So graduate school is good for what, exactly?

A new TIAA-CREF survey of junior faculty at Master's granting colleges shows that alarmingly low numbers feel prepared for their jobs at the time of hiring.

The interesting bit is Table 7, "Level of preparation for career responsibilities"

After graduate school, % "very effectively" prepared:

Conduct research: 33%

Teach undergraduates: 31%

Obtain grants: 7%

After about 5 years on the job, higher percentages report that they are working "very effectively":

Conduct research: 46%

Teach undergraduates: 76%

Obtain grants: 14%

So what exactly are graduate programs training people to do?

The comments from faculty members on the Chronicle's story show why the problem exists - basically the attitude seems to be, "Preparing students is not our responsibility," and "Back when I was in graduate school, they didn't prepare *me*"

Poor attitudes aside, there is the further difficulty that many faculty members are likely not able to train students effectively to teach, write grants, etc, because they themselves don't do a particularly good job at such tasks, having not received much in the way of training / mentoring.

These survey results really underscore the importance of programs like Preparing Future Faculty that allow institutions and enterprising students to bypass recalcitrant professors.