Abstract
Graduate students are “professionals” in the sense that they are required to learn and transfer academic skills beyond the walls of the classroom to research and industry contexts. As such, graduate professional development (GPD) should be an integral part of every graduate program. However, many Japanese universities do not provide official services which can put graduate students at a disadvantage. There were two central aims in this study. The first was to investigate current programs and practices that encouraged GPD; and the second was to gain a first-hand account from students, professors, and industry experts regarding GPD, especially essential skills, knowledge, and experiences that they felt would be beneficial to perform effectively in research labs and the workplace. Surveys were administered and semi- structured interviews conducted to gather this information and then identify gaps in current GPD institutional practices and learner needs. Given the demand for specific skillsets in new employees, data was further analyzed to identify core skills necessary for academia and industry-related positions. The research concludes with specific recommendations of core academic and transferable ‘real-life’ skills and knowledge for GPD training programs so that students feel fully prepared for the experiences they will face during graduate studies and beyond.
Author Information
Tanya McCarthy, Kyoto University, Japan
Paper Information
Conference: ACE2022
Stream: Professional Training
This paper is part of the ACE2022 Conference Proceedings (View)
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To cite this article:
McCarthy T. (2023) Graduate Student Professional Development: Identifying Core Components ISSN: 2186-5892 The Asian Conference on Education 2022: Official Conference Proceedings https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2186-5892.2023.15
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2186-5892.2023.15
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