PhD Education Challenges - Doctoral Candidates’ Perspectives

Abstract

Doctoral training was included in the Bologna system as the third cycle. The important consequence of this change is that the doctoral studies became more structured, and most universities now train doctors in a shorter time period than in the past, mostly in 3 to 4 years. The National Association of PhD students from Serbia (Doktoranti Srbije) conducted the same survey in the form of a questionnaire three years in a row (2010)(2011)(2012). In 2010 the survey received 335 responses, in 2011 there were 557 responses and in 2012 there were 625. The survey results showed that doctoral candidates recognise supervision as a key issue that need to be improved. Surveyed individuals emphasised the impact of the supervisor's engagement on the quality of their PhD projects. Supportiveness is the quality that PhD students value the most. This involves supervisors being encouraging, and aware that students' lives extend beyond the PhD. Other key areas for improvement, according to Serbian PhD candidates, are financing and mobility, especially international mobility.

Thesis Challenges for Arab PhD Candidates in English Medium of Instruction Context

“…The positive relationship between the supervisors and supervisees is of great importance for the participants. Choosing the supervisor is a very critical issue for the candidates to graduate; this agrees with the findings of Nesterowicz et al (2019). The financial challenge proves that when PhD candidates secure a scholarship or a research assistant, they feel much more comfortable in conducting their research successfully as it is the case in the studies of Aziato (2015) and Knight (2019).…”

“…Certainly, there are varied parties related to the organization, such as the advisor, who plays a considerable role in the doctoral student's life. In other words, the relationship between the PhD students and their supervisors is considered as a significant factor affecting their degree of success at this level (Nesterowicz et al, 2019). Previous studies asserted a number of advantages through the good relationship between the candidates and their instructors (Olive, 2019) such as completing an effective thesis, publishing a paper and other benefits (Duffy et al, 2019).…”

Becoming a Scholar: cross-cultural reflections on identity and agency in an education doctorate Becoming a Scholar: cross-cultural reflections on identity and agency in an education doctorate , edited by Maria Savva and Lynn P. Nygaard, 2021, London, UCL Press, 178 pp., Open Access, PDF, £20.00 (Paperback), ISBN: 9781787357662

“…This is just as true for EdD students as it is for any other group of students, but part-time international EdD students might struggle with issues of physical distance creating additional barriers to communication. Not surprisingly, supervisor supportiveness has been identified as an important predictor of doctoral student satisfaction and success (Dericks et al, 2019;Nesterowicz et al, 2019;. Components that establish supportiveness include the quality of supervisory engagement (Nesterowicz et al, 2019), the use of structure in providing scaffolded feedback (Kumar and Johnson, 2019; and the ability to point students to relevant resources .…”

“…Not surprisingly, supervisor supportiveness has been identified as an important predictor of doctoral student satisfaction and success (Dericks et al, 2019;Nesterowicz et al, 2019;. Components that establish supportiveness include the quality of supervisory engagement (Nesterowicz et al, 2019), the use of structure in providing scaffolded feedback (Kumar and Johnson, 2019; and the ability to point students to relevant resources . The setting of boundaries has also been identified as a practice that holds students accountable and encourages greater independence .…”