Recognizing the Diverse Circumstances for Contemporary Doctoral Students and the Implications for Doctoral Education Research

• In Event: Roundtable Session 60
  In Roundtable Session: Developing Writers, Researchers, and Critical Scholars

Abstract

A significant feature of doctoral education is the trend for research and research education to migrate beyond discipline-based institutional teaching and research structures (Gumport 2005). The result is a more diverse array of locations for doctoral research that challenges conventional thinking about the structure of doctoral education, especially assumptions about a close alignment between disciplines and their communities, and institutional organizational units, such as departments. Drawing on data gathered in an Australian study of PhD program development in Australia carried out in 2006-2009, the authors detail more fluid and complex arrangements forming the ‘experienced environment’ for doctoral students, an environment that can afford them opportunities and risks. Implications for research on doctoral education and for policy are discussed.

Author

• Margot Pearson, Australian National University