Table of Contents for Volume 13, 2018, of the International Journal of Doctoral Studies

Aim/Purpose: In the time that we study for our dissertation, our learning takes many turns. Sometimes we feel excited, motivated and accomplished, while other times frustrated, tired or unsure. This paper presents a poem to illustrate one student’s PhD journey through reflection on those fluctuations, milestones and learning moments experienced along the way. Background: Central to the journey pr ...

Aim/Purpose: The aim of this paper is to identify some of the issues in writing a trans-disciplinary doctoral thesis and to develop strategies for addressing them, particularly focusing on the presentation of data and data analysis. The paper, based on the authors’ own experience, offers guidance to, and invites further comment from, transdisciplinary doctoral candidates, their supervisors and the ...

Aim/Purpose: This study analyses the concept of doctorateness and its defining characteristics and gives a definition for it by examining the various ways it is used in doctoral education literature. Background: The term ‘doctorateness’ is an immature unclarified concept referred to as a common quality for all doctoral awards. With the emergence of different types of doctoral studies worldwide, ...

Aim/Purpose: Retention of doctoral students, particularly during the dissertation stage, has been a decades-old concern. The study examined the value of dissertation chairs’ use of a cloud-based video technology for coaching doctoral students, and its influence on psychological factors previously linked to retention. The psychological aspects included social presence, research self-efficacy, socia ...

Aim/Purpose: The purpose of this quantitative descriptive study is to provide a preliminary examination of students’ retention factors of engagement, communication, and isolation that may be affected by the introduction and use of online communities for dissertation development within an online doctoral program. Background: This research is a continuation of the university’s 5-year research initi ...

Aim/Purpose: The present work focuses on French PhD students’ well-being: an understudied working population thus far, which impedes the development of evidence-based policies on this issue in France.The focus of this work is the well-being of French PhD students, on which almost nothing has been published thus far, impeding any evidence-based policy on this issue to be carried out in France. Bac ...

Aim/Purpose: The aim of this study is to further our collective understanding of the practicalities and possibilities of the Thesis by Publication (TBP) in the disciplinary context of the Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) in Australia. Background: Recent times have seen an increasing pressure for publication during candidature in Australian universities for a range of strategic goals that are ...

Aim/Purpose: Engagement in doctoral training is intended to lead to personal development, as well as – of course - the development of a person’s skills as a researcher. Having engaged in the occupation of doctoral training, I aim to reflect upon how my identity as researcher developed throughout this process; that is, through doing, being, becoming, and belonging. The aim of my doctoral research w ...

Aim/Purpose: Understanding the educational needs of postgraduate research candidates (PGRs) is essential to facilitate development, support attainment, and maintain graduate quality. Background: The production and effective defence of the research thesis are the summative assessment tools used in postgraduate research education. Examiners’ reports provide a rich source of feedback and indicate th ...

Aim/Purpose: Learning to conduct research, including considerations for concepts such as reflexivity, is a key component of doctoral student preparation in higher education. Yet limited attention is given to doctoral student training for conducting international research, particularly in understanding researcher reflexivity within international contexts. Background: Incorporating reflexive prac ...

Aim/Purpose: To present quantitative results of an investigation that assessed crises reported by doctoral candidates while working toward their degree. Background: Crises that candidates encounter during their doctoral journey may lead to attrition from the doctoral program. A crisis in a doctoral project has several characteristics that must be understood in order to identify the crisis and, ...

Aim/Purpose: The purpose of this research is to explore and describe the role of care and socio-emotional learning in the first year of doctoral study. In particular, understanding the nature of the caring relationships doctoral students experience and their development of effective socio-emotional capacity are the primary foci of this study. It may provide institutions with data necessary to ad ...

Aim/Purpose: The present quantitative, cross-sectional study aimed to investigate objective and subjective factors in the self-determination of doctoral students in their educational activities. Objective determinants included major discipline and forms of academic and scholarly activity (that is, attending classes and writing papers), and subjective determinants included personal characteristics ...

Aim/Purpose: The traditional doctoral dissertation is the first major research project that is led by doctoral students, but it does not necessarily prepare them to publish shorter articles in journals. The manuscript dissertation provides a way for doctoral students to establish themselves as researchers while gaining the experience of developing peer-reviewed manuscripts before graduation, thus ...

Aim/Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the creation and organization of an organic collaborative doctoral cohort, in order to better understand what makes doctoral cohorts successful. The participant-researchers explore their experience as creators and members of this unique group. Background: Although adults often prefer to work on their own, cohorts provide opportunities for colla ...

Aim/Purpose: Multiple emotional and cognitive resources are needed for graduate students to overcome stress associated with balancing studies and personal life. This research aimed to explore the difficulties, which graduate student-mothers face while balancing school and parenting, and describe mechanisms of the balancing process. Background: Graduate student-mothers need to structure their ti ...

Aim/Purpose: This study aimed to explore individual variation in doctoral candidates’ perceptions about research writing and themselves as writers (research writing perceptions) across three countries (Spain, Finland, and the UK) and the relationship with doctoral candidates’ research conditions and social support. Background: The present study employed a person-centered approach to identify prof ...

Aim/Purpose: The aim of this article is to discuss a PhD student’s experience of working with unaccompanied asylum-seeking minors, amidst a rapidly changing global situation. The focus is on how the research process influenced the novice PhD student, and how the student’s subject position influenced the research. Background: The incentive for this article comes from an examiner’s comment, which ...

Aim/Purpose: Research on students in higher education contexts to date has focused primarily on the experiences undergraduates, largely overlooking topics relevant to doctoral students’ mental, physiological, motivational, and social experiences. Existing research on doctoral students has consistently found mental and physical health concerns and high attrition rates among these students, but a co ...

Aim/Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine how the basic psychological needs of self-determination theory are reflected in doctoral students’ motivation to earn the PhD. Background: As isolating as the doctoral experience seems, it is one that occurs in a social-cultural environment that can either support or hinder the student. This research highlights the motivational influences of l ...

Aim/Purpose: This study examined an Ed.D. program redesign to address time to degree completion. The aim was to emphasize the need to improve students’ academic writing and embody a scholarly practitioner approach to research. Background: Doctoral programs have the highest attrition of graduate programs, with almost half of the students taking six to seven years to complete. Methodology: An ex- ...

Aim/Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the rich potential for transformative learning, for both supervisees and supervisors, that is embedded in cross-cultural supervision. Background: Our example is an analysis of experiences from a five-year long cross-cultural supervisory relationship between a Tanzanian PhD student and a Norwegian supervisor. Methodology: In the research, we f ...

Aim/Purpose: This article presents an analysis of female faculty representation on dissertation committees in comparison to the percentage of women faculty in departments of engineering in 2013 and 2014. Background: Collaboration is an indication of a robust research program, and the consequences of collaboration may benefit one’s academic career in numerous ways. Gender bias, however, may impede ...

Aim/Purpose: In this paper, we examine how first-year education doctoral (EdD) students in a peer mentoring program may be supported in the academic and psychosocial domains to increase timely degree completion, decrease attrition, and improve the EdD program for students and faculty. Background: EdD students often face unique trials based on academic, social, professional, and personal challenge ...

Aim/Purpose: The qualitative study aims to examine the lived experiences of women persisting in the distance; professional doctoral degrees as they seek to integrate and balance their family of origin and current family system with their development as scholars. Background: A vital reason many women choose not to drop out of their doctoral programs is that they experience conflict between their i ...

Aim/Purpose: This study examined why Ed.D students discontinued their doctoral programs during the dissertation phase as well as how a student’s needs of autonomy, relatedness, and competence were met during different stages of the program. Background: Time to complete the doctoral degree continues to increase. Between 40-60% of doctoral students are making the decision to discontinue work toward ...

Aim/Purpose: This article demonstrates how experiences of a supervisee can become foundational in carving a career identity of PhD supervisors. The purpose of the article is to analyze how South African emerging supervisors could carve a career identity as PhD supervisors. Background: This article uses an autoethnographic case study to address the problem of experiences of poverty, marginalizatio ...