Doctoral students’ well-being: a literature review

Abstract

Purpose: Doctoral student well-being is an important matter that shapes the well-being of academics throughout their careers. Given that well-being has been found to be closely related to employee productivity and efficiency, strategies associated with maintaining well-being during PhD studies might be crucial for higher education, its outcomes and—just as importantly—for a balanced life of PhD students. Method: Based on 17 studies, this literature review critically assesses the literature on doctoral student well-being. Results: Theoretical models, concepts of well-being, and methods applied are discussed, as are the results of the articles. The reviewed studies are then discussed based on a SWOT analysis addressing the strengths and weaknesses of the reviewed research as well as the identified opportunities and threats, which can be used as a basis for future research. Based on the review findings and the SWOT analysis, a multidimensional view of the well-being of doctoral students is proposed. Conclusions: The study proposes a more student-centred approach to meeting doctoral students’ needs, and the enhancement of doctoral student well-being in order, as a long-term goal, to improve academics’ well-being and productivity.

Well-being in high-risk pregnancy: an integrative review

“…Findings indicated that multidimensionality, complexity, and subjectivity were among the characteristics of well-being in HRP. These characteristics are also for the concepts of general well-being (60-62) as well as situation-specific well-being such as perinatal wellbeing and well-being in other disciplines (63,64). Yet, complexity, multidimensionality, and subjectivity are not unique to the concept of well-being; rather, many other concepts such as quality of life and comfort are multidimensional, complex, and subjective.…”

“…Physical well-being also refers to functional ability and pertains to environmental factors such as facilities, equipment, and habitation standards (60). A former study into the well-being of doctorate students also found physical well-being, health maintenance, and work-life balance as the components of well-being (64). However, a study into the concepts of wellbeing and quality of life reported that the core of well-being is its psycho-spiritual dimensions, happiness, and inner energy and did not consider physical well-being as a key component of wellbeing (65).…”

“…A pregnant woman with HRP may feel threat due to her fear and concern over the adverse outcomes of pregnancy and uncertainty about pregnancy outcomes. In other words, well-being in HRP largely depends on feelings of safety and security (38,42,46) Safety is also a key component of well-being in other disciplines (64,74,75). However, the difference between well-being in HRP and well-being in other disciplines pertains to pregnant woman's confidence in her health, her fetus's health, and pregnancy outcomes.…”

Measuring PhD Student’s Psychological Well-being: Are we seeing the whole picture?

“…Students completing a doctoral degree (hereafter, referred to as "PhD students") report struggling with feelings of social isolation, lack of motivation, and challenges with supervisors and the academic environment (Castelló, Pardo, Sala-Bubaré, & Suñe-Soler, 2017;Janta, Lugosi, & Brown, 2014;Lovitts, 2002;Sverdlik & Hall, 2019). Until recently, attention to such factors in the literature has been limited; research has tended to focus on how these factors predict completion and attrition rates (Lovitts & Nelson, 2000;Schmidt & Hansson, 2018;Sverdlik, Hall, McAlpine, & Hubbard, 2018). Further, although extant studies have measured some aspects of mental health-most commonly psychological distress-other aspects are not well-studied, including psychological well-being.…”

“…With high levels of well-being theoretically required to achieve a PhD degree, it is no surprise that low levels of well-being can have a substantial impact on PhD students' degree progress, professional development, research productivity and personal lives (Schmidt & Hansson, 2018). These problems, in turn, have administrative and financial implications for universities.…”