Nettles, Michael T. and Catherine M. Millett. (2006). Three Magic Letters: Getting to Ph.D. Reviewed by Sheila T. Gregory and Keith L. Reynolds, Clark Atlanta University

Nettles, Michael T. and Catherine M. Millett. (2006). Three Magic Letters: Getting to Ph.D. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins Press. Pp. 384         ISBN 0-8018-8232-X

Reviewed by Sheila T. Gregory and Keith L. Reynolds
Clark Atlanta University

May 23, 2007

Three Magic Letters: Getting to Ph.D. by Michael T. Nettles and Catherine M. Millett, is a comprehensive and valuable summary of the results of empirical research study that examined the experiences of graduate school students pursuing doctoral degrees in the United States. Michael Nettles currently holds the position of Senior Vice President for Policy Evaluation and Research at the Educational Testing Service (ETS) in Princeton, New Jersey, and is the Chair for the Social Justice Action Committee of the American Educational Research Association. Catherine Millett is a research scientist at the ETS Policy Evaluation Center.

Nettles and Millett present hard evidence of the problems facing graduate students today. In the first chapter, A Map from the Past to the Present, the authors historically trace the doctoral journey through its European roots to the first American doctorate at Yale in 1860. The following chapter titled, Contexts, Trends, and Conceptual Framework for Research, provides somewhat overwhelming statistical details about the types of higher educational institutions which began offering the doctoral degree and the number of universities that started awarding the degree. The authors note, for example, that by 1924, sixty-one American universities were awarding the degree. The rationale given for this substantial growth included the desire of many to achieve a greater understanding and to acquire knowledge that was becoming more appealing and valued as society advanced. During the 1960s and 1970s, in spite of their second class citizenship, the doctoral degrees for persons of color (inclusive of women) quadrupled, while the number of men who were recipients only tripled. Edward Bouchet, the first African American to receive a doctorate from Yale, and W.E.B. DuBois, the first African American to receive a doctorate from Harvard were also cited. This chapter also discusses the growing number of Hispanics and concluded with identifying the historical context of how the progression of the doctoral process and program and diversity has grown in the United States.

Survey Design and Research Logistics, the title of Chapter Three focuses on pre-doctoral screening, preparation, and socialization, in regards to their readiness for pursuit of the doctorate and the students need for personal satisfaction and self fulfillment in the doctoral process. The authors attention to this concept is important in part because as the responsibilities mount in achieving the goal, the student has to maintain a high degree of confidence within themselves or they will yield to challenges of grasping the degree and give up, with nothing but remorse for the expenses they that they have incurred and nothing to show for it. Chapter Four, Demographics and the Sample, provides greater depth of other moderator variables (such as race, age, marital status and other personal factors) which the authors contend, have a significant relationship with an individuals contemplation and aspiration for the doctoral degree. Admissions and Screening, the title of Chapter Five focuses on the reasons why certain students pursue doctoral program from many different perspectives. Nettles and Millett argue that these factors influence the routes doctoral students take in their undergraduate and graduate journeys. While the authors discuss many distinctions across the educational spectrum, the most notable distinction relates to the GRE and the race of the doctoral student.

Chapter Six, which is titled, Financing a Doctoral Education, addresses the overwhelming feat of doctoral students to remain financially enrolled and sustainable throughout the doctoral process and the devastating potential effect it can have on the student and family. Many graduate institutions offer alterative methods for financing, but they are rarely enough to meet the increasing costs of postsecondary education. Most often, the cost of college becomes a tremendous hardship that many parents are ill-prepared to face, even when families have engaged in long-term planning for the education of their children. With the cost of college increasing, scholarship, grants and other funding opportunities dwindling, and the dismantling of affirmative action efforts, this trend does not expect to improve. The most successful doctoral candidates and their families are usually very resourceful and both well-equipped and willing to make enormous sacrifices on a long-term basis for their children’s education.

In the following chapter, Socialization, the authors stress the importance of socialization as it related to academic performance, satisfaction, and overall student success. The authors define socialization as, “The process by which students acquire the attitudes, beliefs, values and skills needed to participate effectively in the organized activities of their profession” (p. 89). Upon entrance, most students expect the doctoral experience to be both challenging and stimulating both academically, intellectually and socially. Successful students learn what the expectations are, and understand the importance of socializing with faculty, advisors, staff and peers. They also hit the ground running with the selection of a diverse set of formal and informal academic mentors that can help them navigate their academic program and at least one close informal, personal mentor, possibly a student who has advanced to candidacy and can help the student negotiate their social and personal life around the rigorous demands of the academic program. But the authors also talk about a different reality for our students; one which can be filled with anxiety, frustration, extreme stress, and sometimes bewilderment that can lead to dropping or stopping out or disengaging after completing the all the coursework and becoming the fated ABD. A majority of professors agreed that having or being a mentor was essential to the success of graduate students, particularly minorities and females. Having a mentor provided faculty interactions that provided students with invaluable resources for academic and career advice, encouragement, and project reviews. Unfortunately, the study showed that the demand for minority faculty members who can fill this important mentoring role was not currently being met. Opportunities for both socialization and strong support and guidance during the academic journey, are critical components that many students would be wise to consider prior to selecting a doctoral program.

Chapter Eight, entitled Research Productivity, is the second shortest chapter, but excellent advice for all doctoral students and young scholars. In this chapter, the authors address the importance of research, most commonly in the form of presentations at professional conferences, boor reviews, book chapters, journal articles and books, with an emphasis on co-authorships. Nettles and Millett point to an important trend that Lindsey Walters of Harvard University Press described as the two books requirement the tenure. While this in and of itself is not unusual, the fact that, according to Walters, “this has led to frenzied behavior on the part of graduate students now trying to multiply the number of publications in their curriculum vitae” (p. 104). The authors also note that African Americans as a whole have fewer publications than Anglo and other ethnic groups. The importance of a strong research agenda, active productivity, and quality publications in primarily refereed journal, cannot be overstated.

The following chapter entitled, Satisfaction, Performance and Progress, begins with, “I intend to discontinue my doctoral studies as of May of this year. Why? 1) I cannot find a program that suits my field; 2) I could not find a “fit” within an established program/department; 3) No money; 4) Not clear it would make a significant difference” (p. 113). It suggests that students who attain a doctoral degree are committed to a lifelong career in their chosen field of interest, especially if the have previous experience in their field of interest and the timing is right. The remainder of the chapter focuses on student satisfaction and why some doctoral students stop-out. There is clearly a strong correlation, of varying degrees, between student satisfaction, student confidence, grades, a student’s general disposition, a strong self-concept and persistence. As one would expect, the students self-reporting the highest the satisfaction, are also the most persistent and report the highest grades. Likewise, when students are not satisfied, they tend to stop-out for a period of time or permanently drop-out.

Chapter Ten examines the hotly debated issues of Rate of Progress, Completion, and Time to Degree. Unlike many other shorter degree programs that are often untaken by younger students, the doctorate is a terminal degree that requires longer and more rigorous coursework and other requirements. Today, students are much more diverse and have many varying complex needs and challenges that cannot be generalized to any one age, gender, race, or ethnic group. Since this group tends to be older, their lives are more contingent upon outside forces and family ties than can interrupt and long-term pursuits, such as the attainment of a doctoral degree. Simply put, life happens and many of the policy structures currently in place in postsecondary education, do not adequately address the needs of roughly a third strong and growing population of doctoral students that have no other choice but to stop-out in some fashion, either through a formal leave-of-absence, or just non enrollment for a period of time to address unplanned personal and family issues. All institutions have guidelines and requirements for time of completion, ranging from 4-10 years, beginning with either the semester the student is accepted into the doctoral program or when the student registers for their first doctoral class, and ending with the successful doctoral defense of the dissertation. But at some point, nearly all doctoral students will be faced with the decision of whether or not that should interrupt their doctoral studies to address an immediate personal or professional need. Some students will opt to take a leave-of-absence, while others will grin and bear it, hopefully without it negatively impacting their doctoral studies.

Predicting Experiences and Performance focuses on eight elements the authors argue are both significant predictors and outcomes of the doctoral student experience, which include financial support, socialization, research productivity, satisfaction, stopping out, rate of progress, degree completion, and elapsed time to degree. Overall, the study found that the greatest indicator of student performance was research productivity, such as presentations at academic conferences and the publication of book chapters, journals or books. Productive students were also more likely to be in the program a longer period of time, were most likely to have mentors, and most often had student assistantships. Several findings in this chapter were unexpected. For example, the authors reported that the higher the household income, the most likely a student would dropout, which conflicts with previous studies which indicate that lack of financial assistance is a leading cause of dropout and stop-out among doctoral students. Furthermore, funding options also were reported to play a limited role in predicting degree completion and gender did not influence degree completion in any field. Similarly, students with higher GRE verbal scores progressed much slower in the fields of education, engineering, the social sciences and the sciences and mathematics.

Chapter Twelve, titled, Interpreting Field Differences, discusses the eight factors that help to explain the challenges and differences experienced by doctoral students during their academic study. The eight main factors include: GRE scores, financial support, mentoring, student interactions with faculty, research productivity, rate of progress, degree completion and time to degree, and career expectations. This chapter provided a wealth of information that was enlightening in many respects. For example, the authors found that students with higher test scores did not always fare well in their doctoral studies and in some cases, even took longer to complete the doctoral degree, than did students with lower GRE scores. Nettles and Millett contend, “faculty and high-scoring students themselves nay have unrealistic expectations of the value of high GRE General Test scores” (p. 185). Furthermore, the authors state that, “ the factors that seem to count in degree completion—qualities like peer and faculty relationship building, self-direction, work ethic, and so on—are mostly unknown when a student is admitted into a doctoral program” (p.186). There were a handful of other major findings in this chapter as well that deserve attention. The authors found that different types of financial funding (which addressed different stages in their doctoral program) had strong long-term effects on the outcomes and experiences of doctoral students. As with similar studies, the authors found strong relationships between students’ socialization, research productivity, degree of completion and mentoring. But Nettles and Millett are quick to distinguish the academic role of advisors from the more comprehensive role of mentors.

The following chapter focuses on Group-Specific Implications as they examine the differences between race and ethnicity groups, including the experiences of international students. The findings are students of color are not surprising. For example, because African American and Latino students typically perform lower on the GRE and faculty tend to select students with higher GRE scores to work most closely with, in terms of research, grants, assistantships, school or department fellowships, and often mentoring relationships, students of color are less likely to be presented with these types of attractive opportunities. Likewise, African American students were less satisfied with their academic programs and were less likely to publish an article than their other doctoral cohorts. In addition, African American doctoral students reported lower expectations of becoming active scholars than did their white counterparts. As one might expect, international students progressed quicker, acquired less debt, and had fewer peer interaction, although they secured many research and teaching assistantships. In terms of gender and age, older students progressed at a quicker rate and men published more often than women. The most important finding in this chapter was, “in no field does the percentage of African Americans who successfully completed their doctoral degree approach 50 percent” (p. 214). Also surprising as noted earlier, were that students reporting the highest incomes, were most likely to stop out of their doctoral programs and often took longer to complete their degrees.

The final chapter, The Doctoral Student Experience: New Answers and New Questions served to summarize the major findings of the book that these reviewers have well articulated in this review. Overall, the authors point out that a doctoral degree still remains primarily in the hands of the elite and with costs rapidly increasing, and with funding and affirmative action efforts quickly dwindling, the prospect for most students of color are not good. If the goal is to “enhance the doctoral experience for all students,” what are the implications of these findings, specifically as it relates to racial and ethnic diversity? What can be done to address these concerns so that greater numbers of students of color can matriculate through the pipeline and obtain their doctoral degrees?

Overall, Three Magic Letters: Getting to Ph.D. is a very important and timely body of substantial research that provides the largest collection of data available on students in graduate school. As noted in this review, the contributions of this book are enormous and provides both evidence and unique perspectives that will likely influence current and future research and policy in postsecondary education for a long time to come.

About the Reviewers

Sheila T. Gregory is a professor in the department of educational leadership at Clark Atlanta University.

Keith Reynolds is a doctoral student in the department of educational leadership at Clark Atlanta University.