Researcher Identity Development in the Doctoral Program: What Do Doctoral Students Say?

• In Event: Mental Health and Graduate Students

Abstract

This systematic literature review focuses on doctoral students' studies of their researcher identity development in education from the first-person perspective. The current study aims to capture the most discussed matters that doctoral students focus on, study, and interpret about their identity development, especially the researcher identity. Based on the critical idea of reflection, doctoral students employed various qualitative methods, such as self-study and autoethnography. Three themes emerged from the analysis, including identity development as a dynamic process, multiple identities, and contexts. Informed by the findings, the current study will contribute to the knowledge about doctoral students’ identity development in doctoral programs.

Authors

• Xingya Xu, George Mason University

• Margret A. Hjalmarson, National Science Foundation