices of these physicians.

Propuesta de modelo de gestión para el absentismo universitario

This research accepts the definition of university absenteeism as the conscious andpremeditated action of being absent from the physical environment of the universityclass”(Rojo Gallego-Burin, 2016, p. 87). From the figures of the IntersemesterAbsence Rate (TAI) we can affirm that the phenomenon of absenteeism is currentlyof great importance due to the fact that it has been increasing annually, becomingone of the university problems that affects professional, personal and academiclife. student’s academic performance that can lead to a serious consequence suchas dropping out. A measurement model for this phenomenon is proposed usingthe European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) Model. For the NationalAccreditation Council (CNA), through Agreement 02 of 2020, permanenceand graduation stand out as a fundamental part, having institutional and nationalpolicies as a reference, providing accompaniment on a semi-annual basis. Wherea characterization of the students is carried out at the time of admission in orderto monitor their training process. The MEN, based on Resolution 021795 of2020, proposes the description of the pedagogical models that lead to learningresults, giving added value to its fundamental part, students and teachers withcomprehensive leadership, executing through strategic alliances the strengtheningof permanence and graduation. Based on the proposed measurement model, it contributesto achieving one of the objectives of Agreement 014 of 2021 of the UPTCpermanence and graduation policy, establishing the foundations to generate anUpetecist permanence and graduation management model that responds to themulticausal nature and dynamics of desertion, thus achieving the strengthening ofacademic, personal and human aspects of students.

Getting ready forreduced donor dependency: the co-financing offamily planning commodities.

Family planning (FP) programmes in low and lower-middle income countries are confronting the dual impact of reduced external donor commitments and stagnant or reduced domestic financing, worsened by economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. Co-financing-a donor-government agreement to jointly fund aspects of a programme, with transition towards the government assuming increasing responsibility for total cost-can be a powerful tool to help build national ownership, fiscal sustainability and programme visibility. Using Gavi's successful co-financing model as reference, the current paper draws out a set of key considerations for developing policies on co-financing of FP commodities in resource-poor settings. Macroeconomic and contextual sensitivities must be incorporated while classifying countries and determining co-financing obligations-using the actual GNI per capita on a scale or sovereign credit ratings, in conjunction with programmatic indicators, may be preferred. It is also important for policies to allow sufficiently long time for countries to transition-dependent on the country context, may be up to 10 years as allowed under the US Agency for International Development FP graduation policy and flexibility to revisit the terms following externalities that can influence the fiscal space for health. Incentivizing new domestic financing to pay for co-financing dues is critical, so as not to displace government funding from related health or social sector programs. Pragmatic ways to ensure country compliance can include engaging both the ministries of health and finance as co-signatories to identify and address known administrative and fiscal challenges; establishing dedicated co-financing account with the finance ministry; and instituting a mutual monitoring mechanism. Lastly, the overall process of policymaking can benefit from an alignment of goals and interests of the key development partners.

Comparison of C4.5 and Naive Bayes Algorithm Methods in Prediction of Student Graduation on Time (Case Study: Information Systems Study Program)

In tertiary institutions, students become one of the important parameters in the evaluation of study program organizers. Prediction of student graduation is a special concern to know, early identification for students is needed as an important action. Information processing to predict student graduation is by implementing data mining. The implementation of data mining can be applied if a university, especially a study program, does not yet have an early classification in achieving student graduation on time. The ITTP Information System study program is one of the study programs that does not have an early identification of student graduation on time. Determination of graduation for SI ITTP Study Program students includes GPA, TOEFL scores, and total credits. The purpose of this research is to find out which attributes have the most influence in predicting graduation of ITTP IS Study Program students. The method used in this prediction is by using the classification of the C4.5 Algorithm and Naïve Bayes. The classification is used to determine which attributes have an effect on predicting student graduation on time and to compare the two classification methods. The results obtained are the training set size 70% which has the best accuracy when compared to other training set sizes. Comparing the accuracy between the two methods, it is known that the C4.5 algorithm has good accuracy when training set size is 70% and Naïve Bayes has higher accuracy when training set size is 75%. Decision tree C4.5 interprets that the most influential attribute is the GPA as the root of the decision tree to predict student graduation on time. The research is expected to be used as a reference for the ITTP IS Study Program in formulating student graduation policies on time and as a reference for further researchers in predicting in the same field.

The Effect of Business Incubator Graduation Policy towards the Performance of Entrepreneurs in the Early Start-Up Companies in Malaysia with the Moderating Effect of Risk-taking Propensity

The objective of this study is to investigate the impact of business incubator graduation policy on the performance of entrepreneurs in the early start-up companies in Malaysia with the moderating role of risk-taking propensity. The target respondents were entrepreneurs who graduated from business incubator in Sabah, Sarawak, Johor, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Penang. A total of 121 valid questionnaires were used for analysis in this paper. The data were analysed using Partial Least Squares (PLS) within the Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) technique. The results show that graduation policy has a significant positive effect on the performance of entrepreneurs in the early start-up companies. However, risk-taking propensity has no moderating role between graduation policy and the performance of entrepreneurs in the early start-up companies in Malaysia. The findings of the study's outputs may serve as guidelines for the Malaysian policy makers and government agencies as well as business incubators to have a better picture of entrepreneurs in business incubators in Malaysia. The results obtained can also be used by other researchers as guidelines for their future research in the same field of study. Discussion and limitation of the study is elaborated further.

Business Incubation Initiatives' Impacts on Entrepreneurs and SMEs

Business incubation (BI) is a strategic tool that helps a country to grow its entrepreneurial base and reduce the high mortality rate of SMEs. Kingdom of Eswatini adopted the business incubation initiatives to promote entrepreneurship and SME development. To date, no data exist on the impact made by business incubation initiatives. Adopting methodological triangulation of both quantitative and qualitative data collected through questionnaires and interviews where the participants consisted of SME owners, BI managers, and BI trainers, this exploratory study aims to investigate business incubation initiatives' impact on entrepreneurs and SMEs. Findings reflect that BIs measure their impact by seeing an increase in revenue, increase in the number of people employed, and SME survival post the incubation period. Though SMEs agreed that the BI effects positively, the study also revealed that some SMEs remained in the incubation for more than 10 years. Policy implications emerging are the need to introduce graduation policy and proper determination of requirements for incubation.

An Analysis of Chronological Changes Based on Feature Words Using the Cross-Tabulation Search Engine

In Japan, university evaluation is compulsory, and many universities issue self-assessment reports yearly, often with the same table of contents. With this in mind, feature words from each chapter can extract for documents with nearly identical hierarchical structures. For example, by setting “table of contents” on the vertical axis and “fiscal year” on the horizontal axis and visualizing the feature words in a cross table, it is possible to find chronological changes in the feature words at a glance. This makes it possible to quickly grasp what has changed or not in each chapter. The present study looked at the chronological changes in Yamaguchi University's self-assessment documents from 2012 to 2016. With the developed system, we discovered a significant chronological change in Yamaguchi University’s Diploma Policy, which is one of three policies. Yamaguchi University had already formulated and operated a similar policy called the Graduation Policy before the Diploma Policy became mandatory. The system showed that Yamaguchi University changed the “Graduation Policy” to “Diploma Policy” in line with the mandatory Diploma Policy. By using this system, even those who are not affiliated with Yamaguchi University have been able to grasp the significant changes in the past at the University. The reasons for any change in university policy should be explained to its stakeholders. The system can be an effective means for examining the decision-making process.

Uma análise exploratória sobre seleção e inclusão no Ensino Superior brasileiro: do mérito herdado ao mérito relacional

Abstract This article aims to conduct an exploratory analysis of the meanings of merit in inclusion policies in Brazilian higher education. Higher education admission processes are a fertile field for thinking about the issue of merit in our society due to the decisive role education plays in organizing social inequality. The analysis focuses on the National College Entry Exam (ENEM), the most comprehensive selection process in the country, the Unified Selection System (SISU), a mechanism used by most public institutions, the 2012 Quota Law and the Program for Inclusion based on Merit in Public Higher Education in São Paulo (PIMESP) of the São Paulo State Universities. Assuming merit as a value, the text begins by discussing this concept based on classical and contemporary work. It then addresses the process of educational expansion seen in the 20th century and how this movement led to changes in the organizing principles of admission policies and access to education, shifting from universal merit to relative merit. The third part of the text considers the work of Brazilian authors in discussing several institutional actions that combined ENEM, the Quotas Law of 2012, and SISU as examples of interconnection between universal and relative merit in higher education admissions, despite the problems identified concerning retention policies. By abolishing criteria connected to relational merit, PIMESP became the target of criticism. Considering the positive effects generated from the combination of the quota law, ENEM and SISU, the article stresses the need for revising the Law, slated for 2022, to preserve this critical inclusion mechanism. In conclusion, we suggest that expanding enrollment in higher education also implies challenges regarding retention and graduation policies. Therefore, such policies should consider the relative dimension of merit.

“I won’t try my best”: a narrative inquiry of a student’s graduation policy appropriation

“I won’t try my best”: a narrative inquiry of a student’s graduation policy appropriation

Don't Shoot the Messenger: Surgical Programs Can Do More to Keep Applicants Informed

The interview process for applying to general surgery residency is burdened by a high volume of applicants, resulting in unprofessional behavior by both applicants and programs. Sharing more information regarding interview scheduling with applicants may limit fourth year medical student educational disruptions, minimized late cancellations to interview, and improve overall satisfaction with the process. Thus, we set out to determine what information is currently available to applicants. We used publicly accessible sources to determine what information was shared by US general surgery residency programs with applicants. Specifically, we looked at the deadline for applications, United States Medical Licensing Examination Step 1 and 2 score cutoffs, number of interview dates available, specific interview dates, a stated policy to not offering more interviews than slots, dates when applicants can expect to be notified of interview offers, notification of decision to decline, and International Medical Graduate and visa policies. This study took place at Maine Medical Center in Portland, Maine, an academic medical center with a general surgery residency program. Not applicable. Three hundred seventeen programs were examined.Seventy-six percent of programs specified an application deadline, 65% of programs specified a Step 1 cut-off score, 50% of programs specified a Step 2 cut-off score, 61% of programs stated a visa policy, and 50% of programs stated an International Medical Graduate policy. Twenty-five percent of programs disclosed the number of interview dates, 23% disclosed what those interview dates were. About 3.4% of programs gave interview release dates, 2.8% of programs notify applicants of decline to interview, and 0.63% of programs explicitly describe a policy of offering only as many interviews as slots available. Thirty-two percent of programs provided conflicting information. The information available to applicants from public access sources regarding interview scheduling is minimal, unstandardized, and unreliable. Notably lacking were policies that only offer as many interviews as slots available, dates when applicants can expect to be notified of interview offers, and notification of declines. Providing such information to applicants in a standardized way may improve satisfaction with the interview scheduling process.

Unmasking Power in the Discourse of Four-Year Graduation Initiatives

Aim/Purpose: The following questions guided this study: 1) What are the major types of four-year graduation policies and plans being implemented by public four-year colleges and universities? 2) What explicit and implicit messages do leaders convey in constructing four-year graduation policies and plans? 3) What messages might four-year graduation policies and plans send to minoritized student populations? Background: Four-year graduation is a common goal across public institutions; to this end, university leaders often construct a four-year graduation policy or pledge. Scholars have not systematically examined the discourse within these policies to uncover the underlying structural barriers that may hinder minoritized students from achieving this goal. A one-size-fits all approach in policy can inadvertently promote a discourse of individual success or failure. Methodology: In order to view policy as discourse and explore the tensions within the narrative of timely graduation, the authors utilized critical discourse analysis to explore the discourse within four-year graduation plans across 19 public, four-year universities. Contribution: Institutional leaders often attempted to create mutually responsible commitments with students, but our reading of four-year graduation plans suggests that the majority of leaders created a uniform narrative, failing to acknowledge and make provisions for disproportionate impacts on minoritized populations. Findings: Utilizing seven building tasks, we provided descriptive categories of four-year graduation initiatives, followed by interpretation and evaluation of the messaging conveyed by institutional leaders in constructing policies. Findings revealed that many universities often place expectations on students with varying levels of corresponding resources or without the needs of minoritized student populations in mind. Recommendations for Practitioners: The authors offer recommendations about ways that university leaders through policy creation can acknowledge the structural barriers that affect students’ pathways to completion. Recommendation for Researchers: Because of the underlying acceptance behind the problem that drives graduation policy (i.e., students should graduate in four years), a critical approach allows scholars to examine the text of policies in ways that might illuminate the viewpoints that leaders fail to consider. Impact on Society: Four-year graduation initiatives should move beyond inspiring rhetoric to tackle the true structural barriers (e.g. unavailable courses, weak advising, developmental courses as stumbling blocks) for which institutional leaders as the creators of policy should be held accountable. Future Research: Additional studies focusing on the rhetoric of student success initiatives can reveal language centered on dominant ways of knowing.

School Psychology Workforce Trends: Recommendations for Graduate Preparation and Policy

Recent concerns about the psychoeducational needs of children and adolescents have drawn increased attention to the importance of psychological services in public schools. In particular, media reports on issues related to school safety, special education supports, and appropriate service delivery for culturally and linguistically diverse students have underscored the demand for school psychologists. The need for school psychologists to address these critical concerns is compounded by the fact that, for many years, there have been documented shortages of school psychologists. For the most part, reporting on shortages has been either anecdotal or based on surveys. In this article, we identify trends in graduate preparation and workforce data to better understand current and future needs by analyzing public data on graduate students, public-school employees, and workforce records from Texas. Following this analysis, we provide recommendations for policy and practice.

The relationships between test performance and students\u2019 perceptions of learning motivation, test value, and test anxiety in the context of the English benchmark requirement for graduation in Taiwan\u2019s universities

BackgoundHaving been influenced by the trend of internationalization of higher education, most universities in Taiwan have implemented an English benchmark requirement for graduation, which requires students to demonstrate their English ability at a specified Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) level through taking a standardized English language test (e.g., GEPT, IELTS, TOEFL iBT). This practice has been increasingly criticized for failing to achieve its intended goals of enhancing students’ English language proficiency and increasing students’ career mobility. Therefore, there is an urgent need to explore the consequences of using standardized tests in support of the policy.MethodsTo this end, this study investigated students’ views of the graduation policy in three universities where students are required to take the General English Proficiency Test (GEPT) prior to graduation. Structural equation modeling was employed to find the best fitting model that illustrates the complex interrelationships among test performance, students’ perceptions of the requirement, test value, test anxiety, and learning motivation.ResultsThe findings show that university students, regardless of English proficiency, generally hold a positive attitude towards the English graduation benchmark policy. Results further reveal that the Intermediate group shows more positive attitudes towards the graduation requirement than the High-Intermediate group. SEM results show that the attitudes of university students towards the English graduation requirement positively impact their perceived test value and their learning motivation. However, there is no significant relationship between the attitudes towards the policy and test performance.ConclusionsThe findings contribute to our understanding of university students as the major stakeholders who defined the context of test use.

Impeded Attainment? The Role of State Exit Examination-Alternative Route Policy Combinations

Background To allay public concerns that state graduation examination mandates might unfairly hinder some students’ educational attainment prospects, most states with exit exam requirements offer alternative routes to earning a regular high school diploma. In spite of poor public documentation of alternative route usage rates, some exit exam states’ alternative credentialing policies have been linked to their relatively high reported graduation rates. However, there is little empirical evidence that these alternative route policies blunt the reported negative effects of exit exam requirements on diploma attainment in the general student population. Purpose We investigate the consequences of several distinct state exit exam-alternative route graduation policy combinations on the subsequent educational attainment of tenth graders in the graduating class of 2004. Research Design Data for our study are drawn from the cohort of U.S. tenth graders (N = 13,636) sampled by the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002–2006. We use logistic regression models to estimate the relationships between state exam difficulty-alternative route policy combinations and two educational attainment outcomes: high school diploma acquisition and postsecondary school enrollment. Conclusions While we find no relationship between exit exam policies and students’ subsequent postsecondary school enrollment, we conclude that students subject to relatively difficult state exit exams are less likely to earn a regular high school diploma than those not subject to an exam requirement. Estimating our models in the subsample of English language learner students as a model plausibility check, we observe marginally significant, but sizable, negative effects of both minimum-competency and more-difficult exit exams on diploma attainment. Our results suggest that alternative route options neither eliminate, nor appreciably attenuate, more-difficult exit exams’ negative impact on diploma attainment in the general student population or among English language learners.

Eligibility to Use the Fund's Facilities for Concessional Financing, 2015

The review of PRGT eligibility continues to be guided by the principles of maintaining a transparent, rules-based, and parsimonious framework—ensuring uniformity of treatment across members in similar situations while taking appropriate account of country-specific circumstances. The graduation policy seeks to maintain broad alignment with the World Bank’s IDA graduation practices, while also remaining consistent with the principle of ensuring the self-sustainability of the PRGT’s lending capacity over time. The paper concludes that the existing framework remains broadly appropriate, but could be enhanced in a few areas, including: Making use of additional data sources, namely the IMF BEL database, in assessing that a country has durable and substantial market access, supplementing the current reliance on the World Bank’s IDS database that is produced with a significant lag; Sharpening the specification of circumstances under which the presence of serious short-term vulnerabilities would justify non-graduation of a country that meets the income graduation criterion. This would entail limiting the application of the serious short-term vulnerabilities criterion for countries that exceed the applicable income graduation threshold by 50 percent or more.

Applying lessons learned from the USAID family planning graduation experience to the GAVI graduation process

As low income countries experience economic transition, characterized by rapid economic growth and increased government spending potential in health, they have increased fiscal space to support and sustain more of their own health programmes, decreasing need for donor development assistance. Phase out of external funds should be systematic and efforts towards this end should concentrate on government commitments towards country ownership and self-sustainability. The 2006 US Agency for International Development (USAID) family planning (FP) graduation strategy is one such example of a systematic phase-out approach. Triggers for graduation were based on pre-determined criteria and programme indicators. In 2011 the GAVI Alliance (formerly the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations) which primarily supports financing of new vaccines, established a graduation policy process. Countries whose gross national income per capita exceeds $1570 incrementally increase their co-financing of new vaccines over a 5-year period until they are no longer eligible to apply for new GAVI funding, although previously awarded support will continue. This article compares and contrasts the USAID and GAVI processes to apply lessons learned from the USAID FP graduation experience to the GAVI process. The findings of the review are 3-fold: (1) FP graduation plans served an important purpose by focusing on strategic needs across six graduation plan foci, facilitating graduation with pre-determined financial and technical benchmarks, (2) USAID sought to assure contraceptive security prior to graduation, phasing out of contraceptive donations first before phasing out from technical assistance in other programme areas and (3) USAID sought to sustain political support to assure financing of products and programmes continue after graduation. Improving sustainability more broadly beyond vaccine financing provides a more comprehensive approach to graduation. The USAID FP experience provides a window into understanding one approach to graduation from donor assistance. The process itself-involving transparent country-level partners well in advance of graduation-appears a valuable lesson towards success.

Policy innovation and tertiary education graduation rates: a cross-country analysis

This study extends Trow’s theory of higher education development to examine changes in national-level tertiary education graduation rates. Applying Trow’s framework we arrive at three stages: (1) elite systems with gross tertiary graduation rates less than 15%, (2) massified systems with gross tertiary graduation rates between 15% and 50%, and (3) universal systems with gross tertiary graduation rates above 50%. This study conducts event history analyses using a unique cross-national panel dataset, which spans the time period from 1999–2005. Following the work of Berry and Berry, our event history analyses model both the internal features of each country and the influence that nation-states have on each other with regard to setting tertiary education graduation policy. We find significant influences of both internal determinants and diffusion factors. We find a positive, significant effect of membership in the OECD consistent across both the massified and universal thresholds. We also find a positive, significant effect of having a more stable political system for crossing the 15% threshold. In addition, being located near a pioneering nation, the UK, has a positive, significant effect of crossing the 50% threshold.

Crossing the threshold: A positive analysis of IBRD graduation policy

According to World Bank policy, countries remain eligible to borrow from the IBRD until they are able to sustain long-term development without further recourse to Bank financing. Graduation from IBRD is not an automatic consequence of reaching a particular income level, but rather is supposed to be based on a determination of whether the country has reached a level of institutional development and capital-market access that enables it to sustain its own development process without recourse to Bank funding. This paper takes a positive approach to IBRD graduation policy, investigating what income and non-income factors appear to have influenced graduation status in recent decades, based on panel data for 1982 through 2009. Explanatory variables include the per-capita income of the country, as well as measures of institutional development and market access that are cited as criteria by the graduation policy, and other plausible explanatory variables that capture the levels of economic development and vulnerability of the country. We find that the observed correlates of Bank graduation status are generally consistent with the stated policy. Countries that are wealthier, more creditworthy, more institutionally developed, and are less vulnerable to trade, financial, and other shocks are more likely to be graduates. Predicted probabilities generated by the model conform closely to the actual graduation and de-graduation experiences of Trinidad and Tobago and Korea, among other countries, and suggest that Hungary and Latvia may have graduated prematurely—a prediction subsequently borne out by the large loans that they later received from the IBRD in the wake of the global financial crisis.