Exploring Doctoral Student Identity Development Using a Self-Study Approach

Abstract

The doctoral journey is as much about identity transitions as it is about becoming an expert in a field of study. however, transitioning from past and professional lives and identities to scholarly identities is not an easy process. Three doctoral students at vari ous stages of completion engaged in self-study research to explore their emerging identities as doctoral student practitioners. Drawing on self-study and doctoral student identity research, as well as findings from our in di vidual analyses, we explore how self-study can be used as an authentic and positive experience to help doctoral students understand their scholarly identity development. after describing the benefits of self-study research for doctoral student success, we provide practical guidelines for how to implement self-study research into existing doctoral programs.

Postdoctoral nursing researcher career: A scoping review of required competences

“…It entailed networking in the academic community and outside the university (Harrison et al, ; Horta, ; Maher et al, ; Pitt & Mewburn, ). Team working meant interpersonal, interprofessional and interdisciplinary communication skills including dialogue, consultancy and valuing of others (Ferguson, ; Foot et al, ; Freeman & Kochan, ; Holley, ; Hyatt & Williams, ; Naylor, Chakravarti, & Baik, ; Sorge et al, ; Welton et al, ).…”

The Impact of Extra‐Disciplinary Socialization on Graduate Student Educational Developers

“…We were inspired by the model of self‐study in Foot et al. () and see this as a starting place for further investigation. Unable to benefit from journals kept during our time as graduate teaching consultants (see Wilder in the earlier volume), we have written autoethnographic reflections on our experiences, which we have incorporated into our discussion below.…”

“…Work in a CTL is ideally positioned to support three elements that Foot et al. (, 113) recommend: “connection with others; the opportunity to participate in real‐world, authentic research that can be submitted for conferences and publications; and a chance to undertake self‐analysis of [their] multiple identities.” All three activities are also at the heart of educational development and are reflected in the experiences we identified earlier in this article.…”

An Archetypal Analysis of Doctoral Education as a Heroic Journey

“…When he might be expected to lead or respond with King energies (organization and leadership), he only vacillates and humbly follows. Along the journey to Oz, the Cowardly Lion provides some insights into imposter syndrome; the sense of being found out as deceptive and lacking in some way, which is one of more studied aspects of doctoral education (Craddock, Birnbaum, Rodriguez, Cobb, & Zeeh, 2011;Foot, Crowe, Tollafield, & Allan, 2014;Murakami-Ramalho et al, 2008) and consistent with the monomyth (Campbell, 2008). The Wizard later counsels the Lion to organize his thinking, to not confuse courage with wisdom, and to lead by example.…”

“…The Wizard later counsels the Lion to organize his thinking, to not confuse courage with wisdom, and to lead by example. These particular nuances of the notion of courage have emerged in different ways in the recent literature related to doctoral education, including grit, agency, and most notably self-efficacy (Foot et al, 2014;Rönnerman, & Kemmis, 2016;Shivy, Worthington, Wallis, & Hogan, 2003;Smith et al, 2006).…”