Wellbeing and doctoral candidature: The background and development of the importance to doctoral wellbeing questionnaire

ABSTRACT

Poor mental health in higher education settings is a worrying issue prompting the need to investigate the organisational and personal factors that impact mental health and wellbeing. Such information is integral to building a comprehensive picture of the doctoral learner. Drawing on prior research identifying what novice researchers perceive as important to their wellbeing, the Importance to Doctoral Wellbeing Questionnaire (IDWQ) was developed. Seven dimensions were identified in a pilot phase: ‘Work-Life Balance’, ‘Social-Collegial’, ‘Personal Research Confidence’, ‘Future’, ‘Researcher Identity’, ‘Supervisor’, and ‘University’. The questionnaire was then administered nationally to a larger more diverse cohort of research candidates prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings clarify potential candidate vulnerabilities. The IDWQ can be used to focus institutional appraisal of programmes and policies to assist novice researchers to identify key concerns and manage learning contingencies.

KEYWORDS:

• Doctoral student
• wellbeing
• research confidence
• research environment
• supervisor
• work-life balance

Acknowledgments

We acknowledge the assistance of Professors Sid Bourke, Dennis McInerney and Dr Greg Preson in the initial pilot phase of IDWQ.

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Australian Research Council under grant DP150102088; and The University of Newcastle under an internal faculty grant

Notes on contributors

Allyson Holbrook

Allyson Holbrook is a Professor in Education and Director of the Centre for the Study of Research Training and Innovation (SORTI), The University of Newcastle. Research interests focus on doctoral level assessment, quality, and how research learning occurs. She has received six national grants to study PhD examination and doctoral learning.

Kylie Shaw

Kylie Shaw is a Professor and Dean of Graduate Research, The University of Newcastle and Deputy Director of SORTI. She is lead CI on a current ARC Discovery Project investigating excellent researchers, leading the translation of research into an online self-directed learning program for doctoral students.

Hedy Fairbairn

Hedy Fairbairn is the Project Officer, analyst, data manager and archivist for the examination and doctoral learning grants held by SORTI.

Jill Scevak

Jill Scevak (PhD) is an Educational Psychologist and a Senior Lecturer, The University of Newcastle. Her research interests include the influence of cognitive, metacognitive, affective and sociocultural factors on development of higher order thinking and student wellbeing, both undergraduate and postgraduate.