Why do some master's level students feel confident in completing their programs and some do not? Why do some feel connected to their department and some do not? Why do some feel legitimate as graduate students and some do not? This research proposes that there may be differences in how master's students understand the graduate student role based on whether they went directly from high-school through their bachelor's to their master's, or if they took time off between their bachelor's and master's program. This thesis used in-depth interviews with twelve second-year master's students at Portland State University to explore these questions: six with students who had a linear trajectory through higher education and six with students who had a break after completing their bachelor's and before returning for their master's (broken trajectory students). Students from both groups began their programs with questions about their ability to perform at a master's level. Broken trajectory students were more likely to have thought through their chances of success and entered their programs 'knowing' that they would successfully co~plete the programs even when they questioned their academic abilities. Students from both groups overall felt a progressive increase in feelings of connection to their departments. The linear trajectory students entered their programs with some established feelings of connection with other graduate students. The broken trajectory students did not have these established connections, but desired connection with other serious students. Overall, students from both groups experienced increased feelings of legitimacy as graduate students, but the criteria by which they judged their legitimacy differed between groups. Linear trajectory students used academic ability as a primary measure of legitimacy, where broken trajectory students used having a clear understanding of why they were in graduate school as the standard to determine whether they "belonged in college." The two groups also differed in the source of their student role standard: broken trajectory students used professors as their role reference group, whereas the linear trajectory students used peers and undergraduate students. This thesis closes with a discussion of the implications of this research for theory, programs, and current models of persistence.

Conducting research responsibly is an essential part of ethical research (Steneck & Bulger, 2007). When research is not conducted responsibly, the result is often research misconduct, which may cause harm to research participants (Aita & Richer, 2005). Although numerous methods and policies have been developed, both to prevent and to deal with research misconduct, such effects are ongoing (Howard Stone, 2001). A study conducted in the United States of America (USA) by Heitman, Olsen and Anestidou (2007) suggested that postgraduate biomedical students did not have sufficient knowledge of conducting research responsibly. This study aimed to adapt Heitman et al.’s (2007) study to social science postgraduate students at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. Although findings indicated that the participants had adequate knowledge of conducting research responsibly, the variables hypothesised to have an impact on the results – such as age, research experience, and research training – did not produce any significant findings. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2010.

<p>In South Africa, there has been recognition of the need for increasing research capacity at South African universities and within the national science system. Furthermore there has been a need to address imbalances in the racial and gender profile of researchers. There has been a growth of application-oriented, multidisciplinary research centres at South African universities in response to changing national and international knowledge contexts. Many research centres have a research capacity development component and run postgraduate programmes in collaboration with academic departments. This it was relevant to investigate what types of contexts these centres provide for research capacity development and postgraduate education. In this study, individual research capacity development was examined as a process of identity formation and socialisation through social, organisational and epistemological lenses.</p>

Higher education as a field of study has an extensive history in the United States of America. However, regrettably, this history has segments working in obscurity. One such segment was the work of graduate programs in the field of higher education at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The purpose of this study was to trace the program development of graduate certificate, concentration, and degree programs in the field of higher education at HBCUs. This study was driven by one research question. What is the history of higher education as a field of study at Historically Black Colleges and Universities?This investigation unearthed eight universities confirmed to have held, or currently hold, the nine graduate programs in the field of higher education at HBCUs. The eight universities listed chronologically by inception of their graduate programs in the field of higher education were Tuskegee University (1965), Texas Southern University (1974), Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University (1980), Hampton University (1980s), Grambling State University (1986), Tennessee State University (1998), Morgan State University (1998/1999 & 2001), and Jackson State University (2004).This study used a blended research design. A historical organizational case study (Bogdan & Biklen, 2003) and a multi-case study (Bogdan & Biklen, 2003) were blended into what proceeded as a historical organizational multi-case study. Additionally, grounded theory methodology was used to detail what drove the development of those graduate programs in the field of higher education at HBCUs.Findings of the study revealed that graduate program development in the field of higher education at HBCUs generally began with internal and/or external overtures with the purpose of developing a current body of practitioners with specialized knowledge in the areas of student personnel, as managers and higher education leaders. Key individuals were typically recruited to write or initiate the programs with the major market being the immediate geographic area; but as programs developed, their markets expanded. Some of the consequences of delivering these established programs were being both visible and vulnerable, although the programs had an opportunity to serve as resources to their institutions and other communities. / Department of Educational Studies

The current data (Otuya, 1994) show that African-Americans represent less than two percent of the male full professors and less than seven percent of the female full professors. "Demographicchanges provide compelling reasons for increasing concern about the continuing under-representation of ethnic and racial minorities in adult and continuing education programs"(Ross-Gordon, 1990; p. 13).The purpose of my research was to investigate the frustrations and rewards of African-American faculty (AAF) in Adult Education programs of graduate study. Adult educators were defined as fulltime graduate faculty teaching in adult education programs. Individual semi-structured telephone interviews were used to gather the evidence from the total population of eight individuals. Resumes served as further sources of evidence. Domain analysis was used to organize the evidence. The information serves to aid in the retention and tenuring of more African-Americans and informing non-African-American faculty. The evidence collected showed the experience of AAF to have important themes on frustrations and rewards:1.Lack of senior faculty who share their research interests or as specific role models within the field and institution,2.Committee and student involvement expectations that were perceived as different for AAF then their White peers3.Daily challenges to their knowledge by students and peers were presented in the conversation as events during which "people tried to dismiss or diminish them." Success in meeting these challenges was often a validating experience for AAF4. The positive feelings of seeing their students succeed5. Being true to the African-American community, their family, their personal values and God was important to AAF.The research indicated that African-Americans as faculty experienced a wide range of frustrations and rewards. For these AAF the frustrations and rewards did not cause them to leave the profession. Many of the frustrations presented were items that could be address by the employing universities. Many of the rewards were perceived as not receiving sufficient recognition in the tenure or professional development processes and both internal and external frustrations and rewards were important to these AAF. / Department of Educational Leadership

The purpose of this study was to appraise the quality and effectiveness of the master's degree program at Saint Francis College, Fort Wayne, Indiana.Data were obtained through the technique of survey research, employing a combination of the open form - closed form type of questionnaire which was devised by the investigator. Data were obtained from three separate population groups. Group A was comprised of those persons who earned the Master's Degree in Education from 1962 through 1972. Group B consisted of those persons enrolled in the program at the time this study was conducted. Samples were selected at random from Groups A and B. The entire population of the graduate faculty was utilized for purposes of this study.A pre-evaluation study was conducted to generate the contents of the questionnaire. Initially, broad questions designed to approach the evaluation from the viewpoint of present students, past students, as well as faculty members teaching at the graduate level were prepared for the prestudy. These questions were submitted to sample groups from each of the population groups. Persons participating in the pre-study were not utilized in the final study.Responses to the questions used in the pre-study helped to determine items used in the final form of the questionnaire. The questionnaire was field tested in order to eliminate any remaining ambiguities.The final form of the questionnaire was mailed with a cover letter of explanation to a random sample of 500 persons from Group A and 300 persons from Group B. All of the faculty population, a total of 45 persons received the questionnaire.Data received from the questionnaire were used to provide a detailed description of the respondents. Frequency tabulations and percentages were calculated for comparison purposes. A measure of central tendency, the mean, and the standard deviation were calculated for the responses. Rank orders were established for both the perceived importance of items and the perceived evaluation of the institution, Saint Francis College, used in the study. This allowed meaningful comparisons to be made.

<p>In South Africa, there has been recognition of the need for increasing research capacity at South African universities and within the national science system. Furthermore there has been a need to address imbalances in the racial and gender profile of researchers. There has been a growth of application-oriented, multidisciplinary research centres at South African universities in response to changing national and international knowledge contexts. Many research centres have a research capacity development component and run postgraduate programmes in collaboration with academic departments. This it was relevant to investigate what types of contexts these centres provide for research capacity development and postgraduate education. In this study, individual research capacity development was examined as a process of identity formation and socialisation through social, organisational and epistemological lenses.</p>

Errata pasted onto front fly leaf. / Bibliography: leaves 329-355. / xx, 361, [15] leaves ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Studies the expansion of postgraduate education in Australia, particularly the research degree. Analyses the credentialling role of the postgraduate degree and the influence of overseas models of postgraduate education. Argues that the changing relationship between the state, the universities and the research sector has had a strong impact on the postgraduate sector. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Education, 1998

Errata pasted onto front fly leaf. Bibliography: leaves 329-355. Studies the expansion of postgraduate education in Australia, particularly the research degree. Analyses the credentialling role of the postgraduate degree and the influence of overseas models of postgraduate education. Argues that the changing relationship between the state, the universities and the research sector has had a strong impact on the postgraduate sector.

There has been a significant increase in the numbers of students undertaking doctoral study over the last 20-30 years. This means that the PhD is no longer solely an elite degree designed to prepare graduates for an academic career. Instead, emphasis has increasingly been placed on the role of the PhD in producing 'advanced knowledge workers' who are expected to make a contribution to the production of knowledge in a knowledge-driven economy. This has led to an increased focus on the educational dimension of the PhD and the educational processes involved in developing students to become researchers in a range of contexts. However, the educational processes involved in the PhD are complex and differ across higher education systems, institutions and disciplines. They include formal and informal activities and involve a large number of actors with different expectations about the aims and outcomes. This study aims to gain an in-depth understanding of the educational processes of the PhD by exploring the complexity underlying these processes. The research was based on case studies in six departments. The case studies focused on the PhD processes of the six departments from three disciplines in four higher education institutions in England. Interviews with PhD Programme Directors, supervisors and students were complemented by analysis of institutional and departmental documents. The research was guided by a multi-level framework to examine the institutional, departmental, interpersonal and individual levels, and the inter-relatedness between levels. As such rich narratives provide insight into factors such as the PhD thesis and its influence on the supervisory relationship, formal initiatives such as assessment and coursework, and the Skills Training Programme and its underlying notion of employability. Three forms of complexity were identified. The first relates to the fact that the educational processes are individualistic in nature, and there is a need to understand the influences of the personal, social, educational and professional domains of the individual students and supervisors independently and collectively in shaping these complex processes. The second underlines the tensions and potential contradictions within and between actors as a result of the interpretation and implementation of these processes across the four levels. The third concerns a tension between the need for these processes to remain individualistic and the pressure for departments and institutions to provide standardised processes for all students. By identifying and gaining a greater understanding of these complexities, this research contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of the educational processes of the PhD based on grounded empirical evidence. This understanding is important in developments for enhancing the quality of PhD education, and in developing programmes which support students to become researchers in a range of different employment contexts.