Purpose

2. Purpose • History of the SED and how it works • Data collection process • Results from the SED • Questions

3. What is it? • SED is an annual census of all new research doctorate recipients from United States colleges and universities • Research Doctorate • requires an original contribution of knowledge to the field (typically, though not always, in the form of a written dissertation) • Not primary intended for the practice of a profession

4. History of the SED • Established by the National Science Foundation in the 1950s. • Currently, five other agencies also sponsor the SED • National Institutes of Health • Department of Education • Department of Agriculture • National Endowment for the Humanities • National Aeronautics and Space Administration

5. History of the SED (continued) • Data collection began in 1957, for the 1957-1958 class of doctorate recipients. • For 1920-1957, data collected on nine basic items from graduation announcements and lists from institutions.

6. SED and Confidentiality • Respondents increasingly concerned about confidentiality. • All Federal and NORC employees must also sign legally binding confidentiality forms. • Public data are in aggregate form only and in sufficiently large numbers.

7. SED & FERPA • Participating institutions are permitted to provide student information to the SED without violating FERPA, per the Family Policy Compliance Office in the United States Department of Education.

8. How is the SED collected? • The majority (80% or more) of participants complete the form through their graduate school. • Each participating institution has an Institutional Contact (IC) who handles the SED.

9. Role of the IC • Crucial in the success of the survey. • Responsible for distributing the survey to the students, monitoring completions, and returning the surveys to NORC. • Also provide supplementary data as needed.

10. Traditional Paradigm • Students approaching graduation are given a set of forms to be completed. • The survey and other forms are turned in when the students hand in their dissertation to the graduate school. • The IC collects all the forms for one graduation and sends them to NORC for processing.

11. Advantages • Control • Face-to-face contact • Efficiency Disadvantages • Storing paper surveys • Doesn’t work with ETDs

12. Solution for ETD schools? • The SED survey is available online! • Web version first developed in 2001. • Percent of web completes has grown each round since the release (about 10% in 2008).

13. SED Web Survey • Survey can be completed and submitted entirely online from any location. • Survey is housed on a secure server, and students need their unique PIN and password to access the survey. • NORC instantly receives the survey data for processing.

16. Distributing the Web Survey • Timing should not change, best response achieved when students are preparing to graduate • PIN/Password distribution necessary

17. PIN/Password Assignment • lC provides the web registration URL to their students who are eligible to complete the survey http://survey.norc.uchicago.edu/doctorate • Students register online, provide degree information and an e-mail address • E-mail sent to students with their login information, and the link to the correct survey

21. PDF • PDF can be posted on your website, e-mailed to students, etc. • Has form features that allow users to type their responses directly onto the form, save and e-mail completed PDF back to their university.

22. New Issues Raised • Many students file for graduation, but do not complete all the requirements in time. - Graduation list crucial • How do you know who has completed?

23. 1. Institution Interface • Administrator website • ICs or others can view the list of their students and their survey status. • Also has useful forms and information NOTE: There is a 24-48 hour lag with the Interface

27. 2. Certificate of Completion • Last page of the web survey. • Can be printed • Savvier users can copy the screenshot into an electronic document and e-mail it.

28. 3. E-mail Notification • New feature added for SED 2009. Students can receive an e-mail when they submit their survey online. • Can be used like the certificate, without the need to print anything.

29. Best Practices for Monitoring • Use the roster for students who are filing well before the deadline to verify the completion of their survey • Ask for certificate, e-mail, or PDF from anyone filing within 1-2 days of deadline • NORC can also verify completes in real time.

30. Shift of IC’s focus • Old paradigm: handling the paperwork, keeping track of survey forms, mailing them to NORC in timely manner. • New paradigm: Monitoring and post-graduation “quality control.”

31. Making the switch • For best response rate, SED should be integrated with the rest of the graduation process. • Web option can be used exclusively, or as an additional option to paper/PDF survey. • To maintain response rate when switching to the web, monitoring is necessary.

32. Why am I doing this again? • The Doctorate Records File (DRF), 1920 – 2007 • The richest and most complete source of information on doctorate recipients. • Used by the federal, state, and local government, graduate schools, and higher education researchers to make policy decisions affecting graduate education throughout the country.

33. Products using the DRF • Summary Report • Detailed Statistical Tables • Institutional Data • External requests

34. Summary Report • For each survey round, the Summary Report provides information on the specific class of graduates, follows trends over time, and explores emerging trends. • 2007 Summary Report is pending.

35. Highlights from the 2007 Report • Largest number of doctorate recipients in the history of the SED (48,079). Doctorates awarded at U.S. colleges and universities, 1988-2007 Source: NSF/NIH/USED/NEH/USDA/NASA, 2007 Survey of Earned Doctorates

36. Since 2002, more female than male U.S. citizens have earned a doctorate Doctorates awarded to U.S. citizens, by gender, 2002-2007 Source: NSF/NIH/USED/NEH/USDA/NASA, 2007 Survey of Earned Doctorates

37. Nearly all of the growth in the number of doctorates attributed to increase in non-US citizens earning degrees Doctorates by citizenship type, 2002-2007 Source: NSF/NIH/USED/NEH/USDA/NASA, 2007 Survey of Earned Doctorates

38. Detailed Statistical Tables/S&E Reports • Produced annually, the DSTs give detailed breakdowns on demographics and graduation plans for Science & Engineering graduates. • Additional S&E reports with focus on Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities, S&E Degrees report, etc.

39. Institutional Data • Profile – sent to the dean along with the Summary Report, describes institution’s graduates for that round and compares them to their peer institutions. • Institution Datasets - Graduate deans can order data set of all their graduates from 1920-2007.

40. External Requests • External Requests - Provided at cost, with data specified by the requestor.

41. Other Products • Baccalaureate Origins Tables • Race/ethnicity/gender tables – being revamped. • InfoBriefs • WebCASPAR - webcaspar.nsf.gov

42. TDL Institutions Source: NSF/NIH/USED/NEH/USDA/NASA, 2007 Survey of Earned Doctorates

43. Doctorates by Gender Source: NSF/NIH/USED/NEH/USDA/NASA, 2007 Survey of Earned Doctorates

44. Doctorates by Citizenship Source: NSF/NIH/USED/NEH/USDA/NASA, 2007 Survey of Earned Doctorates

45. Doctorates by Race/Ethnicity Source: NSF/NIH/USED/NEH/USDA/NASA, 2007 Survey of Earned Doctorates

46. Doctorates by Major Field Source: NSF/NIH/USED/NEH/USDA/NASA, 2007 Survey of Earned Doctorates

47. Postgraduation Plans Source: NSF/NIH/USED/NEH/USDA/NASA, 2007 Survey of Earned Doctorates

48. Employment Type Source: NSF/NIH/USED/NEH/USDA/NASA, 2007 Survey of Earned Doctorates

49. Employment Sector Source: NSF/NIH/USED/NEH/USDA/NASA, 2007 Survey of Earned Doctorates

50. Time to Degree Source: NSF/NIH/USED/NEH/USDA/NASA, 2007 Survey of Earned Doctorates