Quarterdeck 3.3
Editorial
The Next Generation
Traditional graduate education in oceanography produces Ph.D.s prepared
for jobs in academic or research institutions supported by grants. The scientist-clone
model worked well when oceanography programs were rapidly expanding, but
in the present budgetary and political climate it is unlikely that the rate
of growth can be sustained through the 1990s into the next century. It is
appropriate to reexamine our objectives and strategies with the goal of
matching the skills of our future graduates to the needs of their employers.
Certainly the demographics of our field portend change. Compared to the
1992-93 academic year, new enrollment of graduate students is down an average
32% at twenty-four oceano-graphy or marine science institutions in the United
States. Among the ten JOI schools* graduate enrollment dropped 41% over
the same period, although applications decreased only 3%. The number of
graduate students "in the pipeline" is just beginning to reflect
the declining enrollment, but the production rate of Ph.D.s from the JOI
schools remains essentially unchanged at about 100 per year.
Our experience at Texas A&M is similar. Enrollment of new graduate students
this year was about half that in 1991-92, and our total enrollment has declined
about 10% from a recent maximum in 1993.
The enrollment downturn results in part from the increasing difficulty in
obtaining grant funding with support for new graduate students. The problems
are exacerbated by rising costs of tuition, fees, stipends, and insurance,
which can make research assistants nearly as expensive as technicians or
post-doctorals. At the other end of the pipeline, some Ph.D. graduates who
prepared for research-based academic careers have been unable to find acceptable
positions, which leads to dissatisfaction with the educational experience.
In this environment, faculty researchers are understandably cautious about
accepting new students.
It seems we have a growing mismatch between product and consumer. Sound
marketing practice indicates we should listen to our customers-students,
employers and taxpayers-to provide maximally useful educational oppor-tunities.
We must clearly explain to the public how our research relates to society's
needs. Those needs should be better defined to determine how well (or poorly)
we are preparing our students to meet them.
If you are a Texas A&M oceano-graphy graduate, please let us hear from
you. We want to know your current mail and email address, employment history,
what you found most (and least) useful in your graduate studies, and how
we can better serve our present and future students. Our goal is to provide
a more flexible graduate education, leading to a spectrum of career opportunities
broader than the traditional model can provide.
-David A. Brooks
Editor
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Oceanography, Texas A&M University
rshatto@ocean.tamu.edu
URL=http://oceanography.tamu.edu/Quarterdeck/QD3.3/editorial.html
Updated December 20, 1995