Table of Contents for Volume 20, 2025, of the International Journal of Doctoral Studies

Aim/Purpose: This study addresses the need to understand the wellbeing of doctoral students and the factors influencing their academic trajectory. Background: Doctoral students’ wellbeing is crucial for their academic success and overall quality of life. This study explores the antecedent variables influencing doctoral students’ wellbeing, complementing the Integrative Model on well-being in doct ...

Aim/Purpose: The objective of this study was to assess the psychometric properties of the European Portuguese version of the Motivation for PhD Studies Scale (MPhD). Background: The motivation of doctoral students has been identified as a factor influencing their enrolment in doctoral studies and its completion. Based on the Self-Determination Theory, the MPhD is a 15-item self-report measure tha ...

Aim/Purpose: This study examines the role of psychological capital (PsyCap) as a moderating variable and burnout as a mediator in the relationship between toxic supervision on academic performance in doctoral programs. Background: Academic supervision is important in supporting students’ success in completing the doctoral program. However, there is a dark side that needs to be more widely reveal ...

Aim/Purpose: This study investigates how PhD candidates experience autonomy (i.e., self-governance and the capacity to make meaningful, self-directed choices) in their doctoral trajectory. It examines their expectations regarding autonomy, the various forms of autonomy they encounter during their doctoral trajectory, and the dynamics that make autonomy challenging. Background: PhD candidates, aki ...

Aim/Purpose: To evaluate the relationship between psychological capital, academic motivation, and academic performance in doctoral students and to develop a structural equation model that elucidates the interplay among these three variables, providing a comprehensive framework to better understand the factors influencing academic outcomes at the doctoral level. Background: Current research on the ...

Aim/Purpose: This study examines the challenges in doctoral education supervision support within African universities, focusing on the need for effective strategies to meet the increasing demand for quality doctoral education. Background: The rapid socio-economic development in Africa has put pressure on higher education systems to meet the growing demand for quality doctoral education. Some Afr ...

Aim/Purpose: The aim of this study is to analyze doctoral schools as a new form of doctoral education in Poland through the prism of the concept of a learning organization. This paper not only reshapes the landscape of doctoral education but also contributes profoundly to the field of organizational learning theory by examining how this new model can enhance educational environments. By demonstrat ...

Aim/Purpose: In the United States, where educational access is shaped by the intersecting forces of race and gender, the expansion of online doctoral education presents both new opportunities and enduring inequities. This study investigated how doctoral students who identify as Black, Indigenous, and Women of Color (BIWOC) enrolled in online doctoral programs experience the impostor phenomenon (IP ...

Aim/Purpose: The potential of Generative AI in education is expanding, yet its role in PhD mentoring and academic guidance remains underexplored. This study evaluates how ChatGPT-generated recommendations can support PhD research, particularly in fostering sustainable and resource-efficient doctoral education. Background: This study examines the ability of ChatGPT to provide structured guidance a ...

Aim/Purpose: The mental health crisis of graduate students is often overlooked, though this population may experience higher rates of stress and anxiety than undergraduates. The purpose of this study was to describe perceptions and experiences of students practicing loving-kindness meditation (LKM) during synchronous online Doctor of Education classes at a large university. Background: Doctoral s ...

Aim/Purpose: This phenomenological study investigates cross-cultural relationships between international doctoral students and their academic advisors in Turkish universities. Background: Through in-depth interviews with 12 international doctoral students from diverse backgrounds in Istanbul and Ankara, this paper explores how Turkish academia’s blend of hierarchical structures and interpersonal ...

Aim/Purpose: This study investigates how Latinx doctoral students in the Southwest region of the United States experience and navigate doctoral education at a historically white institution (HWI), with attention to the social contexts and systems that shape their persistence and belonging. Despite growing interest in diversity in graduate education, the structural and relational challenges faced b ...

Aim/Purpose: The study aims to identify the factors influencing doctoral completion rates in South Africa by analyzing publication trends and emerging themes. Insights from this analysis are intended to inform institutional strategies and national policies to enhance doctoral success and address systemic challenges in the higher education system. Background: Doctoral education plays a pivotal rol ...

Aim/Purpose: When the COVID-19 pandemic shut borders, disrupted research, and froze hiring, international doctoral students faced some of their life’s most consequential career decisions. This paper addresses the underexplored issue of how these students made career decisions during this period of deep uncertainty and disrupted academic and professional trajectories. Background: While prior studi ...

Aim/Purpose: This study aims to examine the experience of international co-supervision among Kazakhstani and international co-supervisors. There is a lack of systematic data in the scientific literature on international co-supervision, including the influence of institutional and cultural contexts on its productivity. Exploring the unique Kazakhstani experience allows us to offer new analytical pe ...

Aim/Purpose: The conventional model of doctoral education, centered on conducting original research within an apprentice-supervisor framework, has evolved progressively toward alternative models, including shorter duration, the incorporation of a teaching component, a collaborative approach, and an emphasis on practice-based problem-solving. Using bibliometric methodologies, this paper aims to exa ...

Aim/Purpose: To develop and validate psychometric scales to assess supervisory styles in doctoral education – directive, guiding, and hands-off – from both supervisor and student perspectives (SSS-S and SSS-s). Background: Doctoral supervision critically shapes students’ progress, well-being, and completion; yet, most studies rely on qualitative or conceptual typologies, and there is no standardi ...

Aim/Purpose: The aim of this paper is to demonstrate that PhD candidates’ social safety is a complex, systemic matter that requires a systemic solution. Background: Numerous studies and reports highlight that academia is not always a safe working environment for PhD candidates. They, in particular, face heightened vulnerability due to dependent working relationships, temporary contracts, and the ...