I have a number of thoughts on this study, which has important & sobering findings but does not ask one central question:

Do faculty view PhD programs as job training programs, or as something else? 1/ https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/ps-political-science-and-politics/article/faculty-perceptions-of-political-science-phd-career-training/23ECD4D2D489D3213F897C38BA99D23E

The answer matters whether or not PhD students want academic jobs bc it reveals an ethos about what the PhD program is for. If the point is to acquire some set of skills or gain knowledge about some set of tasks (i.e., a job training program), then the PhD becomes educational. 2/

In this scenario, faculty are less supervisors than they are mentors & teachers. Their job is to introduce students to the discipline, provide opportunities, & offer help & resources, regardless of the student's career goals.

(An aside: this is where my bias lies.) 3/

If the point of a PhD program is something else, the role of faculty as PhD supervisors changes. Let’s say the point is to provide a ready supply of TAs and RAs for the university. In that case, faculty are indeed supervisors. They’re bosses. 4/

In this scenario, their job is to give students tasks, not opportunities. Their job is to give performance reviews, not offer help. Or, at the bare minimum, their job is to sign off on paychecks. The PhD becomes a transaction. That's it. 5/

Or, if the point of a PhD program is to add more colleagues to a department, the PhD simply becomes another workplace. In this scenario, you don't train your colleagues. Offering too much help may seem infantilizing. You assume most people know what they're doing. 6/

Unfortunately, based on responses to this survey, it seems that some faculty view PhD programs as transactions or workplaces, not learning environments. Why? Because in a learning environment, the student does not solely bear the burden of their own success. 7/

It is beyond depressing that, rather than learning about non-academic careers or proactively directing their students to campus & community resources (including alums *cough*), some faculty think their role as supervisors somehow involves doing…nothing. 8/

Though, to be honest, it explains a lot about uninvolved mentors and a lack of formal training in *any* practical skills (except maybe introductory statistics) in many poli sci PhD programs. /fin