Academic libraries are increasingly re-envisioning their services to provide expanded outreach and segmented programming for specific user groups. Many academic libraries offer segmented services and programming for undergraduate groups such as first-year experience programs and general education programs. Currently, academic libraries are also identifying and expanding their services and programming to meet the unique needs of graduate groups. In conjunction with this focus, the roles of academic librarians are also expanding in the area of outreach. In essence, academic librarians are becoming more directly involved in aligning library services and programming with academic programs and promoting change within their institutions. Faced with the challenges of outreach and promoting change it is essential that librarians gain deeper insights about the perspectives and needs of graduate programs and graduate groups to effectively plan and align library services. The purpose of this design research study was to explore the organizational factors that influence how library services and library instruction are utilized in two doctoral programs in education at the University of Central Florida (UCF). Using a sequential mixed methods approach, quantitative data was collected in an online survey and qualitative data was collected in audio recorded interviews conducted with students enrolled in two doctoral programs in education, as well as program faculty, and academic librarians. Findings from this study were then used to describe a conjecture for an asynchronous online learning resource that applies elements outlined in Sandoval's (2014) conjecture map model. Findings were also used to make recommendations about future planning for library outreach and the utilization of library services in the doctoral programs.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between research self-efficacy (as measured by the Research Self-Efficacy Scale [Greeley et al., 1989]), perceptions of the research training environment (as measured by the Research Training Environment Scale --Revised [Gelso et al., 1996]), and interest in research (as measured by the Interest in Research Questionnaire [Bieschke & Bishop, 1994]) within a national sample of doctoral counselor education students (N = 89). Additionally, the study investigated whether there were differences between levels of research self-efficacy, perceptions of the research training environment, and interest in research in relation to the demographic characteristics (i.e., age, gender, race/ethnicity, scholarly productivity, reported professional aspirations, and number of doctoral-level research courses completed) of counselor education doctoral students. An ex-post facto, cross-sectional design was implemented which included the following statistical analyses: Pearson's correlation coefficients (two-tailed), simultaneous multiple regression, and analysis of variance (ANOVA). Findings identified that the demographic variables of age and doctoral-level research courses completed had a statistically significant effect upon perceptions of the research training environment. In addition, results suggested that scholarly activity had a statistically significant effect on research self-efficacy scores. Finally, interest in research was positively correlated with research self-efficacy scores. In summary, the study addressed the present void in the counselor education literature with regard to counselor education doctoral students' development in the areas of research self-efficacy, perceptions of the research training environment, and interest in research. In order to contribute to the counselor education literature and support doctoral student development, it is crucial that counselor education doctoral training programs provide an effective research training environment to foster and encourage student research. Recognizing and appreciating the influence of counselor education doctoral students' research self-efficacy, perceptions of the research training environment, and interest in research may not only be important for students, but is also necessary for counselor education doctoral preparation programs to continue to develop and prepare students for academic positions and success. Study findings may provide beneficial information to assist colleges and universities to develop and tailor polices to encourage and foster research amongst their doctoral counselor education students.

This dissertation looks at the information-seeking practices of doctoral students in the context of their search for a doctoral program and considers the implications for design of the graduate school Web space. Of particular interest is the description of patterns of Web use and the practices related to students' preparation for interactions with technology, the nature of the interactions, and the thinking that occurs. An exploratory study that brings together hypertext theory, contextual, holistic approaches, and information behavior, this research includes a focus group of current undergraduate and graduate students to gather fresh details about information-seeking for a graduate program as a preliminary investigation in this area, eight interviews with current doctoral students admitted in Fall 2007 to capture the specific details of students' information-seeking experiences for a doctoral program by mapping the journeys, and an online survey of current doctoral students admitted in Fall 2007 as further investigation of information-seeking for a doctoral program. Doctoral students who participated in this study rely on the Web as the primary source of prior knowledge of graduate education and graduate school, as well as the source most used to build that knowledge during the information-seeking journey for a graduate program and to prepare them for the start of their graduate study. The eight maps of students' information-seeking journeys for a graduate program show how complex and wide-ranging these journeys are. Based on bits collected through their many Web encounters over six months to two years, students develop a 'feeling' for the people who make up the graduate program, social interactions within this group and research subgroups, and what it would be like to be a student in the program, all contributing to students' decision making. Academic Web sites play a key role as support structures for students and have to do more than make the information available and findable; they must design in order to encourage and sustain engagement, or deep involvement. This study proposes several suggestions for academic Web design.

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Yes / Given the increasing challenges in academia since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, it is crucial to understand how work demands, life demands, and job resources affect the mental health of academic researchers. In extending the job demands-resources theory, the present study investigates the relationships between job resources, research work demand, life demand (i.e. caring responsibility), stress, loneliness and mental health among doctoral students and academics. The results from a secondary dataset of 4,563 academic researchers (academics undertaking research and doctoral students) in the UK indicate that job resources are positively associated with mental health, while caring responsibility and loneliness are negatively impacted mental health. Stress is also found to partially mediate (explains) the relationships between job resources, research work demand, and mental health. Moreover, loneliness moderates the positive impact of job resources on mental health, particularly attenuating this relationship for academic researchers who experience higher levels of loneliness. Surprisingly, during Covid-19, the moderation effect of gender on the path from caring responsibility to stress is significantly stronger for males than for female colleagues. Feeling unprepared, male colleagues who were pressured to take on caring responsibilities experienced higher stress. We suggest strategic interventions to enhance job resources and support researchers who have caregiving responsibilities, while also alleviating stress and feelings of loneliness. Future research should engage alternative perspectives at both individual (e.g., age, familial wealth) and institutional (e.g., education system, discipline/field) levels.

Thesis advisor: Heather Rowan-Kenyon / This study's purpose was to compare the lived experiences of doctoral women studying Education, a prototypically female field, with women studying Engineering, a prototypically male field to illustrate the phenomenon of doctoral degree progress in the two fields. Using critical feminist theory and Valian's (1999) concept of gender schemas, this study examined doctoral education culture in Education and Engineering and how these cultures influence women's doctoral student experiences and in turn their degree progress (Tong, 2009). Although women represent over 50% of doctoral student enrollment and degrees earned, gender disparities exist in Education and Engineering. Once enrolled, women are proportionally more likely to complete Education doctorates and less likely to complete Engineering doctorates (Council of Graduate Schools, 2008; Gonzales, Allum, and Sowell, 2013; Nettles and Millett, 2006). This trend is important because it implies there is something about Education and Engineering doctoral environments that make them more and less conducive for women's success, respectively (Gardner and Mendoza, 2010). This study used a qualitative interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA) approach to capture the essence of women's doctoral degree progress by interpreting the lived experiences of 10 Education and 11 Engineering doctoral women (Smith, Flowers, and Larkin, 2009). After 63 in-depth interviews and two focus groups, four themes emerged. Overall, the Education women reported fewer positive doctoral experiences and more barriers to degree progress than the Engineering women due to the funding and research assistantship structure, the faculty advisor relationship, and the department environment. Both groups of women described doctoral education culture as proactive, independent, and competitive - characteristics more consistent with masculine gender schemas. Doctoral education culture also reflected the feminine gender schemas of flexibility and collegiality/collaboration, which were more apparent in the prototypically masculine Engineering field than in the prototypically feminine Education field. Implications for how doctoral education can be re-conceptualized, delivered, and researched are provided, calling for the incorporation of more feminine gender schemas into doctoral education culture in order to promote and achieve gender equity. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2014. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

The purpose of this study was to determine if a gap analysis model (SERVQUAL) of service quality measurement could be appropriately applied to higher education. The researcher asked doctoral students from six doctoral-granting, state-supported universities in Tennessee to complete a service quality survey, comparing their experiences with their expectations, thereby giving a measure of gaps in educational service quality at their institution. The research design included five research questions, with five null hypotheses testing the relationship between students' expectations and experiences, between overall satisfaction and service gaps, and between overall satisfaction and certain demographic variables (age, gender, ethnicity, type of degree, and class load). Analysis of the data revealed gaps between students' expectations and their actual experiences with services delivered at their university. A comparison of mean expectation scores to mean experience scores revealed a statistically significant difference between the two scores for 25 of the 26 items on the scale. Expectation scores exceeded experience scores for all items. The researcher found a statistically significant relationship between only one demographic variable (age) and overall satisfaction scores. The researcher also found a statistically significant relationship between the gap scores for scale dimensions and some demographic variables. However, because of the strength of the relationship between the demographic variables and either gap scores or overall satisfaction, the researcher concluded that none of the demographic variables were of practical value in predicting gap scores or overall satisfaction. In addition, a statistically significant relationship was found between overall satisfaction and the composite gap score for the scale. This indicated that gap scores, as produced by this scale, can be a valid measurement of the overall satisfaction of doctoral students with the delivery of services by their university. Because the gap scores were inversely related to the overall satisfaction of doctoral students, this would seem to indicate that university programs designed to reduce the size of expectation/experience gaps, thereby improve service quality, would also enhance the overall satisfaction of doctoral students.