As you know, we have been engaged in a process of professional skill development for graduate students and postdocs. To be clear, by professional skills we mean skills that would be useful for graduates and postdocs beyond their disciplinary knowledge and disciplinary skills. We also mean by skill something that can be learned and something that requires practice. Like so many of the useful bits of our professional toolkits! So these skills range from the generic, communication to CV writing, committee management, interviewing, leadership, research management, ethical research decision making, and so on. Last year we tried out some ideas on the Interdisciplinary PhD people, our test set, so to speak. This went pretty well and led us to consider in a more formal manner principles and core topics, etc.
A couple of interesting points came up in the discussion of principles. First, that the development of professional skills in our graduate students should not extend the length of time they spend in their program. So, it is fine to say that every graduate student should know about project management but to design a program that takes 2 years to show competency is not on. Second, that the students need a chance to practice these skills. Given that, a measure of competency is needed and furthermore that the attainment of competency, however it is measured, should be recognized. (We have some other principles but you may have to wait for us to finish the document!)
If these skills are actually of benefit to students then I would contend that the student must recognize the value and invest in the attainment of competency and its relevance to them, buy-in in other words. The portfolio approach may be just the ticket in this case. The student outlines objectives and an agenda and then selects and compiles examples of specific experiences they have had that directly contribute to the development of the skill in question. Each skill portfolio would also require considered reflections on the experiences and how the learning objectives have been met. The student would then present his or her case for "credit". For example, communication skills might include seminar presentations, conference papers, talks to high school students with appropriate feedback and reflection. This makes the student responsible for their own learning and learning experience. This does not preclude workshops, of course, but allows the learning from workshops to be more tightly coupled with the student's career aspirations. Some students may invest more time on the practice and development of a given skill than others but that should reflect their own professional goals and their own assessment of benefit rather than our finely honed view of what is "good for them."
We all need to have a toolkit of skills beyond our academic expertise. We all need to practice these skills to maintain competency and improve. Maybe we can help our students make the transition from the academy to career, whatever that may be, by giving them a head start.
Another work in progress!
Carolyn