Undergraduate GPA Predicts Biochemistry PhD Completion and Is Associated with Time to Degree

Building a strong foundation: How pre-doctorate experience shapes doctoral student outcomes

The effectiveness of doctoral programs has been a major topic of interest for national policies, universities, and researchers for decades now. However, studies that try to identify factors associated with doctoral students' success usually focus on characteristics measured during doctoral training, while the role of pre-doctorate characteristics remains underexplored. This research aims to fill this gap by examining whether and how various aspects of pre-doctorate experience-academic achievements, research experience related and unrelated to the dissertation topic, and teaching experience-contribute to the successful defense of the doctoral dissertation. Using data from a survey of the Russian doctoral programs' graduates (N = 985) and regression analysis, we show that research experience related to the dissertation topic is the only pre-doctorate characteristic associated with the successful defense of the dissertation. At the same time, the effect of this type of research experience vanishes when controlling for support from the supervisor and department that students receive during their training. The results of the study can be used for designing criteria for doctoral students' admission campaigns and introduction of integrated, or fast-track, doctoral programs, as well as to broaden our understanding of the relative importance of environmental vs. individual factors of doctoral students' outcomes.

German Physicians and Medical Students Do Not Represent the Population They Serve

Medical professionals who represent the communities they serve are in a better position to understand patients' social circumstances and communicate in a more patient-centered way. International studies show limited diversity and underrepresentation of certain social groups in the population of physicians and medical students. We designed an observational study to investigate the cultural and socio-economic diversity of physicians and medical applicants in comparison to the general population in Germany. We invited 15,195 physicians in Hamburg and 11,287 medical applicants in Germany to participate in an online survey between June and August 2022. The lower three quintiles of objective socio-economic background (SEB) were vastly underrepresented in all subsamples of the study and in particular amongst applicants and students admitted in Hamburg: 57.9% of physicians and 73.8% of medical students in Hamburg originate from the top quintile of SEB. The Turkish and Polish communities were particularly underrepresented in the group of physicians from Hamburg and medical applicants and students in Germany (p = 0.02; p < 0.001). In line with existing evidence, the vast majority of physicians and medical students come from the most affluent households when entering medical school. Widening participation strategies are needed to facilitate fairer access to the study of medicine in Germany.

Who Sends Scores to GRE-Optional Graduate Programs? A Case Study Investigating the Association between Latent Profiles of Applicants’ Undergraduate Institutional Characteristics and Propensity to Submit GRE Scores

Many programs have made the submission of GRE scores optional. Little research examines differences in propensity to submit scores according to applicants’ characteristics, however, including the type of undergraduate institution they attended. This study’s purpose was to examine the degree to which the type of undergraduate institution applicants attended predicted score submission to GRE-optional programs, including when controlling for covariates (demographics, program degree and discipline, undergraduate grades). We used data provided by a doctoral degree–granting university to answer our research question. We indexed differences in GRE score submission using odds ratios. Both individually (1.93) and after controlling for covariates (2.00), we found that applicants from small, bachelor’s degree–granting schools were more likely to submit scores than applicants from large, doctoral degree–granting schools. Men were more likely to submit scores than women (1.55). Larger effects were observed for program characteristics: Ph.D. versus master’s (2.94), humanities versus social sciences (3.23), and fine arts versus social sciences (0.16). Our findings suggest that there may be differences in propensity to submit GRE scores to test-optional programs and that some of these differences may be associated with variables (undergraduate school, program type) that have not been widely discussed in the literature.