Three Magic Letters: Getting to Ph.D. , by Michael T. Nettles and Catherine M. Millett (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006, $42.00 hardcover)

Michael T. Nettles and Catherine M. Millett analyze data from the largest survey ever conducted about doctoral students to examine factors that contribute to the successful completion of the Ph.D.--from admissions to financing, social situations to faculty mentoring. While the project began from a question of how doctoral students supported themselves financially, it grew to include other major categories of analysis: research productivity, satisfaction and performance, rate of progress, predictors of performance, interpretation of field difference, and group-specific implications based primarily on race/ethnicity, major field, age, sex, and marital status. The authors carefully outline their methodology and survey questions and include numerous statistical tables to support their findings.

Institutional funding and the accessibility of faculty mentors are two important factors contributing to successful completion of the degree. Data suggests that out of major fields--education, engineering, humanities, sciences and mathematics, and social sciences--engineering students have the highest and most positive social interactions with faculty, while students in the social sciences reported the lowest satisfaction with their programs. The authors report that African American students in education, sciences and mathematics, and social sciences are far less likely than other racial groups to publish articles, and women of all races and in all fields reported lower student-faculty interactions.

This work will be helpful for doctoral students in assessing the prospects and pitfalls they may encounter. Moreover, it provides university administrators and faculty ample data by which they can assess their programs and environments to improve the success rate of Ph.D. students at their institution.

Most College Students are Women: Implications for Teaching, Learning, and Policy , Edited by Jeanie K. Allen, Susan J. Bracken, and Diane R. Dean (Stylus Publishing, 2007, $24.95 paperback)

This collection reveals the continued barriers to the success of women students and offers practical remedies to benefit all students. Its overarching argument is that feminist pedagogy can help teachers engage all students and encourage them to excel. Moreover, it asserts that recent research about women's college experiences has generated new methods for increasing civic education for all students.

The articles explore how specific disciplines--particularly in scientific fields--continue to hinder women's success, despite women's increasing enrollment in universities. Other considerations include campus culture and its effect on students, such as binge drinking, sexual assault, and homophobic behaviors, and suggestions for improving peer culture. The book also offers some transformative approaches to problems that arise at the intersection of race and gender.

Most College Students are Women offers educators not only insight into the university experience of female students--now the majority on college campuses--but also into attempts to provide pedagogical guidance for creating an inclusive and dynamic classroom experience for all students.

Global Issues and Adult Education: Perspectives from Latin America, Southern Africa, and the United States, Edited by Sharan B. Merriam, Bradley C. Courtenay, and Ronald M. Cervero (Jossey-Bass Wiley Publishing, 2006, $48.00 hardcover)

Global Issues and Adult Education is based on cutting-edge research and analysis from the Cyril O. Houle Scholars in Adult and Continuing Education. This collection provides an overview of key issues influencing global adult education ranging from globalization in Latin America to welfare reform in the United States to HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. The aim of the book is to address how adult education can and should prepare people for a range of global issues.

The book is divided into five sections, each of which begins with a framework for the chapter issue, followed by thematic articles. The five major themes are: Globalization and the Market Economy; Marginalized Populations; Environment and Health; Community Empowerment; and Lifelong Learning and Educational Systems.

The authors support the need for grassroots activism, and argue that adult education can support critical issues such as public health initiatives and safe environmental strategies. In addition, the book is filled with compelling examples from southern Africa, Latin America, and the United States that clearly demonstrate the use of popular education for community empowerment.