Examining Problems Research Assistants Face As They Are Groomed To Become Academicians In Newly Established Universities In Turkey.

Author(s):

Gokce Gokalp(presenting / submitting)Sevgi Kaya Kaşıkcı(presenting)Rıdvan Çınar

Conference:

ECER 2014

Network:

22. Research in Higher Education

Format:

Paper

Session Information

22 SES 11 B, Academic Work and Professional Development

Paper Session

Time:

2014-09-04

17:15-18:45

Room:

B021 Anfiteatro

Chair:

Mariana Gaio Alves

Contribution

With the rapid increase of universities in Turkey in recent years, based on the higher education policy requiring at least one university in each city, raising qualified academicians for these newly established universities became a necessity. To address this need, a faculty development program (FDP) was initiated at the national level. The main purpose of this program is to train research assistants in developed universities on behalf of developing universities. After earning their doctoral degrees in the developed universities that train them through the faculty development program, graduates are guaranteed to be hired as academicians by the developing universities they are associated with. Although this faculty development program has been effective in addressing the academician shortage problem, it has not resolved all the problems associated with raising qualified academicians. Specifically it has not eliminated the problems of FDP graduate research assistants related to providing support for their development as academicians and related to their heavy workloads. For the purposes of this study the FDP graduate research assistants are defined In recent years the program has gone through some changes to address these problems (Ozatalay, 2013). Particularly, in 2010 the FDP program which was originally initiated and implemented under the Turkish National Developmental Planning Council (TNPC), was transferred over to the Turkish Council of Higher Education (TCH), along with some changes to the financial support provided to graduate research assistants and stricter time limitations to complete the program. But it remains to be seen whether these changes help address the problems experienced by the graduate research assistants in these programs.

When the studies conducted in The United States and Europe are considered, it becomes evident that the problems experienced in doctoral education are universal (Kehm, 2006). For example in the United States, only 50% of students who start a doctoral degree are able to earn a doctorate, and for those who do earn a doctorate, the time to degree completion from the start of the program is about 9-10 years in the Humanities (Berger, 2007; Bowen & Rudenstein, 1992). While in Europe, the problems in doctoral education stem from both the long time- to-degree periods and the need to raise more and better trained researchers (Kehm, 2006). Considering these difficulties, Kehm (2006) highlights the importance of developing institutional strategies to address the difficulties experienced in doctoral education. The faculty development program of Turkey (FDP) described above, can be consider as a strategy used at the institutional level to address the problems in doctoral education in Turkey, particularly related to raising qualified academicians. As indicated above this program is not without shortcomings, making it important to examine the problems experienced by graduate assistants who are part of the program and the extent to which those problems have been addressed by the updated program. Such an exploration will also shed light on what universities and higher education policy makers need to consider when developing strategies and policies to help address the problems in doctoral education.

Therefore the purpose of this study is to identify the difficulties graduate research assistants who are part of the FDP face as they are being groomed to become academicians in newly established universities in Turkey and whether the updated faculty development program (FDP) under the Turkish Council of Higher Education (TCH) had an impact on those problems.

Research Questions

What are the most commonly identified problems that graduate research assistants who are part of a faculty development program face in Turkey?

Did the recent changes made to the program make a difference in terms of the problems graduate research assistants identify?

Method

A cross-sectional survey research design will be employed. The participants will be recruited by contacting all graduate research assistants at Middle East Technical University who are either part of the initial faculty development program (TNPC-FDP) or the recently updated faculty development program (CHE-FDP). The study will be conducted using purposeful sampling of graduate research assistants at Middle East Technical University (METU) as it is the first university in Turkey to implement the faculty development program. The survey questionnaire that will be administered is developed by the researchers based on an extensive review of previous studies that examined the problems of graduate research assistants both in the faculty development program and other graduate research assistants. In the literature on the problems of graduate research assistants in the faculty development programs three main categories of problems emerge which include academic, social and financial problems (Aslan, 2007; Karakutuk & Ozdemir, 2011; Erdogan 2013). The questionnaire for this study is composed of two parts. The first part of the questionnaire includes demographic questions, such as the gender, age, field of graduate study, the student’s reason for joining the faculty development program, when student started the program, and their expected graduation date. The second part of the questionnaire includes 30 statements that are based on 5-point likert type scale that assess academic, social and economic problems the graduate research assistants in the faculty development programs face. Descriptive analysis will be conducted to identify the specific academic, social and economic problems graduate research assistants experience during their doctoral study. A Multivariate Analysis of Variance will also be conducted to examine whether there are any differences between the TNPC-FDP’s graduate research assistants and those graduate research assistants in the CHE-FDP that started in 2010, in terms of the academic, social and economic problems experienced.

Expected Outcomes

It is expected that most of the items in each of the 3 problem categories will be rated as problematic or highly problematic. Because previous studies have shown that financial difficulties were among the most commonly identified problems (Bakioglu & Yaman, 2004; Erdogan, 2013; Kahraman, 2007), it is expected that questions related to financial problems will be rated as highly problematic. It is also expected that there will be a difference between those graduate research assistants in the TNPC-FDP and those in the CHE-FDP in terms of the financial problems. Since the updated program provides more financial support, particularly in relation to conference travel expenses (Memis & Sagir, 2013), those in the CHE-FDP are expected to be less likely to identify financial issues related to conference travel expenses as a problem compared to those in the TNPC-FDP. However, it is also expected that there won’t be any significant differences between the two groups in terms of other problems that are identified as the updated program itself is shown to have many shortcomings as well (Memis & Sagir, 2013). The findings of the current study will help identify the problems graduate research assistants in the newer and older faculty development program at METU are facing. It is also hoped that through a comparison between the initial faculty development program and the updated program, whether changes made to the policy actually addressed any of the problems of the graduate research assistants will be examined. In this study data is collected only from one university. In future studies, all universities implementing the faculty development program to examine at the national level the extent to which this faculty development program addresses the problems in doctoral education.

References

Aslan, G.(2007).Ankara üniversitesi eğitim bilimlerine kayıtlı doktora öğrencilerinin lisansüstü öğretime ilişkin sorunları [The problems of doctoral students enrolled in the educational sciences department at Ankara university]. Milli Eğitim (174), 250-269. Bakioğlu, A. & Yaman, E. (2004). Araştırma görevlilerinin kariyer gelişimleri: engeller ve çözümler [The career development of graduate research assistants: Problems and solutions]. M.Ü. Atatürk Eğitim Fakültesi Eğitim Bilimleri Dergisi, 20,1-20. Berger, J. (2007, October 3). Exploring ways to shorten ascent to a Ph.D. New YorkTimes. Bowen, W. G., & Rudenstine, N. L. (1992). In pursuit of the Ph.D. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Erdogan, M.(2013). Facilities,challenges and contributions of faculty development program from the perspectives of students and graduates: The case of Metu. (Unpublished Master’s Thesis). Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey. Kahraman, A. B. (2010). Lisansustu egitim yapmak amaciyla baska bir universitede gorevlendirilen ogretim gorevlilerinin yasam tarzi profilleri ve problemleri (Hacettepe Universitesi Ornegi) [Lifestyle profiles and problems of research assistants who have been assigned at another university to carry out graduate study (Case of Hacettepe University]. Journal of World Turks, 2(2), 243-257. Karakütük, K. & Özdemir, Y. (2011) Bilim insanı yetiştirme projesi (BİYEP) ve öğretim üyesi yetiştirme programının (ÖYP) değerlendirilmesi [The assessment of scientist training project (BIYEP) and Teaching Staff Training Program]. Eğitim ve Bilim, 36 (161), 26-38 Kehm, B. M. (2006). Doctoral education in Europe and North America: a comparative analysis. Wenner Gren International Series, 83, 67. Korkut, H. & Yalçınkaya, M. (1999). Araştırma Görevlilerinin Sorunları [ The problems of graduate researchassistants]. Eğitim Yönetimi, 17, 19-36. Memiş, P. & Sağır, A. (2013). Yükseköğretimde yeni(lenmiş) istihdam örneği olarak ÖYP [OYP as a new form of employment in higher education]. International Journal of Human Sciences, 10(1):74-99). Özatalay, G. Z. (2013). ÖYP (Öğretim Üyesi Yetiştirme Programı) lisansüstü eğitim süreci ve karşılaşılan problemler [FDP (Faculty Development Program) graduate education process and problems that are encountered]. Sakarya Üniversitesi Eğitim Bilimleri Enstitüsü Yayınları No: 6

Author Information

Gokce Gokalp (presenting / submitting)

Middle East Technical University, Turkey

Sevgi Kaya Kaşıkcı (presenting)

Middle East Technical University

Ankara

Rıdvan Çınar

MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY

EDUCATIONAL SCIENCES

ANKARA

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