Experiences of the doctoral journey: A cross-national perspective

ABSTRACT

A strong body of evidence shows that doctoral student experiences are shaped by both individual factors and socio-cultural contexts. However, we know little about the differences and similarities of such experiences across different socio-cultural contexts. To contribute to the understanding on contextual and invariants of doctoral experience, we surveyed doctoral students’ key experiences in two different socio-cultural contexts: two research-intensive universities in South Africa and Finland. The results indicate that both positive and negative student experiences shape doctoral education across institutions, disciplines and national contexts. The research supports the notion of the doctorate as a socio-cultural experience ranging from individual learning through experience, to relational enculturation into the wider scholarly community. The findings provide the basis for understanding the doctoral experience as a force shaping doctoral education systems.

KEYWORDS:

• Doctoral education
• student experience
• cross-national study

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Eight respondents (3%) declined to indicate a gender category.

2. The slight overrepresentation of women in the Finnish sample is likely due to the under-representation of students from the faculty of the information technology and electric engineering. In all other respects the sample was representative of the overall population of doctoral students at the Finnish university.

3. The majority of the South African respondents (71%) in the younger two age cohort groups (under 25 years, and 25-29 years) indicated their faculty affiliation were registered within STEM fields. The majority of this group (88.9%) were registered as full time students. The majority of Finnish students reported working fulltime on their thesis (55%). Additionally, there was an interesting difference within the overall STEM group in the Finnish sample, as students in Technology and Natural Sciences typically worked full-time on the doctoral studies (68%), whereas in Health and Biosciences it was typical to work part-time (60%).

4. The South African data confirms this trend, as 74.3% of the respondents who fell into the two older age cohort groups (45-49 years, and 50 years and older), were registered in the broader area of Humanities and Social Sciences. The majority of both these two age cohorts (70.4%) were completing their studies on a part time basis.

5. The data confirms this trend, as 74.3% of the respondents who fell into the two older age cohort groups (45-49 years, and 50 years and older), were registered in the broader area of Humanities and Social Sciences. The majority of both these two age cohorts (70.4%) were completing their studies on a part time basis.

6. The average time to degree for doctoral students in South Africa is 4.8 years, 13% of all doctorates take more than 6 years to complete their studies (Cloete et al., 2015).

7. The survey is available in Finnish, Swedish, English, Spanish and Catalan (see joint international project: http://www.fins-riess.com). The survey was administered in English at both universities (in the Finnish case it was also available in Finnish). The survey was developed and validated in Finland, and adapted for use at the South African university, using an online survey platform. The survey was piloted prior to release to make sure that all questions were contextually relevant and unambiguous.

8. This is in contrast to the South African data, where the majority (64%) of the respondents indicated that they were following a monograph format.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

B. Liezel Frick

B. Liezel Frick is an associate professor in the Department of Curriculum Studies and the director of the Centre for Higher and Adult Education at the Faculty of Education at Stellenbosch University.

Kirsi Pyhältö

Kirsi Pyhältö is professor and research director in the Centre for Research and Development of Higher Education at the University of Helsinki, and an extraordinary professor in Curriculum Studies at Stellenbosch University.