ABSTRACT
Doctoral education in the United States is in an era of change. Recent developments in technology, the emergence of new fields of study and a decline in public support for higher education are gradually transforming the arenas in which PhDs are trained and work (Bell et al., 2007; McGuinness, 1999). The US system of doctoral education is unregulated and highly decentralized, with most authority resting in the hands of faculty supervisors. More than 400 US universities grant doctoral degrees; together they produce more than 40,000 doctoral graduates each year (Thorgood et al., 2006). In contrast to the ‘tightening up’ of standards for student and supervisor performance in some countries (Parry, 2007: 16), the size and organizational complexity of the US higher education system has limited the spread of well-intentioned national reform efforts (Walker et al., forthcoming).
