PERSPECTIVE THE FUTURE OF GRADUATE EDUCATION AND RESEARCH: DEVELOPING DISCIPLINARY DEPTH OR THE THRUST OF INTERDISCIPLINARITY, TRANSDISCIPLINARITY, AND MULTIDISCIPLINARITY

Abstract

With the advent of globalization and the complexities of the problems faced by contemporary societies that are multifaceted, there have been calls from governments, organizations, and various stakeholders in education to adopt a cross-disciplinary approach to graduate education and research. However, the disciplinary structures in many Higher Education Institutions pose serious challenges to cross-disciplinary education and research either in interdisciplinarity, transdisciplinarity, or multidisciplinarity. Many instructors jealously guard their disciplinary trajectories and are biased toward other disciplines, even crippling funding opportunities meant for cross-disciplinary projects. This paper analyzes the strict compliance to the development of disciplinary depth or the pursuance of cross-disciplinary thrust promoted in the 21st Century. It presents best practices from institutions promoting the use of a cross-disciplinary approach to graduate education and research. The paper argues that cross-disciplinary training in graduate education is only possible when there are strong backgrounds in discipline-specific areas. While this is true, the paper contends that the future of graduate education and research is enshrined in the innovative fusion of disciplines in a cross-disciplinarity approach, whether interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary, or transdisciplinary- a strong merger that births significant innovations and solutions needed to make our world a better haven to live.