Postgraduates' choice of programme: Helping universities to market and postgraduates to choose

Abstract

This exploration of the nature of demand for postgraduate information draws on two studies. The first, presented in outline, consists of an exploratory investigation of the information materials that some UK higher education institutions have provided about taught master's programmes in three subject areas. The conclusion is that these documents are uneven and frequently did not give sufficient information about academic and practical aspects of the programme. The second study, which dominates this article, centres upon a set of focus group interviews with students in the UK and the USA. The main claim here is that applicants and potential applicants want contact with departments and with their students. They are especially keen to discover something of the ‘lived experience˚s of the programme—of its personal and social character.