Master's Graduates Research Articles

Professionalism in nursing master's graduates

The past 10 years have seen a shift in the master's level preparation of nurses. The majority of nurses currently seeking advanced preparation choose clinical specialization as the functional area rather than teaching. Such a shift in focus reflects the ever increasing specialization of services associated with an ever-growing complex society. Although the shift in focus of preparation and the concomitant change in curriculum design have been documented, few scientific investigations have been conducted on the graduates from master's programmes. Of those studies that have been conducted, the majority have focused on the differential personal characteristics of graduate nursing students in different types of programmes. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationship between a nurse's area of functional preparation in a master's degree programme and the individual's level of professionalism. The independent variable of the study was functional area of preparation in a master's programme. The dependent variables became enrolment in a formal programme of study, subscription to professional journals, attendance at non-formal educational programmes, number of authored publications, membership in professional organizations and employment in prepared area, as these seemed to reflect the criteria of professionalism explicated by Flexner (1915). The data for the study were gleaned from questionnaires sent to the 637 individuals who had graduated from the programme. Of the 395 questionnaires that were returned, only 272 were usable. This number represented 43% of the graduate population. The chi-square test was used to analyse the data. Each of the chi-square values for association between professionalism and graduate specialty was found to be significant. Postgraduates prepared as teachers met Flexner's criteria more often than did postgraduates prepared as clinical specialists.

A 15-yr follow-up study of graduates of a master's degree program in school psychology.

A 15-yr follow-up study of graduates of a master's degree program in school psychology.

Returns to a specific graduate education

The research on returns (or gains) to graduate-level education is mixed. Some graduate degrees “pay off” in increased earnings while some graduate degree holders actually receive less salary than their BS/BA counterparts. This study showed that a nontraditional, off-campus, master's degree from the University of Utah did pay off for its graduates. A research project matching master's graduates with nonattendees indicated significant gains for the graduates with respect to salary, promotability, and perceptions of self and job. The study will be used as a pilot for a nationwide research project surveying and interviewing some 400 graduates from Utah's program.

Evaluation of a Master's Program in Technical Communication—Results of a Questionnaire

This is an expanded version of an evaluation originally given at the International Technical Communication Conference, Washington, D.C., 1976. The questionnaire was an attempt to get in touch with as many graduates of Rensselaer's Master's Program in Technical Communication as possible and to find out their reactions to the curriculum. The questions covered such topics as present and past occupations, usefulness of the Rensselaer curriculum, recommended curriculum changes, making use of invited speakers, degree of emphasis on style and format, supplementary courses, contact with professional writers, and adoption of new techniques.

Cooperation between Industry and Education: An Opportunity

This subject has always been of interest to me for several reasons. One reason is that The Boeing Company hires about three percent of all the engineers who graduate each year in the United States. Therefore, we have a direct interest in the products of our educational system, and we feel that there is a reason for studying means of improving the cooperation between industry and education. There are other reasons which I will develop as I go along. I would like to start out by describing some of the things that we are doing, limiting myself principally to the state of Kansas. Then I would like to describe some problem areas, the sources of these problem areas, and potential solutions to some of the problems. Finally, I would like to summarize and describe the potential opportunity for cooperation between industry and education. Several significant efforts which are going on in Kansas today. One of the most significant is the graduate night program at Wichita State University. This program was started in 1957 at the request of Boeing, Beech, and Cessna. We talked to the University about our desire to give our engineers graduate education without having a lot of scheduling problems during working hours. Wichita University agreed that if we would help them financially to get such a program started, they would provide a significant amount of instruction at night. This they did, and we provided financial aid from 1957 until 1964, at which time the University became a state institution. We have had a total of 155 master's graduates in the field of aeronautical, mechanical, and electrical engineering as a result of this program. At Boeing we pay our engineers' tuition and reimburse them $15.00 a semester hour for each class hour they successfully complete. We have about 90 engineers at Boeing currently taking part in this program. Not so familiar is the WSU/Boeing training program for non-engineering graduates, which has been conducted twice in recent months. We have a distinct shortage of designers and engineers to do design work. The idea came to mind that it might be possible to take mathematics and