Becoming an academic: the role of doctoral capital in the field of education

This paper draws on Bourdieu’s concepts of field, capital and habitus to examine the learning and enculturation of alumni of a Canadian PhD programme in the discipline of Education. We introduce the concept of doctoral capital to help explain how and why some PhD graduates go on to secure faculty positions and others do not. Our research suggests that certain existing and acquired academic practices, attributes, dispositions and behaviours collectively form a type of doctoral capital that alumni can then use in the academic marketplace.     

The capstone experience: student and academic perspectives

A principal consideration in recent cross-sector educational reforms in Hong Kong is ensuring that undergraduate programmes prepare students for the future workplace, a factor that has made the capstone a central feature of the new four-year curriculum. This paper discusses a study that explored the final-year student experience based on a final-year project (FYP). Both recent graduate and final-year student feedbacks reveal some uncertainty and a lack of confidence over successful transition that graduates attribute to an overtly research focus in the current design of FYPs. Inviting comment from senior academics allows a fuller picture of the rationale behind, and administrative considerations in, conducting a capstone experience. This formative study highlights specific features in designing a capstone experience and the need for academic engagement in order to support the desired outcome of graduate employability.     

Contemporary perspectives on the Australian doctorate: framing insights to guide development

ABSTRACT

The growth of the doctorate in recent decades has spawned concerns about programme quality and external relevance. This article reports findings from research conducted in Australia that was shaped by the view that the doctorate remains in need of educational clarification and design. The research generated insights that can be used to modernise and realign the doctorate. First, this article discusses the development of a doctoral education framework. Next, it presents results from a questionnaire developed using the framework and administered in a national survey to both five-year-out doctoral graduates and to doctoral experts. This identifies the need to design programmes that better orient and align research training with students’ professional aspirations, incorporate more real-world forms of learning, enhance traditional aspects of research training and provide structured reports of doctoral outcomes, experiences and preparations. The results underpin the need for more specific analyses of outcomes and assessment, the nature and distribution of doctoral experiences and the design and management of the resources that go into doctoral education.     

The learning alliance: ethics in doctoral supervision

This paper is concerned with the ethics of relationships in doctoral supervision. We give an overview of four paradigms of doctoral supervision that have endured over the past 25 years and elucidate some of their strengths and limitations, contextualise them historically and consider their implications for doctoral supervision in the contemporary university. Two common threads across the four paradigms are a view of doctoral supervision as pedagogical practice and that supervisors have primary responsibility for the supervision of doctoral students. We challenge these assumptions. In their place, we propose that the goal of doctoral supervision is praxis and that this involves a learning alliance between multiple institutional agents grounded in a relational ethics of mutual responsibility.     

Becoming real: adult student impressions of developing an educational researcher identity

This study investigated the inner experiences of adults learning to become educational researchers. Through narrative analysis of doctoral students’ tales of memorable early encounters in conducting research, insight was gained into the self-questioning tension, conflict, and drama often experienced. A discussion about how to utilize students’ reflective writings to provide appropriate developmental support in doctoral programmes is provided.     

专业博士教育研究20年:主题比较与路向探寻

专业博士教育以回应国家重要战略和社会重大需求为主要指向,是培养高层次应用型专门人才的重要渠道。聚焦于2001—2020年CNKI和WOS两大数据库的相关文献数据,从不同维度对国内外专业博士教育研究20年的主题进行比较。研究发现,20年来国内外专业博士教育的研究主题在宏观的目标定位与专业博士类别(领域)、中观的研究视角与内容、微观的研究路径与方法等方面有一定的异同之处,由此所产生的研究成果也各具特色。为进一步探寻我国专业博士教育研究的未来发展路向,还需在专业博士教育的基本理论研究、微观国际比较与本土经验挖掘、专业博士社会化过程研究、行业组织研究以及动态质量监测与质量指数研究等方面不断拓展和充实。     

Industry and PhD engagement programs: inspiring collaboration and driving knowledge exchange

Universities are breaking away from the academic apprenticeship-type PhD model towards more individualised and collaborative programmes. Papers published in peer-reviewed academic journals on this topic were compiled to investigate the conversation surrounding PhD reform. Important considerations derived from the literature were that PhD programmes should encourage candidates to rethink their professional identity, acquire an interdependent suite of skills from a range of contexts and set goals in multiple working environments. Continued commitment to programmes that recognise the converging similarities and interdependencies between research and industry was supported, but with a flexible approach in order to maintain the uniqueness of the PhD as a process where academic identity is formed and academic rigour is respected as an important outcome. Best practice might be aimed at offering work placements in multiple environments to keep professional identities current. Areas for further exploration include perceived challenges, benefits and concerns when engaging in collaborative programmes.     

Was it worth it? A qualitative exploration into graduate perceptions of doctoral value

The recruitment of doctoral graduates yields collective knowledge, skills, networking, and prestige benefits to organisations, and to UK industries. As individuals though, do graduates experience overall benefit from their doctorate, and how do they perceive the value that engaging with doctoral study confers? This interview study used a critical, interpretive lens to examine perceptions of value across experiences of doctoral education and asked specifically about the utility of doctoral skills, behaviours, and competencies when translated into different workplaces. It presents some of the first insights into how doctoral value is perceived by graduates and the costs and benefits of doctoral study within and beyond the academy. Doctoral graduates (n?=?22) identified four domains of doctoral value: (1) career value; (2) skills value; (3) social value; (4) personal value. These were influenced by factors experienced both during and after their degrees: (1) time since graduation; (2) supervision; (3) accrued social connectivity; (4) employer value of the doctorate. Our conceptual model of doctoral value contributes to international higher education knowledge by providing a structure for enhancing the doctoral experience and its benefits, both during study and for entering the job market.     

Why did I drop out? Former students’ recollections about their study process and factors related to leaving the doctoral studies

Recent reforms in higher education have provided material for researching different aspects of doctoral studies in a variety of ways. Much of the current literature concentrates on characteristics of effective supervision and doctoral students’ experiences. Less attention has been paid to the study experiences of non-completers – former doctoral students who dropped out of doctoral programmes prior to graduation. In the current study, we explore doctoral studies experiences from the perspective of non-completers and aim to identify factors that were related to dropping out. Data were collected with semi-structured interviews from 14 former doctoral students in the field of education, and qualitative thematic data analysis techniques were employed for data analysis. The results indicate that dropping out from doctoral studies is associated with different factors: for example, (with) students’ personal factors, supervisory arrangements, as well as factors related to institution and the wider learning environment. These results are further discussed and implications for enhancing study arrangements for doctoral studies are presented.     

Departmental academic support for doctoral students in Russia: Categorisation and effects

Departmental academic support plays an important role in a doctoral journey. However, different types of support may be related to different outcomes. This paper aims to provide a categorisation of types of departmental academic support and analyse the relationship between these different categories of support and doctoral students' confidence that they will complete their dissertations. The empirical base for the research is data from a cross-institutional survey of doctoral students at six Russian universities. Based on the results of latent class analysis (LCA), we distinguished six types of departmental academic support depending on the functions performed by supervisors, other faculty members and department heads. Consistent with previous research, we found that departmental academic support plays a crucial role in doctoral students' experiences and outcomes, while lack of support is related to a lower level of confidence about completing a dissertation. At the same time, our results provide evidence that excessive collective engagement in doctoral students' work from departmental staff may be less effective than the strong engagement of a supervisor, assisted by informational support from other staff members.     

Associations Between Family Relationships and Psychiatric Symptomatology in Undergraduate Students:

The present study investigated whether or not gender differences moderate the association between family relationships and psychiatric symptomatology in undergraduate students. One hundred ninety-eight undergraduate students (115 females and 83 males) completed self-report instruments assessing primary psychiatric symptomatology, personality disorder symptomatology, and family relationship closeness/distance. The results of this research indicated that family relationship closeness/distance was consistently associated with both of the psychiatric sumptom measures in the female subsample. Family love, understanding, companionship, and advice were negatively associated with psychiatric symptoms, while family problems, the desire for privacy and freedom from the family, ideological differences, and tensions involving friends were positively associated with psychiatric symptoms. In contrast, family relationships were infrequently correlated with psychiatric symptoms in the male subsample. Implications of these findings are discussed in the context of previous research on the association between family relationships and psychological well-being in female and male late adolescents.     

Constructing an academic identity in Australia: an autoethnographic narrative

This paper examines the process of academic identity construction experienced by a Chinese PhD student in an Australian university from 2010 to 2014. The researcher draws on his diaries written in Australia and uses some stories of the relationships with his supervisors and other scholars to unfold the process of his academic identity construction in a host academic community. Two years on, the researcher reflects on the challenges confronted during his candidature, exploring the Australian PhD education system from within. This study will help educators and supervisors to understand an international higher degree research student’s gradual academic identity construction as a cultural Other in the context of globalized higher education systems, and it will contribute to the mutual understanding between supervisors and international research students, as well as supervisors’ professional supervision in a globalized higher education context.     

Juggling competing activities: academic staff as doctoral candidates

ABSTRACT

This article explores the experiences of a group of established academic staff in New Zealand and the UK, as they undertake a doctorate in their home institutions. Our interest is in how individuals negotiate this dual status from a cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) stance that explores how rules, tools, community and divisions of labour, and interacting activity systems, shape doctoral experiences. The focus in this article, having analysed their detailed narrative accounts, is on how academics experience three interdependent activity systems: those surrounding the thesis, the institutional context, and the home-life spheres. Issues related to time, workload and supervision issues, variability in collegial support and impact on personal priorities and time emerged. There is a range of particularities – from easy access to resources/supervisors to inflexible institutional regulations – applicable to this group of doctoral candidates. Negotiating life as an academic with concurrent doctoral candidature provides positive outcomes in terms of teaching, research confidence and general personal and professional development. However, a range of difficulties can also be encountered, particularly in relation to personal and professional relationships, and workload management.     

博士生延期毕业影响因素的实证研究

伴随知识经济的发展与创新竞争的加剧,博士人才培养的重要性日益凸显。在研究生招生规模扩大的背景下,博士生延期毕业现象愈发普遍。文章在分析延毕群体特征的基础上,从个体特征、导学互动、院校培养机制三个层面分析博士生延期毕业的影响因素。研究发现,年龄偏长、学术参与不足的博士生陷入延期毕业的可能性更高,理科博士生延毕情况较文科博士生更为严重;良性的导学互动对抑制博士延期现象具有显著的积极作用;院校课程设置注重学科交叉性,结合专业基础与学科前沿,能够有效降低博士生延毕风险。博士生延毕的影响因素存在学科异质性,在优化培养机制、合理设置学制时应考虑学科特征差异。     

Realising graduate attributes in the research degree: the role of peer support groups

This paper discusses the role of peer support groups (PSGs) in realising graduate attributes in the research degree. The literature indicates that top-down embedding of graduate attributes has met with only limited success. By taking a bottom-up approach, this paper shows that PSGs offer an opportunity to improve the graduate attribute outcomes of universities. This paper presents the experiences of research students in three PSGs in New Zealand, Australia and Malaysia, and the results of an exploratory opinion survey that required past and present PSG members to share their learning experiences about the development of graduate attributes. The participants favoured five attributes: communication, critical thinking, self-motivation, research organisation and teamwork. Viewing the development of graduate attributes through the lens of the students adds to our understanding of how PSGs help them to develop graduate attributes and contribute to university efforts to instil these attributes by taking into account experiential learning.     

博士研究生质量保证体系研究

由于我国学位与研究生教育起步比较晚，与发达国家相比特别是博士研究生在培养质量方面尚存在较大差距。作根本工作实践，分析了博士生在培养过程中存在的问题，并提出建立其质量保证体系的基本框架和内容，以推进博士研究生培养工作的规范化、制度化，从而达到培养一流高层次人才的目标。     

Advancing Doctoral Social Work Education: An Application of the Social-Ecological Framework

Graduates of social work doctoral programs are an integral part of social work education and, as faculty, training of BSW and MSW students. Missing from the literature are theoretical frameworks that advance the study of “what works and for whom” in social work doctoral education. Building upon the existing literature, this article proposes a conceptual framework for enhancing doctoral students’ experiences, as well as doctoral education programs. Specific strategies grounded by this framework are put forward to guide PhD students and educators in advancing doctoral social work education.     

Positive and negative experiences related to doctoral study conditions

ABSTRACT

During their doctoral studies, students undergo an emotionally and intellectually intensive process involving a wide range of positive and negative experiences. This article analyses PhD students’ perceptions of the most positive and negative experiences related to doctoral study conditions. Previous researchers have primarily focused on analysing experiences that negatively affect doctoral work and have related these experiences to institutional, social and individual variables. However, little is known regarding positive experiences and how both positive and negative experiences are interpreted and related to variables connected with doctoral study, such as discipline, funding, enrolment type, and the stage of the doctoral process. In total, 1173 doctoral students from 56 Spanish universities completed an open-ended online survey. The findings indicate that opportunities for PhD students to communicate their scientific advances, receive expert feedback and interact with other researchers have a high positive influence on their doctoral journey. However, funding difficulties, particularly for students in the social sciences, and relationships with the research community, principally with the supervisor, were perceived as the main negative challenges. Experiences related to research design, data collection and analysis were perceived either negatively – primarily for mid-level students – or positively. These results should be considered in future doctoral programme policies to determine when, how and why to provide specific support during the doctoral process.     

How do doctoral students experience supervision?

Supervision has been shown to have a high impact on doctoral students' development. However, little is known about how students perceive not only negative but also positive doctoral experiences, as well as their strategies for dealing with perceived problematic situations. The aim of this study is to analyse and relate doctoral students' significant supervision experiences to the strategies they use to cope with these experiences when they perceive them as challenging or negative. A total of 1173 doctoral students from different research-intensive Spanish universities responded to four open-ended questions about their most significant experiences in their doctoral journey, associated feelings and strategies to deal with them. We identified a total of 223 experiences related to supervision that were distributed into five categories: 1) central prerequisites for supervision, 2) supervisor choice, 3) supervision of the research process, 4) coaching and 5) project management. The results showed three distinct ways, as reported by the students, of handling the perceived negative supervision experiences: 1) no strategy, 2) local strategy and 3) regulatory strategy. The results suggest that analysing both positive and negative experiences may better capture variability in students' supervision experiences. A relation between experiences with supervision and students' satisfaction was also detected.