Toward the Building of a Collaborative Doctoral Writing Culture

• In Event: Writing in Undergraduate and Graduate Education

Abstract

This paper describes a qualitative evaluation of a collaborative cross-disciplinary doctoral writing initiative (Thesis Writing Circles (TWC)) in which students share ideas and writing, and actively participate in writing workshops. Supervisors, senior administrators, and doctoral candidates were interviewed to gain insights to doctoral processes in general and the TWC initiative in particular at our university. Findings indicate that the cross-disciplinary conversations can help students clarify their thinking, which in turn facilitates their written expression. Findings also highlighted assumptions more experienced academics can bring to doctoral supervision and gaps between supervisors’ and students’ perceptions of doctoral needs. Concluding comments stress the importance of better utilizing what we do know about research and writing to facilitate successful doctoral study.

Author

• E. Marcia Johnson, University of Waikato