Evaluation Study of a set of Chilean Doctoral Programs STUDENT RESULTS

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1 Evaluation Study of a set of Chilean Doctoral Programs STUDENT RESULTS The questionnaire for student contains 61 questions, distributed in the following sections: Identification; What activities are carried out within the framework of their studies?; How do students finance their doctoral program?; Where is student professional development headed?; What is students opinion of their doctorate programs?; and What resources do students have in their doctoral programs? 1. Who are the Doctoral Program Students? A total of 3,069 questionnaires were sent out, of which 2,198 students responded, representing 72% of students. In terms of gender distribution, 56% are men and 44% women (N=2,060). With regard to their marital status, almost half (48%) is married or maintains a marriage-type relationship. Figure No. XX: Student Marital Status N = % 28% Casado/a Mantiene una relación tipo matrimonio Viudo /a 41% Divorciado/a 20% Separado/a 0% 2% 2% Nunca ha estado casado/a Married Maintains a marriage-type relationship Widow Divorced Separated Has never married When analyzing this information by gender (N=2059), 29% of men and 27% of women are married, and 20% and 21% respectively maintain a marriage-type relationship. Another relevant group is 1

2 students who have never married, representing 42% of men and 40% of women. As can be appreciated, gender makes no difference in this respect. Of the 2,060 respondents, 783 are responsible for other persons, aside from a spouse. A 39% have dependents aged 0 to 5 years, a 32% aged 6 to 18 years, and lastly, 29% have dependents aged 19 or over. When enquiring about the schooling of students parents, it is found that for mothers as well as fathers, the greatest percentage is for full university training, representing 27% of mothers and 31% of fathers. The second group is for parents with complete secondary education, representing 24% of mothers and 19% of fathers. N = % 7% Figure No. XX: Schooling of the Mother 4% 14% 1% 0% 10% 3% 10% 24% Enseñanza básica completa o menos Enseñanza media incompleta Enseñanza media completa Formación técnica superior incompleta Formación técnica superior completa Formación universitaria incompleta Formación universitaria completa (Licenciado y/o título profesional) Magíster Doctorado Sin información Figure No. XX: Schooling of the Father N = % 2% 5% 9% 8% 31% 19% 8% 12% 3% Complete or less than complete primary education Incomplete secondary education Complete secondary education Incomplete technical higher education Complete technical higher education Incomplete university education Complete university education (professional degree) Masters Doctorate No information 2

3 As is to be expected, in general terms, mothers have less schooling than fathers. For example, 44% of mothers have a complete or incomplete school education, in comparison to 36% of fathers, who are instead more represented in post-secondary education. The small proportion of mothers and fathers with a master s degree is striking, representing 4% and 5% respectively, although the also small proportion of doctorates could be explained by the few opportunities that existed in the past for doing this sort of course, in Chile as well as abroad. As to the type of school where the respondents studied, the distribution is homogeneous: 34% (of N=2,060) studied at a municipal school, the same percentage studied at a chartered school, and 32% studied at a private school. With regard to the age of respondents, just under half (45%) are aged between 28 and 32 years, followed by 22% aged 23 to 27 years, and 17% aged between 33 to 37 years. In other words, the great majority of respondents (83%) are 23 to 37 years of age. Figure No. XX: Student year of birth 1% 2% 0% 4% 22% 9% Menor o igual a % N = % Mayor o igual a or before 1991 or later As to the nationality of respondents, 86% are Chilean, followed by 5% Colombians. As can be seen in the following Figure, other countries represent 1% or less. 3

4 Figure No. XX: Student country of origin Turquía Suecia Panamá Israel India Haití Egipto Checoslovaquia Salvador Paraguay Guatemala Bélgica Italia Uruguay Francia Venezuela España E.E.U.U. Costa Rica Cuba Brasil Argentina México Bolivia Perú Ecuador Colombia Chile Turkey Sweden Panama Israel India Haiti Egypt 4

5 Check Republic El Salvador Paraguay Guatemala Belgium Italy Uruguay France Venezuela Spain USA Costa Rica Cuba Brazil Argentina Mexico Bolivia Peru Ecuador Colombia Chile There is an interesting number of countries represented in addition to Chile, 27 in total. Of all respondents from another country, 54 gave the reason why they came to Chile, and of these 91% said this was to do their doctorate studies. Additionally, 99% of respondent students began studying after Figure No. XX: Year joined doctorate program N =

6 A 92% of respondents said their doctorate program requires a Qualifying Exam. A 62% of the 2,015 students that answered the question regarding whether they had taken the exam replied affirmatively, and of the 1,253 who answered the question about the outcome, 99% had passed. Of these, 1,221 gave the date of this exam pass, with 99% that passed between 2006 and 2014, the majority in 2011 and With regard to gender, bivariate analysis of these questions resulted in an N of 1,180 students that passed, of which 660 are men and 509 are women. In terms of broad fields, 32% is in Life Science, the largest field, followed by Physical Science (13%), and Humanities and Engineering (both with 12%). Remaining fields represent a smaller number at 10%, as can be seen in the following Table. Table No. XX: Broad fields according to OECD classification Broad Field Sub-totals Teacher Training and Education science 49 Arts 36 Humanities 266 Social and behavioral Sciences 114 Journalism and information 4 Business and administration 3 Law 19 Life science 688 Physical science 284 Mathematics and statistics 74 Computing 62 Engineering and engineering trades 257 Manufacturing and processing 20 Agriculture, forestry and fishery 116 Environmental protection 15 Architecture and building 22 Veterinary 28 Health 107 Personal services 1 Social services 4 Total 2169 Students were asked about the expected graduation year, and the majority expects to graduate in the following years, 2014 and 2015 (answers given in 2013). 6

7 Figure No. XX: Expected PhD graduation year 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% N = % 26% 20% 8% 10% 0% 0% A lower percentage expects to graduate this year; 60% answer they will graduate between 2014 and 2015, 20% in 2016, and 10% in Very few (value close to 0) say they will graduate between 2018 and 2019, which is striking but included in the analysis as this represents certain possibilities in the reality of national doctorates. With regard to prior training, 40% of respondents (2,160) said they had completed a Master s program before starting their Doctorate. Of this group (868), 72% did their Master s in their current broad field, and 94% did a Master s thesis. Figure No. XX: Degrees included in the Doctorate Program N = % 20% 1% Magister en el campo de su programa doctoral Magister en un campo diferente No recibiré magíster Master s in the field of their doctoral program Master s in a different field Will not receive a Master s 7

8 Nº de Estudiantes Nº de Estudiantes 2. What activities are carried out by the students within the framework of their studies? Students were asked about their participation in congresses where they could present their research. A 19% of respondents say they have not taken part in national congresses, 27% have participated in one congress, 21% in two, and 12% in three. Logically, as is to be expected, the Figure clearly shows the number of students that have participated in four or more national congresses is significantly less. 500 Figure No. XX: No. of students that have presented at national congresses Nº de Congresos No. of Students No. of Congresses In terms of participation at international congresses held in Chile, more than half of students (52%) have not participated at all, 31% have presented at one congress and 10% at two. Presentations at more than two congresses are less than 4%. When considering the total number of students that have presented at 1, 2, or 3 national congresses, 996 students (60%) have presented at 1 (27%), 2 (21%) o 3 (12%) national congresses, whereas 930 (56%) have done so at 1 (30%), 2 (19%) or 3 (7%) congresses. Figure No. XX: No. of students that have presented research at international congresses held in Chile N = Nº de Congresos 8

9 Nº de Estudiantes No. of Students No. of Congresses Figure No. XX: No. of students that have presented research at international N = 1660 congresses outside Chile Nº de Congresos No. of Students No. of Congresses Of students who attended congresses, 1,659 answered the question about their sources of funding for attending. Of these, 1,554 (94%) required various sources of funding, which is shown in the following Figure (it was possible to check more than one). Figure No. XX: Sources of funding to attend congresses N = 3221 Otro 1% Fondos propios 37% Empleador 3% Proyecto de investigación 34% Tutor 23% Organismo del sector público 2% Other Own funds Employer Public agency Private enterprise Foundation Empresa privada Fundación Otra universidad Universidad o programa en la que está realizando el doctorado Beca internacional Beca nacional 2% 3% 7% 12% Research project Mentor 44% sector 39% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 9

10 Other university University or program where doing doctorate International grant National grant 10

11 Porcentaje del Total de Fuentes de Financiamiento Universidad o programa en la que está realizando el Beca nacional Proyecto de investigación Universidad o programa en la que está realizando el Beca nacional Proyecto de investigación Fondos propios Universidad o programa en la que está realizando el Proyecto de investigación Universidad o programa en la que está realizando el Otra universidad Otros (*) Fondos propios Beca nacional Universidad o programa en la que está realizando el Universidad o programa en la que está realizando el Fondos propios Proyecto de investigación Fondos propios Proyecto de investigación Beca nacional It can be observed that there is an ample variety of funding sources: public, private, national, and international. 44% of respondents is financed by the same institution where they are doing their doctorate. Second, 39% receives a national scholarship. A 39% assists with own funds, and 34% is financed by a funding project. It seems of concern that only 1% of funding comes from private enterprise, which reflects the distance between academia and industry in this regard. Furthermore, a total of 40 respondents selected the Others option. Below is a summary of their answers: Chilean Scientific Societies (6); Grants from various institutions (4); Others (8). The following results are obtained by breaking down the sources of funding by broad field of study. Figure No. XX: Main sources of funding by broad field 50% 45% 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% 30% 17% 16% 21% 21% 18% 33% 26% 11% 37% 16% 32% 45% 17% 12% 26% 20% 17% 30% 20% 15% Agricultura y Veterinaria Ciencia, Matemática y Computación Ciencias Sociales, Negocios y Derecho Educación Humanidades y Arte Ingeniería, Industria Y Construcción Tres fuentes de financiamiento principales por Área de Estudio (*) El Otros de Educación incluye Beca Nacional, Proyecto de Investigación y Fondos Propios cada una con 2 personas Salud y Bienestar 11

12 Percentage of total sources of funding University or program where doing doctorate National grant Research project Agriculture and Veterinary Science, Mathematics, and Computing Social Science, Business, and Law Education Humanities and Art Engineering, Industry, and Building Health and Wellbeing Three main sources of funding by broad field (*) The Others in Education includes National Scholarship, Research Project, and Own Funds, each with 2 people 12

13 The three main sources of funding were selected for each broad field, since in all cases these add up to more than 60% of the sources of funding checked by the 1,554 respondents. It should be pointed out that funding provided by the university or program where they study is the most usual and is among the three most relevant in all fields of study except Health and Wellbeing. This field, together with Humanities, Social Science, Business and Law, and Engineering, Industry and Building are the fields where students use their own funds most intensively to finance their attendance to congresses. Lastly, it should be pointed out that funding through national scholarships and funds from research projects are the type of funding most repeated as one of the three main sources of funding in the various fields. In addition, by dividing the number of sources of funding checked by all students in their respective fields of study, this provides a lead as to who have greater chances of obtaining one or more sources of funding to attend congresses. Figure No. XX: Sources of funding / Students Salud y Bienestar Ingeniería, Industria Y Construcción Humanidades y Arte Educación Ciencias Sociales, Negocios y Derecho Ciencia, Matemática y Computación Agricultura y Veterinaria 1,5 1,5 1,6 1,9 2,0 2,0 2,3 0,0 0,5 1,0 1,5 2,0 2,5 Número de Fuentes de Financiamiento por cada Estudiante Health and Wellbeing Engineering, Industry, and Building Humanities and Art Education Social Science, Business, and Law Science, Mathematics, and Computing Agriculture and Veterinary Number of sources of funding for each student As can be appreciated, of the 3,221 sources of funding checked by the 1,554 respondents, students studying a doctoral program in the field of Science, Mathematics, and Computing have a greater chance of receiving a greater variety of sources of funding in comparison to students in the 13

14 Porcentaje de Estudiantes area of Education. When considering there are 909 respondents in the first group and 13 in the second, it is possible to appreciate the huge discrepancy among these different fields of knowledge and their ability to create advanced knowledge and innovation at national level. Only 6% of respondent students (2,140) have done an internship at other Chilean institutions during their doctorate studies. A 77% says their internship lasted 6 months or less. Evidently, this shows that options for doing internships are limited and durations are considerably short. As to international internships, the percentage is significantly greater, since 28% of the 2,138 respondents have done internships abroad, totaling 594 students. Therefore details are provided for the duration of such internships. Figure No. XXX: Duration of international internships 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% 24% N = % 12% 12% 9% 5% 5% 2% 3% 4% 3% 0% 1% 0% 0% 0% 1% 0% 1% 1% 1% Meses de duración Percentage of students Months duration In this case, internships lasting 6 months or less represent the majority, at 79%. A total of 96 students (16%) do internships lasting 7 to 12 months, and only 29 (5%) have the opportunity to do longer internships. By breaking- down internships Figure No. XX: Percentage of students that do an internship by field of study, it is abroad by field of study possible to appreciate that 60% of the 601 respondents who said they had done an Agricultura y Veterinaria internship abroad belong to the 5% 9% field of Science, Mathematics, and 11% Computing. 0% 9% 6% Ciencia, Matemática y Computación Ciencias Sociales, Negocios y Derecho N = 601 Educación 60% 14 Humanidades y Arte Ingeniería, Industria Y Construcción

15 Agriculture and Veterinary Science, Mathematics, and Computing Social Science, Business, and Law Education Humanities and Art Engineering, Industry, and Building Engineering, Industry, and Building represent 11% of international internships, and Humanities and Art and Agriculture and Veterinary are in third place at 9%. Sources of funding for international internships are focused on national and international scholarships (48% and 20% respectively), the university where they do their doctorate (36%), own funds (21%) or research project (19%). The rest is of very little incidence and the private sector represents only 2%. Figure No. XX: Sources of funding - international internships Otro Fondos propios Empleador Proyecto de investigación Tutor Organismo del sector público Empresa privada Fundación Otra universidad Universidad o programa de doctorado Beca internacional Beca Nacional 5% 0,9% 2% 1% 1% 7% 9% 19% 21% 20% 36% N = % 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% Percentage of students Other Own funds 15

16 Employer Research project Tutor Public sector agency Private enterprise Foundation Other university Doctorate program or university International scholarship National scholarship As to other sources of funding, these include DAAD, French Embassy, and invitation by UC Irvine. By analyzing the sources of funding to attend congresses and internships, this reveals that direct provision of resources by public agencies also represent 1% in both cases, same as for the private sector. It is worth asking what the reason is for such a small amount. Analyzing in greater depth how national scholarships work, it can be seen that of the 270 respondents who say they were awarded a national scholarship consistent with the results analyzed previously 63% belong to the field of Science, Mathematics, and Computing. Figure No. XX: Percentage of students with national scholarship for internship by field of study 0% 5% 6% 14% 4% 8% Agricultura y Veterinaria Ciencia, Matemática y Computación Ciencias Sociales, Negocios y Derecho Educación N = % Humanidades y Arte Agriculture and Veterinary Science, Mathematics, and Computing Social Science, Business, and Law Education Humanities and Art Lastly, students were asked about their publications before starting their doctoral program and during the duration of the program: 16

17 Figure No. XX: Publications before and during doctoral studies Artículo en revista indexada en ISI Artículo en revista indexada en Scielo 717 Artículo en revista no indexada 486 Capítulos de libros Reseñas de libros Libros Investigación realizada antes de sus estudios doctorales (N=4646) Investigación realizada durante sus estudios doctorales (N=3084) Article in ISI indexed journal Article in Scielo indexed journal Article in non-indexed journal Chapters in books Book reviews Books Research done before their doctoral studies (N=4646) Research done during their doctoral studies (=3084) A 60% of publications were made before starting their doctoral studies and 40% since they started studying and until the time of this study. Considering 60% entered the doctorate after 2011 and 39% between 2006 and 2010, it could be supposed the 4,646 publications made before entering the doctoral program are distributed over a greater number of years than the done during their studies. From this viewpoint, it is possible to hypothesize that entering the doctoral program implies an increase in student bibliographic production. In order to confirm this hypothesis, it would be necessary to enquire about the years of working experience before entering the doctoral program. As to the number of students who published before and during their doctorate, when both categories are added, 2,224 students published in some manner before starting their doctorate, and some appear with two or more types of publications, since the question was answered by 2,119 students. For their part, 1,631 respondents have some type of publication during their doctorate. 17

18 N = 2119 Figure No. XX: Number of students with publications Artículo en revista indexada en ISI Artículo en revista indexada en Scielo Artículo en revista no indexada Capítulos de libros Reseñas de libros Libros Total Nº Estudiantes que publicaron antes de iniciar su doctorado Nº Estudiantes que publicaron durante su doctorado Article in ISI indexed journal Article in Scielo indexed journal Article in non-indexed journal Chapters in books Book reviews Books Total No. of students that published before starting their doctorate No. of students that published during their doctorate Most publications are in ISI indexed journals, and in second place but with less than half the number of cases, in non-indexed journals. It can be seen that publications before starting the doctorates exceed in all types of publications those made during the doctorates, perceiving relevant changes in trends before the doctorates with regard to the publications made during these programs. 18

19 When relating the number of publications with the Master s degrees of respondents it is possible to appreciate the following results in terms of the publications made before starting the doctorate studies in a total of 1,268 students without a Master s degree and 851 students with a Master s degree as follows. Figure No. XX: Articles published before the doctorate studies Artículo en revista indexada en ISI Artículo en revista indexada en Scielo Artículo en revista no indexada Capítulos de libros Reseñas de libros Libros Estudiantes sin Magister (N=1881) Estudiantes con Magister (N=2758) Article in ISI indexed journal Article in Scielo indexed journal Article in non-indexed journal Chapters in books Book reviews Books Total Students without Master s (N=1881) Students with Master s (N=2758) In general terms it is possible to observe that 1,268 students without a Master s made a total of 1,881 publications; that is, almost 1.5 publications per student. For their part, students with Master s (851) made 2,758 publications; that is 3.2 publications per student, more than double the first. As to the type of articles, among the articles published in ISI indexed journals there is a predominance of publications by students without a Master s degree. In the remaining publications there is clearly a greater productivity by students with a Master s degree. 19

20 Nº de Publicaiones por Estudiante In relation to publications made during the doctorate studies, with the same number of respondent students, the following results can be observed. Figure No. XX: Articles published during doctorate studies Artículo en revista indexada en ISI Artículo en revista indexada en Scielo Artículo en revista no indexada Capítulos de libros Reseñas de libros Libros Estiudiantes sin Magister (N=1600) Estudiantes con Magister (N=1455) Article in ISI indexed journal Article in Scielo indexed journal Article in non-indexed journal Chapters in books Book reviews Books Total Students without Master s (N=1600) Students with Master s (N=1455) In this case, the 1,268 students without a Master s created a total of 1,600 publications; that is, an amount slightly less than the number created throughout their prior professional experience, which leads to suppose their bibliographic activity increased on entering the doctoral program. In terms of productivity, it is of 1.3 publications per student. For their part, the 851 students with a Master s have made 1,455 publications, which means 1.7 publications per student. In this sense, it would appear that the productivity index is drawing closer, as can be seen in the following Figure. Figure No. XX: Publications per student with and without a Master's 4,0 3,0 2,0 1,0 0,0 1,5 3,2 1,3 Productividad antes del doctorado 20 Estiudiantes sin Magister (N=1268) Estudiantes con Magister (N=851) 1,7 Productividad durante el doctorado

21 No. of publications per student Productivity before the doctorate Productivity during the doctorate Students without a Master s Students with a Master s 21

22 3. How do students finance their doctoral program? Note: This part is supplemented by Appendix Analysis of Conicyt Scholarships and student internships. In order to finance their doctoral program, respondents resort to various alternatives. The question was answered by 2,112 students who selected a total of 4,384 alternatives, since it was possible to choose more than one. Figure No. XX: Sources of funding - doctoral program Otro Apoyo del empleador 2% 5% N = 4384 Ahorros personales o familiares 25% Préstamos (de cualquier fuente) Remuneraciones durante el programa por trabajos no relacionados al programa Proyecto de investigación Ayudantía de investigación Ayudantía de docencia 5% 4% 13% 16% 19% Beca de la universidad 36% Beca internacional 4% Beca Nacional 79% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% Other Employer support Personal or family savings Loans (of any source) Remuneration during the program for work not related to the program Research project Research assistantship Teaching assistantship University scholarship International scholarship National scholarship 22

23 A 79% of respondents finance their program totally or partially through national scholarships, and 36% with a university scholarship. There are 51 students that selected the Others option and their answers are summarized as: Teaching (20); Scholarships (10); University support (5); Remuneration for research (3); Milenio project financing (2); Enterprise support (2); Others (9). A total of 1,811 of the 2,112 respondents (86%) say that thanks to one or more sources of funding they are able to cover all costs of the doctoral program, fees, and maintenance. The remaining 14% only achieves partial funding. 23

24 % de Resptuestas Marcadas 4. Where is student professional development headed? Students were asked about their professional goals, principal and secondary, at the time of entering the doctoral program. The alternative that received the highest number of answers (among the 2,110 respondents) was research, with 44% of the answers in the Principal Goal category. The second majority was Teaching, which was nevertheless the first majority as secondary goal. Figure No. XX: Professional goals on entering the doctoral program 50% 45% 44% 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% 3% 13% 16% 24% 22% 2% 20% 20% 7% 10% 16% 1% 3% Objetivo Principal (N=4469) Objetivo Secundario (N=3631) % of answers checked Research Technology development Teaching Management or administration Professional services Entrepreneurship Others Main Goal (N=4469) Secondary Goal (N=3631) 24

25 % de Resptuestas Marcadas Possible questions and/or cross-matching As can be seen in the Figure, the principal goal in third place is technology development, and entrepreneurship is fourth. A lower number of respondents say providing professional services is among their principal goals, or a career linked to management or administration. This last option gains relevance as a secondary goal; that is, students visualize that aside from teaching or research activities they could take on managerial positions at their respective universities. Provision of professional services gains relevance as a secondary goal, receiving 20% of preferences. Students were asked about their current principal and secondary professional goals to compare their view of the future and the present. Figure No. XX: Current professional goals 45% 40% 39% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% 5% 14% 15% 22% 22% 4% 20% 19% 9% 11% 16% 1% 4% Objetivo Principal (N=4874) Objetivo Secundario (N=3327) % of answers checked Research Technology development Teaching Management or administration Professional services 25

26 Entrepreneurship Others Main Goal (N=4874) Secondary Goal (N=3327) There are no great differences between the future and present Figures, in the sense there was no change in the priorities given by respondents. What can be seen is a slight reduction in the majority of preferences, which could reflect a greater diversification of professional goals once doing the doctoral program. This trend would be also supported by the increased number of options selected in the case of main goals, from 4,469 preferences in the question about goals prior to entering the doctorate and the 4,874 preferences for current goals, both questions being answered by 2,110 students. When professional interests are broken down by broad fields of study, the same distribution of 2,110 respondents is found; that is, the principal goal is research, and teaching is second. In all broad fields the sum of these two options is more than the 60% of total preferences. Engineering, Industry and Building is the only case equivalent to 53%, significantly more than in other broad fields for technology development (18%) and professional services (12%). Something similar occurs with Science, Mathematics and Computing, where technology development receives a 16% of preferences. The details of all broad fields are presented in the following Figure. 26

27 Agricultura y Veterinaria Ciencia, Matemática y Computación Ciencias Sociales, Negocios y Derecho Educación Humanidades y Arte Ingeniería, Industria Y Figure No. XX: Principal professional goal by field of study Construcción Salud y Bienestar Otro Emprendimiento Servicios profesionales Gestión o administración Docencia Desarrollo tecnológico Investigación Otro Emprendimiento Servicios profesionales Gestión o administración Docencia Desarrollo tecnológico Investigación Otro Emprendimiento Servicios profesionales Gestión o administración Docencia Desarrollo tecnológico Investigación Otro Emprendimiento Servicios profesionales Gestión o administración Docencia Desarrollo tecnológico Investigación Otro Emprendimiento Servicios profesionales Gestión o administración Docencia Desarrollo tecnológico Investigación Otro Emprendimiento Servicios profesionales Gestión o administración Docencia Desarrollo tecnológico Investigación Otro Emprendimiento Servicios profesionales Gestión o administración Docencia Desarrollo tecnológico Investigación Número de opciones marcadas (N=4814) 27

28 % de Resptuestas Marcadas Other Entrepreneurship Professional services Management or administration Teaching Technology development Research Health and Wellbeing Engineering, Industry, and Building Science, Mathematics, and Computing Agriculture and Veterinary Number of options checked (N=4814) An important point asked in relation to this was if students felt supported by their academic or thesis mentor in their professional goals, and 84% (1,769 of 2110) of respondents said they did feel supported. Only 4% believes not, and 7% is not sure. A 2% does not have a mentor, and another 2% answered this did not apply in their case. In conclusion, it appears interesting to enquire about the situation of the 249 students that answered they did not feel supported or are not sure, and in what programs or institutions this occurs. When asked about the activity of their preference, both principal as well as secondary after finishing the doctoral program, the answers were as given in the following Figure Figure No. XX: Preferred activities after finishing the doctorate 45% 40% 38% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% 6% 13% 15% 25% 20% 4% 19% 19% 9% 9% 16% 1% 5% 28 Objetivo Principal (N=4815) Objetivo Secundario (N=3013)

29 Número de preferencias % of answers checked Research Technology development Teaching Management or administration Professional services Entrepreneurship Other Main Goal (N=4815) Secondary Goal (N=3013) The distribution of answers is very similar to the preferences in Figures No. XX and No. XX. A 38% chose research as their principal activity, and 25% chose teaching. Only 13% chose technology development as their first choice, and the remaining alternatives have less than 10% of preferences. The preferred secondary activities present a more homogeneous distribution, since there are five alternatives that concentrate between 15 and 20% of preferences. From higher to lower: teaching, management or administration, professional services, entrepreneurship, and technology development. In the breakdown of answers for this question about gender, the preferred activity found is teaching, whereas in the univariate analysis the preferred activity was research. Figure No. XX: Distribution by gender of professional preferences Objetivo Principal Hombre (N=1942) Objetivo Principal Mujer (N=1334) 29 Objetivo Secundario Hombre (N=1628) Objetivo Secundario Mujer (N=1178)

30 Number of preferences Research Technology development Teaching Management or administration Professional services Entrepreneurship Other Main Goal for Men (N=1942) Main Goal for Women (N=1334) Secondary Goal for Men (N=1628) Secondary Goal for Women (N=1178) When students are asked if they receive counseling for their future career, 55% says they do (N=2,094). Of the 1,151 that answered affirmatively, 84% says they have benefited from this counseling. In other words, when there is counseling service in this respect, students are benefited. 30

31 5. What is students opinion of their doctorate programs? An 82% of the 2,102 respondent students say that on enrolling for the doctorate they received appropriate counseling. A 57% said they received information in writing about expectations with regard to their academic progress. With regard to formal development of skills in the program, the same 2,102 replied as follows: Giving presentations to academic audiences received the greatest number of preferences (1,082), closely followed by Drafting articles for publication (1,077). With respect to skills developed informally, Teamwork received most checks, with 1,083 preferences, followed by Giving presentations to non-academic audiences with 1,004. The Figure allows appreciating several interesting aspects, such as those highlighted below: o o The degree of formal training that doctorate students say they receive in terms of practicing undergraduate and graduate teaching does not appear to be consistent with the relevance of the task, and clearly students seek solutions through other means. Despite skills are of a very diverse type and degree of generality, preparing work interviews and project administration seem to be needs that students are satisfying through informal means, given that little or no formal training is recorded. Figure No. XX: Skills developed in the doctoral program Preparar entrevistas de trabajo Supervisar y evaluar estudiantes Ejercer docencia de pregrado y postgrado Ética profesional en investigación Administrar proyectos Conducir investigación independiente Trabajar en equipo Preparar artículos para publicación Escribir propuestas para acceder a fondos de apoyo académico Hacer presentaciones a audiencias no académicas Hacer presentaciones a audiencias académicas Número de Alternativas Seleccionadas Ninguna (N=6873) Informal (N=9552) Formal (N=6697)

32 Preparing work interviews Supervising and assessing students Practice undergraduate and graduate teaching Research professional ethics Project administration Independent research Teamwork Draft articles for publication Draft proposals for access to academic support funds Give presentations to non-academic audiences Give presentations to academic audiences Number of selected alternatives None (N=6873) Informal (N=9552) Formal (N=6697) As to other type of activities carried out by students in their doctorate programs, 56% says they give undergraduate and graduate assistantship classes. In addition, half the students (50%) give talks as guests at undergraduate and graduate courses, and another half (50%) correct assessments. Figure No. XX: Activities carried out by students within the doctoral program N = 2102 Dictar un curso cuyo programa usted definió Dictar un curso que tiene un programa predefinido Dar charlas como invitado en cursos (pre o post grado) Guiar sesiones de laboratorio (pre o post grado) Hacer clases de ayudantía (pre o post grado) Corregir evaluaciones (pruebas, exámenes, tareas, etc.) Asesorar/"ser tutor de" un estudiante de postgrado Asesorar/"ser tutor de" un estudiante de pregrado Asesorar/"ser tutor de" un estudiante de educación secundaria 13% 7% 22% 17% 32 50% 43% 50% 43% 56% 87% 93% 78% 83% 50% 57% 50% 57% 44% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Si No

33 Give a course for which you prepared the syllabus Give a course with a pre-defined syllabus Give talks as guest for courses (undergraduate or graduate) Guide laboratory sessions (undergraduate or graduate) Give assistantship classes (undergraduate or graduate) Correct assessments (test, exams, homework, and so on) Mentor a post-graduate student Mentor an undergraduate student Mentor a secondary education student Yes No However, high percentages of negative replies to activities such as giving courses, among others, are striking. With regard to the form of assessment, 53% of the 2,102 respondents say they undergo an annual or more regular assessment, other than the grades received (e.g. a letter or a meeting with the thesis committee), about their academic progress. A great majority (94%) considers these instances useful. In addition, 85% of students (2,102) have started research for their doctoral thesis. A 70% says in turn this research includes experimental work (N=1,795). An 84% of the 1,795 respondents said they had received timely assessment of their research or their artistic or cultural creation. Of this 84%, 97% describes this assessment as useful. Asked about the relationship with their mentor or counselor (using a Likert scale where 5 is close and 1 is distant), a 62% (out of a total 2,073 students) consider it close (5 score) and 21% give it a score of 4. In addition, 6% scores the relationship with a 2 or as outright distant (1 score). If the 12% that scored their relationship as neutral is added to this, then more than a fifth of students consider the relationship with their mentor as not close. Given the nature and importance of this relationship, it is an aspect recommended for further elaboration. The same question, but about the doctoral program faculty, gives results that could be improved on. Only 22% (out of a total 2,073 respondents) considers their relationship with faculty as close. If those who scored this item with a 4 are added, the result is that 54% of respondents consider their relationship with faculty as close. This means that a group of approximately half the students considers their relationship with faculty as neutral or distant (33%, 7%, and 5% respectively, for scores of 3, 2, and 1). Given this is an andragogic relationship, closeness is essential for strengthening teaching and learning processes, and apparently here there are clear opportunities for improvement. 33

34 As to solidarity among colleagues, 61% of the 2,073 respondent students say colleagues support each other (scores of 4 and 5 on the Likert scale, where 5 is they support a lot and 1 they do not support each other). Nevertheless, 28% say they only support moderately. A 7% answered with a score of 2, and 4% believe they do not support each other (answer 1). On this same topic, respondent students were also asked about their degree of satisfaction with the doctoral program. The answers are shown in the following Figure. Figure No. XX: Degree of student satisfaction with their doctorate N = 2073 El ambiente intelectual de su institución 4% 26% 70% El ambiente intelectual de su programa 5% 27% 68% El currículo de su programa 8% 38% 54% La calidad general de su programa 5% 34% 61% Su experiencia de investigación en el programa 6% 30% 64% La supervisión de su tesis 7% 29% 64% La docencia 4% 37% 59% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Insatisfecho Moderadamente satisfecho Muy satisfecho Intellectual atmosphere at your institution Intellectual atmosphere in your program Curriculum of your program Overall quality of your program Your research experience in the program Supervision of your thesis Teaching Dissatisfied Moderately satisfied Very satisfied As can be seen, the degree of dissatisfaction is very low, not dropping to 10% for any item. Likewise, for all items asked, more than half the students are very satisfied. It should be pointed out that 70% is very satisfied with the intellectual atmosphere at the institution, and 68% is very satisfied with the intellectual atmosphere in their program. 34

35 The only item that within the good assessment attracts a greater range of moderately satisfied answers and also a greater number of dissatisfied answers, is the program curriculum. This is an item to be looked into, since it refers to a core aspect. All this good overall assessment of the program is consistent with the intended recommendation stated by the respondents (N=2,070). On a Likert scale of 1 to 5, where 5 is they would fully recommend the program and 1 is never, 81% answered 4 or 5. Only 17% say they would recommend the program with reservations (3 score) and 2% answered 2 and 1. Students were also asked about the degree to which they had benefited from the intellectual atmosphere in the program and the institution where they study. A 70% and 62% respectively state they benefited a lot, which is consistent with the results presented previously. Figure No. XX: Perceived benefits from the intellectual atmosphere N = 2073 Ambiente intelectual de su institución 4% 34% 62% Ambiente intelectual de su programa 3% 27% 70% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Nada Algo Mucho Intellectual atmosphere at your institution Intellectual atmosphere in your program None Some A lot It should be pointed out that only 3% say they have not benefited at all from the intellectual atmosphere in the program, and only 4% has not benefited from the intellectual atmosphere at their institution. In relation to the activities carried out by the doctorate program to promote social interaction, a 25% (out of a total of 2,073 students) is very satisfied, 55% is moderately satisfied, and 21% answers they are dissatisfied. This appears to be an area that poses a challenge for the programs. When asking students about their sense of belonging to the program, 58% (out of N=2,073) feel they belong a lot, 37% fell some belonging, and only 5% feel no belonging to the program. Due to the nature of the question, asking about a feeling of belonging, it is not possible to establish a 35

36 deeper analysis, but undoubtedly if there are 41% of students that do not feel any or only some belonging to their program, this is an area that should be looked into. Lastly, respondents were asked to freely comment on their doctorate programs. A sample of the comments received express opinions on topics such as the following: quality teachers, with a lot of experience (comment repeated in various ways); good program (comment repeated in various ways); scarce pedagogical quality; many different contents; scarce training in the formulation of projects and drafting publications; lack of greater interaction with the group of faculty; problems with scholarships for students and the guides for thesis work, especially when there is experimental work; lack of discussion and interaction among students and faculty; insufficient demand. 6. What resources do students have in their doctoral programs? Students were asked about available resources for carrying out their doctoral training and research for their thesis. Figure No. XX: Available support for students N = 2064 Servicios de salud provistos por su programa o universidad 12% 17% 17% 22% 10% 23% Seguro médico 11% 17% 15% 22% 12% 23% Espacios deportivos/ recreacionales de la Universidad 26% 25% 19% 19% 4% 7% Espacios para interacción social entre estudiantes de su programa (por ejemplo casinos, cafetería, otros) 22% 27% 25% 25% 1% Espacio de trabajo personal en el campus 33% 29% 20% 16% 1% Recursos de Biblioteca 38% 34% 17% 9% 1% 2% Laboratorios, espacios para investigación clínico, habilitados para el estudio y la investigación 28% 32% 18% 9% 10% 3% Recursos computacionales 25% 31% 24% 15% 4% 2% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Porcentaje de Estudiantes Excelente Bueno Suficiente Insuficiente No Aplicable No Sabe Health services provided by your program or university Medical insurance 36

37 Sports/recreational facilities at the university Space for social interaction among students of your program (e.g. cafeterias, others) Space for personal work at the campus Library resources Laboratories, space for clinical research, fit for study and research Computer resources Percentage of students Excellent Good Sufficient Insufficient Not applicable Does not know The aspects assessed can be divided into two major areas: aspects related to infrastructure and equipment, and services related to health. Clearly the first attract a greater percentage of Excellent, Good, and Sufficient answers. In this sense, for each aspect assessed, more than 70% of respondents say they have sufficient resources for their doctoral training and research. This situation is not the same for health services. It is striking that 23% does not know if they have a health service and medical insurance. In fact, more than half of students believe the health service and medical insurance in insufficient or does not exist (not applicable) or does not know if it exists and hence is unable to use it. Therefore this is an area for improvement. 37