Drowning in the shallows: an Australian study of the PhD experience of wellbeing

ABSTRACT

The number of students undertaking PhD studies is growing substantially; however, recent research indicates that doctoral students experience poor wellbeing outcomes during candidature. A study of doctoral student experiences at a regional Australian university (n = 222) explored some of the challenges that PhD students experience during their studies. Doctoral study requires deep sustained engagement to successfully contribute to a scholarly field, yet findings suggested that many PhD students experienced shallow supports, which they perceived as insufficient to meet their candidature needs. PhD student experiences are visualised through Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological systems model and the authors draw upon Bauman’s liquid modernity to trouble impacts of contemporary accountability and performative practices in postgraduate research. The authors propose that liquid institutional support encourages PhD student success to rest largely on self-navigation, individual resourcefulness and the ability to locate anchoring ports.

KEYWORDS:

• Postgraduate student wellbeing
• bioecological model
• liquid modernity
• higher education
• mixed methods

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Wendy Green for her mentorship during the development of the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This paper was funded through a Tasmanian University Union Students as Partners Grant in collaboration with the University of Tasmania.