The Future of Our PhD Programs: Are We Giving Our PhD Students What They NEED?

At the 2024 National Academy of Kinesiology meeting, we addressed whether we are giving doctoral students what they need. Information was collected primarily by soliciting answers to open-ended questions from 14 experienced faculty mentors at Research 1 institutions. The strong themes that emerged were that training PhD students has changed and, in general, we have been slow to adapt. Students want training in skills that are transferable across a wide range of career options. Modern students are more likely to have “outside” responsibilities and want better work–life balance to manage them. This generation of students struggles with mental health and requires more flexibility and understanding than the traditional “apprentice model” has often provided. Tools like individual development plans can help establish expectations regarding workload, timeline, productivity, and so on but only if reevaluated regularly. We must maintain our high standards in terms of work quality/scientific rigor, but expecting these things requires building, rather than assuming, mutual trust.