Postgraduate Education in Higher Education

This handbook brings together contributors from the United States, Australasia and Europe who use theoretical insights and empirical data to examine current practices as well as possible future directions of postgraduate education. A full range of postgraduate study options are explored, including PhD and professional doctorates, masters awards, and taught coursework programs. The contributions of key stakeholders to the delivery of postgraduate education are addressed, including students, supervisors and university administrators.

From this collection, university managers, higher education scholars, and anyone interested in establishing a centre for higher education are given comprehensive overviews of academic leadership, doctoral education, and supervisory relationships. Topics examined in detail in this collection are little discussed in the available literature, including supervisory relationships between colleagues, the emergence of the “second-career academic”, and academic blogging and social networking.

The external pressures that universities around the world are experiencing, including neoliberalism, the massification of student numbers, disruptive innovations, and external quality benchmarking, are considered in terms of the ways that they are prompting change in how postgraduate study is administered and delivered.

Many chapters contain specific recommendations to meet organisational and student needs, including for specific demographics such as international students or specific programs. The professional, employment, and information literacy needs of students and the professional development of supervisors and processes for examination are also considered.