Ph.D. Education for the Nineties

The Ph.D. degree in Australia, established some three and a half decades ago, has become recognised internationally as of high professional standing. However, attitudinal deficiencies in individual graduates, first recognised in the Fensham Report, still need to be addressed. Serious consideration needs to be given to the introduction of relevant course-work within the degree programme to broaden the intellectual base and to offset premature specialisation. A corresponding reduction in the extent, but not the quality, of the thesis should be envisaged. Advantages are seen in interspersing employment between Honours degrees and Ph.D. commencement and greater emphasis should be given to counselling of candidates embarking on a Ph.D. programme. The quality and character of Ph.D. programmes is influenced by the sole-supervisor model, constraints on university research funding and the career expectations of candidates. The emergence of joint university-industry companies offers new opportunities for entrepreneurial and creative Ph.D. graduates in small firms rather than, as earlier, in large corporations. New initiatives are proposed to build on the successful base of existing programmes to alter the balance in favour of greater intellectual development and awareness of Ph.D. graduates.