The research-practice nexus in doctoral education: the voices of social and health sciences PhD candidates and graduates

ABSTRACT

The recent shift towards more practice-oriented doctoral training programmes relevant for non-academic settings raises the important, but still largely unexplored, question regarding how the relationships between research and professional practice are understood, experienced, and developed in contemporary doctoral education. Drawing on a mixed-methods study, combining a survey (n = 188) and individual interviews (n = 14), this paper explores the nature of the research-practice nexus in doctoral education from the perspective of PhD candidates and graduates with different professional backgrounds in social and health sciences in Poland and Portugal. Overall, the study findings suggest that this nexus is viewed as a dynamic, multidimensional relationship imbued with both connections and tensions. While the majority of the participants reported that their doctoral research influenced their professional practice positively and vice versa, there were also some respondents who identified negative impacts of their research on their practice and vice versa. The paper ends with some implications, thus providing a basis for reappraisal of current doctoral education provision in terms of deepening the relationship between research and professional practice.

KEYWORDS:

• Doctoral education
• professional practice
• PhD degree
• social and health sciences
• research-practice nexus
• impact of PhD on practice

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. As of October 2019, doctoral studies in Poland are being delivered via doctoral schools run by universities or other research-intensive institutions (e.g. the Polish Academy of Sciences) (MNiSW 2020).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Fundaçãoparaa Ciênciae a Tecnologia (FCT) under the grant with the ref. SFRH/BD/145719/2019.

Notes on contributors

Patrícia Alves

Patrícia Alves is a PhD candidate in Education Sciences, at the Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences of the University of Porto. Her research interests include doctoral education, higher education and pedagogical innovation.

Amélia Lopes

Amélia Lopes is Full Professor at the Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences of the University of Porto, Portugal. Her research interests are teacher education, teaching and learning in higher education, doctoral education, professional development, diversity, and professional identity formation.

Isabel Menezes

Isabel Menezes is Full Professor at the Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences of the University of Porto, Portugal. She is interested in the relations between research and intervention, education and politics, and participation and psychological and societal empowerment.

Marta Kowalczuk-Walędziak

Marta Kowalczuk-Walędziak (Ph.D.) is Assistant Professor and Vice Dean for International Co-operation at the Faculty of Education, University of Białystok, Poland. Her research interests include the policy and practice of teacher education and development, practitioner research, and research utilisation.