This groundbreaking book explores the current state of doctoral education in the United States and offers a plan for increasing the effectiveness of doctoral education. Programs must grapple with questions of purpose. The authors examine practices and elements of doctoral programs and show how they can be made more powerful by relying on principles of progressive development, integration, and collaboration. They challenge the traditional apprenticeship model and offer an alternative in which students learn while apprenticing
with several faculty members. The authors persuasively argue that creating intellectual community is essential for high-quality graduate education in every department. Knowledge-centered, multigenerational communities foster the development of new ideas and encourage intellectual risk taking.
Doctoral Education for Future Generations
"Improving doctoral education is the lynchpin for higher education reform, and in this spirit The Formation of Scholars was built from an unusual process in which faculty-student teams from corresponding departments in participating institutions were brought together to share experiences. The results provide new guidance toward creating teaching and research scholars who are also 'stewards of the discipline.' This book should be required reading for those who care about higher education."
DON KENNEDY, president emeritus, Stanford University and former editor-in-chief, Science
"The strength of doctoral education in the U.S. lies in its willingness to continually reinvent itself. That reinvention hinges crucially on performance of both the faculty delivering the program of study and graduate deans who structure the right incentives and generate the right resources to ensure the highest possible quality experience for students. The Formation of Scholars provides extraordinarily rich insights into the thinking of students and faculty across six fields as they reflect on program goals, program effectiveness, and the program's capacity to reinvent itself in positive and productive ways. The CID project has made a lasting contribution to the toolbox of graduate deans as they do their part to reinvent doctoral education to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century."
DEBRA W. STEWART, president, Council of Graduate Schools
"The ideas in The Formation of Scholars are great conversation starters with faculty and administrative colleagues involved in doctoral education. This terrific volume is delightfully written, informative, thoughtful, and thought-provoking. It will be a wonderful resource for effecting change in one of the most dynamic and important parts of the educational enterprisepreparation of the Ph.D."
SUZANNE ORTEGA, vice provost and graduate dean, University of Washington