A new study by Xingjian Liu and F. Benjamin Zhan, published in The Professional Geographer, ranks UCSB Geography first in the productivity of research doctoral geography programs in the United States over the twenty-year period from 1991 to 2010, fifth among the ten geography programs that placed the most doctoral graduates in faculty positions in research doctoral geography programs from 1960-2010, and sixth among the top ten programs in terms of relative placement productivity from 1960-2010. UC Berkeley ranked first in the last two categories and second in the first one (Liu, Xingjian and F. Benjamin Zhan[(2012] “Productivity of Doctoral Graduate Placement Among PhD-Granting Geography Programs in the United States: 1960-2010.” The Professional Geographer 64[4]: 475-490).
Abstract: We use a network analysis approach to assess the productivity of research doctoral geography programs in the United States based on data about faculty members who received their PhDs during the period from 1960 to 2010 and held tenured or tenure-track positions in PhD-granting geography programs in the United States during the 2009–2010 academic year. This study reveals the most productive programs that placed the highest number of doctoral graduates in PhD-granting geography programs in the nation. In addition, we discuss the changes of placement productivity of various programs over time and illustrate the centrality of different doctoral programs. Furthermore, results from a correlation analysis suggest that the ranking of research doctoral geography programs based on the placement productivity measures presented in this article resembles the 1995 National Research Council (NRC) ranking of research doctoral geography programs reasonably well and significantly correlates with three major ratings, the S-Rank, the R-Rank, and research, in the 2010 NRC ranking.
Conclusions and Discussions: In summary, we first provided an assessment of the productivity of research doctoral geography programs in the United States based on data about the placement of doctoral graduates over the period from 1960 to 2010. The ten geography programs that had placed the most doctoral graduates in faculty positions in research doctoral geography programs over the fifty-one-year period are, in rank order, UC–Berkeley, Ohio State, Colorado, Wisconsin–Madison, UC–Santa Barbara, Minnesota, UC–Los Angeles, Penn State, Kansas, and Clark. The most productive programs over the twenty-year period from 1991 to 2010 are, in rank order, UC–Santa Barbara, UC–Berkeley, Colorado, Penn State, Wisconsin–Madison, Ohio State, Clark, Minnesota, SUNY Buffalo, Arizona, UC–Los Angeles, and South Carolina. The top ten programs in relative placement productivity over the twenty-year period are, in rank order, UC–Berkeley, Wisconsin–Madison, Iowa, Colorado, Ohio State, Washington, UC–Santa Barbara, Clark, Minnesota, and SUNY Buffalo.
The article concludes with the comment, “Because the education, training, and placement of doctoral graduates are among the most important missions of a research doctoral geography program, we hope that findings from this study will complement the results from the 2010 NCR ranking of research doctoral geography programs well.“ And, indeed, UCSB Geography fits that criterion (see the June 12, 2012 article “UCSB Geography Ranked Number One, Sometimes”).
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