Date of Award

1987

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Program

Higher Education Administration PhD

First Advisor

Edward A. Streeter

Second Advisor

Paul S. Brantley

Third Advisor

Clifton A. Keller

Abstract

Problem

The proportion of international students in the doctoral programs, School of Education at Andrews University, raises concerns over (a) the ability of the programs to meet the varied expectations and needs of the international and American students and (b) the relevance of the students' academic preparations to their careers. Possible differences between the international and American doctoral graduates' appraisals of their programs were investigated.

Method

This ex-post facto study obtained data from two sources: All's records and the graduates' responses to survey questionnaires sent to 143 of the 151 doctoral graduates with known addresses. A 72.7% return rate was attained. Chi-square statistical analyses were conducted on 235 items to test four null hypotheses. Alpha was set at .05

Results

The background information revealed that there were more international graduates (52.7%) than American graduates (47.3%); 80.8% were men; most (90.1%) were Seventh-day Adventists; and 79.5% received the Ed.D degree. Only 31 of the 235 items were statistically significant.

Conclusions

1. International doctoral students attend AU mainly because it is an Adventist institution ; American students choose to attend because of geographic proximity. 2. The doctoral programs were compatible with the pre-arrival expectations of the graduates. 3. Graduates were generally satisfied with their programs and rated favorably the faculty , facilities, quality of instruction, dissertation writing process, and the programs' contributions to acquired competencies. 4. American graduates perceived the School of Education as catering adequately to the needs of the international doctoral students. International graduates were less inclined to agree. 5. In terms of professional development, the graduates benefited most from dissertation work, course work, relation to major professor or director of dissertation , and independent reading. They benefited least from relationships with other students, preparation for examination, graduate and research assistantships. 6. The majority were satisfied with the relevance of their academic preparations to their professional careers. 7. The high percentage of international doctoral students in the School of Education appears to have little negative impact on their programs or the Americans' perception of the programs. 8. The minimal number of differences between international and American appraisals may be largely due to two common factors: their Adventist backgrounds and current employment with the Adventist denomination.

Subject Area

Education--Study and teaching (Higher), Education--Study and teaching (Graduate).

DOI

https://dx.doi.org/10.32597/dissertations/649/

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