From USA TODAY

January 16, 2001

Section: Life
Page: 8D
Column: A better life: Health, education & science

Profs can research, but can they teach?

Tomorrow's college professors are far more prepared to
do research than they are to teach undergraduates, a
study of 4,114 students earning doctorates from 27 U.S.
universities suggests. In fact, the report says, doctoral
programs typically train students to be research faculty
even though fewer than half of 40,000 students who earn
a doctorate each year actually get jobs at research
universities. A more likely employer is a liberal arts or
community college, where teaching and advising
undergraduates are among top priorities. Most doctoral
students are ''not prepared for the careers they want or
the jobs they actually will get,'' says University of
Wisconsin-Madison research scientist Chris Golde, who
directed the survey. ''They don't necessarily know how
to be teachers,'' she says. The study is available at
www.phd-survey.org.

Revised 07/10/01