Australian postgraduate research students still prefer to ‘stay at home’: reasons and implications

Abstract

Work in 1997 on Australian research postgraduate student mobility indicated that most students chose to remain at their current institution to undertake a research degree rather than move elsewhere, and that they were unlikely to seek widely for information. The present study aimed to determine, 7 years later, if there had been changes in student mobility or the way in which students sought information. The results show that student mobility is virtually the same with only 12 per cent of respondents indicating they were planning to accept a scholarship to undertake a research masters or doctorate at a different university in a different State following completion of their previous degree; 18 per cent were moving to a different university but in the same State, and 61 per cent were remaining at the same university. As with the previous study, it was clear that students preferred to seek advice on future study from their existing supervisor or their departmental colleagues, and that accessing information via the Internet and print media was undertaken relatively rarely. These results are discussed within the context of the higher degree by research (HDR) environment in Australia, the likely benefits of student mobility, and possible strategies for emulating the benefits of mobility with these ‘stay at home’ students.

Keywords:

• doctorate
• mobility
• PhD
• research education scholarships

Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge the assistance provided to us by the staff in the Scholarships Offices of the participating eight universities. We also acknowledge discussions with postgraduate and postdoctoral students working with A.D. Austin, some of whom have moved between universities and some of whom have stayed at home. These include Adam Allford, Sylvia Clarke, Michelle Guzik, Marta Kasper, Tim Moulds, Kate Muirhead, Nick Murphy, Cate Paull, Claire Stephens and Nick Stephens.