Postgraduate Research Experience Survey (PRES) 2011 - Higher ...

More documents

Recommendations

Info

PRES 2011 Results – September 2011 Figure 3.28: Professional development items by % agree by source of funding, Q7 53
PRES 2011 Results – September 2011 Conclusion As the Smith report noted in March 2010, the Postgraduate Research Experience Survey is the primary source of data on postgraduate researchers’ experiences in the UK 33 . This report has presented headline results from the 2011 survey, along with more detailed analysis in specific areas, in order to both provide an overall picture and to complement the institutional level data held by individual HEIs. These findings from PRES 2011 demonstrate that research students largely consider their experience to be a positive one: nearly nine out of ten (86%) of the students who took part in the 2011 survey rated their experience as having met or exceeded their expectations 34 . Perhaps more important than the simple level of positivity is the fact that PRES results are continuing to improve year-on-year. There are various possible explanations for this, most obviously an underlying improvement in the postgraduate research student experience as HEIs continue to develop facilities, policies and practices. It might also reflect rising awareness among research students in the value of providing feedback on their experiences 35 . This national report is a useful tool to help institutions to benchmark their own PRES results, and it is recommended that they use these top-level numbers, along with their own PRES data, as a starting point to explore the experiences of their own postgraduate researchers. Are they generally as positive as the national picture suggests about supervision? Are they as positive overall – and, even if they are, what of the 14% whose experiences were below their expectations? Are their motivations and career aspirations different, and what effect does that have on their perceptions of other aspects of their experience? Tailored internal surveys, focus groups, and general engagement with students and their representatives can all help to build a detailed picture of the experiences of postgraduate researchers within an institution, using these PRES results as a basis. The Higher Education Academy will continue to run PRES on an alternate-yearly basis – so it will run again in 2012-13. 2011-12 will be an ‘enhancement year’, and the HEA will provide extensive support to institutions in analysing, interpreting and using their results to enhance their postgraduate research provision. Information about this activity will be available on the HEA’s website throughout the coming months: http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/postgraduate-enhancement. 33 Smith et al. (2010), p. 37 34 This is roughly in line with results from the National Student Survey (82% in 2010) and the Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey (88% in 2011). 35 The apparent improvement in the 2011 results may also in part be a product of introducing the ‘Not Applicable’ option to a wider range of items, though analysis indicates that this is unlikely. See ‘Introduction’. 54
Page 1 and 2:
Postgraduate Research Experience Su
Page 3 and 4: PRES 2011 Results - September 2011
Page 53: PRES 2011 Results - September 2011
Page 65 and 66: I felt inspired to work with a part
Page 87 and 88: Malta Marshall Islands Martinique
show all

Postgraduate Research Experience Survey (PRES) 2011 - Higher ...

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?