California State University, Bakersfield has been awarded a $25,000 grant through the National Science Foundation to participate in a project aimed at improving outcomes for future graduate students.
CSUB was one of 10 institutions chosen by the Council of Graduate Schools to participate in its Master’s Career Pathways Exit Survey Project. As part of the project, the university will survey students graduating from a master’s program over the course of a three-year period, starting this semester.
“By fielding the master’s exit survey, we will have data about our students for program improvement at the institution while informing national best practices,” said Dr. Debra Jackson, associate vice president for academic affairs and dean of academic programs. “The grant is for three years and coincides with the university’s strategic plan to be a data-driven campus, meet our DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) commitments and meet the educational needs of our students, community and industry.”
The survey aims to determine what factors are associated with students’ pursuit of master’s degrees, how attainment of a master’s degree explain persistence or job change within the workforce and how do master’s education pathways differ by subfields and socioeconomic attributes.
Dr. Luis Vega, interim associate dean of graduate and undergraduate studies, said the survey’s goals are to clarify educational outcomes and roadmaps to economic success for master’s students.
“Graduate students from throughout the nation will be surveyed to start a database that aims to better understand the evolving role of master’s education, in a similar fashion to what has been done for doctoral-level education for several years now,” he said.
Institutions participating in the survey are expected to use the data they collect to help make career outcomes more transparent to prospective master’s students, make sure programs and curriculum are aligned with the needs of a 21st century workforce, help build relationships with employers and cultivate an increasingly diverse body of master’s degree recipients.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau and the California Employment Development Department, only 5.2% of Kern County’s overall population has an advanced degree, which is less than half of the state’s average of 12.2%.
Dr. Vega said he hopes the data CSUB obtains from the survey will help the university make changes that will lead to more students graduating from master’s programs and succeeding in the workforce.
“We need to learn more about our students and what their needs are,” he said. “Our graduate programs are still in a maturation process. This project is going to give us guidance and feedback that will help us develop existing programs and create new ones that better meet the needs of the community.”
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