Toward Excellence in Graduate Education: A Mixed Methods and Interdisciplinary Study

A conceptual framework is provided for assessing excellence in graduate education: 1 quality of academic leadership 2 quality of faculty 3 quality of students and 4 infrastructure. The methodology consists of four triangulated approaches: • A meta‑synthesis of literature about quality graduate education • Factor analyses of empirical data on the top 76 graduate pro‑ grams in the field of education in the U.S. to ascertain key di‑ mensions of quality • Participant‑observation based on forty years of experience graduate education • Observations and interviews conducted in Japan Based on the empirical results of the study a normative blueprint for excellence in graduate education is proposed: • Graduate students need more rigorous training in research metho‑ dology to become productive life‑long learners and researchers. • Graduate students also need exposure to interdisciplinary perspectives. • There must be recognition that not all graduates will become academic researchers and requirements need to be more flexible. • Advisor‑student relationships need to be strengthened. • In an increasingly globalized intercultural era graduate students need proficiency in other languages and intercultural competency. • Future academics should be required to take an interdisciplinary doctoral seminar related to becoming an effective academic scholar and teacher.

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