Analysis of Postgraduate Programs in the EHEA and the USA // Análisis de los programas de posgrado en el EEES y EEUU

Abstract

With the end, in 2010, of the period in which the countries of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) had to adapt their university education, the need to discover the current situation of postgraduate programs has arisen, in order to check the level of convergence between countries. It analysed the current legislation regulating postgraduate programs in the 47 countries of the EHEA and the USA, a country with great prestige in doctorate studies, using 147 indicators related to general program regulations, characteristics of the education systems, characteristics of the doctoral thesis and the requirements to be a thesis director or evaluator. The level of adaptation of these programs to the principles of the EHEA and the situation in the USA can be observed in the results. The convergence process between countries is discussed, establishing differences between European and American postgraduate studies. Finally, guidelines are proposed for the improvement of programs.