"I Wish My Advisor Had Been More Proactive": Examining Doctoral Students' Interactions With Faculty Advisors

• In Event: Graduate Students: Development, Practice, and Advising

Abstract

Graduate students balance the competing demands of academic degree progress, career planning, and personal self-care (i.e., mental health). Ideally, they manage these challenges with the support of faculty and other institutional agents, including their assigned faculty advisor. Doctoral students in Arts/Humanities and Social Sciences (N=11) were interviewed individually about their doctoral experiences, including alternative career planning (i.e., non-tenure track faculty positions), stressors, and perceived support from their faculty advisors. Using an analysis of narrative approach (Polkinghorne, 1995), a thematic analysis was completed. Findings suggest that doctoral students are often reluctant to share certain concerns with their faculty advisor. Implications include promoting a holistic, developmental advising approach for faculty members in order to enhance doctoral student-faculty relationships.

Authors

• Ben Marcy, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

• Michael J. Stebleton, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities