Doctoral Student’s Research Competence

Abstract

Uncertainties in conceptualizations of research skills and competences draw heavily on the changing process of the development of these qualities in education and the relative importance of employment at different education levels that follow the completed by students programs; these also have to meet the uncertainties in competence structure and development. While the shift to competence approach in education is thus more complex than many accounts suggest, it does have major implications for important aspects of studies and teacher and educator work. These include: skill and competence definitions, structure, developmental dynamic and kinds of activities that ensure a stage-by-stage enhancement of these qualities. Research is among the most complicated activities at universities that students and educators have to cover; doctoral studies and the acquired competences are of a special concern. The aim of this article is to trace different approaches and classifications of the 21st Century competences, define research skills and researcher competence, as well as to provide a structure and development of a doctoral student’s competence in the area of education inquiry.