Report on Graduate Student Professional Development at SFU

Executive Summary

This report grows out of a commitment from the Dean of Graduate Studies to collaborate with a number of SFU's student delivery units to explicitly recognize, promote, and support the development of diverse skills needed by graduate students to remain competitive in the workforce.

A review of recent scholarship on graduate student professional development reveals that there is no longer a question of whether Canadian graduate students require additional professional skills training; it is instead a question of the types of programs on offer, the modes of delivery and how to assess such a program’s offerings.

This report provides an overview of scholarly literature in the area of professional development for graduate students and looks at other Canadian universities in order to take stock of what practices might work well in the particular context of SFU. The report builds upon research initiated in the Office of the Dean of Graduate Studies in 2012, surveying graduate student needs for professional development and assessing both university-led and discipline-specific initiatives aimed at building professional capacities at SFU.

The report outlines the types of programs currently on offer from: academic, faculty and administrative units; Career Services; the Teaching and Learning Centre; Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Fellows; the Research Commons at the SFU Library; Health and Counselling Services, and the Graduate Student Society.  

While there is a wide range of disciplinary and institutional offerings available on campus, there is no consistent approach and no centralized method of communicating, recognizing or assessing these offerings.

A comparison of SFU’s offerings with other Canadian institutions demonstrates that SFU needs to develop a coordinated and branded set of programs and to fill the gaps of skills training that exist.

The report recommends a professional development program which is flexible, meets the diverse needs of SFU’s graduate student community, and aims to bridge the gap between disciplinary-specific professional development programs and institutionally-led initiatives.

• The Globe and Mail: Few Academic Jobs, but Canada's need for PhDs grows
  
• The HEQCO @Issue paper, So You Want to Earn a PhD? The Attraction, Realities and Outcomes of Pursuing a Doctorate
• The HEQCO Report, Beyond Labs and Libraries: Career Pathways for Graduate Students