Survey of Doctoral Programs in Personality and Social Psychology,1992

Abstract

The size, admissions, support for students, requirements, curriculum content, completion rates, and student placements of 57 doctoral programs in personality and social psychology were surveyed in 1992. Programs offering more financial support were more selective in admissions and had higher completion rates. Larger programs attracted students with higher Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores but placed a smaller proportion of graduates into psychology departments. Programs with higher GRE scores and more placement success had a higher proportion of minority students. Comparisons with a similar survey conducted 6 years earlier showed that there were fewer programs in 1992 but that they offered their students more financial support and placed a higher proportion of graduates in academic or postdoctoral jobs. Programs in 1992 had more requirements but less curricular coverage of the content surveyed. Possible reasons for these changes, how to measure program quality, program types, and directions for future research are discussed.