This phenomenological research study explored the dissertation experiences of individuals working as faculty members across disciplines at regionally accredited four year universities. Research questions utilized the constructs of social development theory to explore dissertation experiences from an individual, relational and structural perspective. Prior scholars have used social development theory as a framework to explore the individualities of the student, the relationship with faculty advisors and mentors, and the resources provided by the department and institution when evaluating the dissertation process (Liechty, Liao, & Schull, 2009). A purposeful, criterion sampling strategy and maximum variation sampling were employed to select a wide range of academic disciplines, classified in Biglan’s Augmented Model (Drees, 1982). The constant comparative method was used in data analysis of transcribed interviews with findings organized into the most prevalent themes. The individual experiences of dissertation success included three prevalent themes: career advancement opportunities and the development of extensive research agendas were described as motivators for participants to successfully complete the dissertation. Additionally, family and peer influence and prior knowledge were attributed as individual factors to success. Five themes were identified regarding the relational factors leading to dissertation success: (1) dissertation chair and committee, (2) cohort associates, (3) family members, (4) technological communication, and (5) guidance, feedback, and preparation. Finally, three themes related to the structural factors leading to dissertation success were identified: (1) financial aid, (2) streamlined processes and (3) institutional resources. Recommendations for future research include studies to better understand faculty experiences with job placement in academia, faculty experiences as a dissertation chair, and faculty views regarding dissertation attrition and retention.

This thesis addresses the need to reconceptualise the doctoral experience at a time when the boundaries between education, training, research, work and career development are becoming increasingly blurred. It does so by means of a detailed analysis of what candidates do and how they operate in a variety of disciplinary, employment and other contexts.¶ In order to synthesise and interpret the outcomes of that analysis a broader concept of the doctoral enterprise is developed within which the lived experience is embedded. It is argued that effective representation of the doctoral enterprise is as important as its reconceptualisation, and that both processes are required to generate in-depth understanding of the complexity, diversity and particularity of this phenomenon.¶ Case narratives incorporating the perspectives of candidates—as well as those whom they deem to be influencing their research and learning—are employed to portray distinctive elements of doctoral work and its associated outcomes. Quantitative data and analysis derived from a national survey of doctoral candidates are combined subsequently with this qualitative material in order to generate further insight regarding doctoral activities and the entities that are integral to their enactment.¶ Drawing on theories of practice, an integrative model of the doctoral enterprise is then presented. This comprises two basic components, one of which is a set of doctoral practices classified in terms of curriculum, pedagogy, research and work. The other is a set of doctoral arrangements that reflect configurations of entities inclusive of the participants, the academy and the community.¶ The purpose of the model is to increase understanding of the dynamic and evolving nature of the doctoral enterprise and the interrelationships involving practices and arrangements. This model has implications for candidates and others involved directly in the doctoral enterprise, regardless of their sector, role or status.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Special Education, Counseling and Student Affairs / Linda P. Thurston / Navigation and completion of a doctoral degree presents numerous challenges, including managing and understanding the faculty advisor/advisee relationship. Research shows faculty advisors are a critical aspect of the doctoral student experience; however faculty advisors and doctoral students do not always have the same perceptions of the advisor/advisee relationship. This study focused on measuring perceptions of faculty advisors and doctoral students in STEM and social science disciplines on various aspects of the advisor/advisee relationship. Likert-style survey items were used to measure perceptions of six constructs, advisor attributes and characteristics, roles and functions, relationship behaviors, and the faculty advisor role in student academic success, professional socialization, and engagement. Surveys were completed by 137 faculty advisors and 131 doctoral students. Analysis of data was conducted using various methods, including comparison of descriptive statistics, independent samples t-tests, and a factorial analysis of variance. Results of the data analysis revealed some significant differences between the perceptions of faculty advisors and doctoral students on several constructs. The discussion of results focuses on connections to current literature, as well as implications for future research and practice.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / This study explores practices that enable African doctoral students to manage their experiences in order to make progress and eventually complete their doctoral study at the University of the Western Cape in South Africa. The study is informed by previous research into doctoral education, which enumerates barriers to doctoral study completion and students’ completion strategies, as well as by Bourdieu’s theory of practice. It places a focus on students’ academic achievement practices, and how these are informed by students’ dispositions, cultural capital and experiences during their studies. The conceptual-analytical framework developed for the study attempts to bring together existing findings of research into the field of doctoral study and insights from Bourdieu’s theory of practice. It posits that students who seek to attain completion of their doctoral study have agency and resources that they strategically employ within their social and academic environment and, specifically, within the field of doctoral study. It foregrounds doctoral students’ ‘resources’ such as motivation, work ethic, tenacity, and other personal characteristics, and their personal and familial backgrounds, as well as their relevant skills and competences, which all help to shape and inform their learning and completion practices. The study focuses on African doctoral students at the University of the Western Cape. It employs a qualitative design using a case study approach that involves in-depth, semi-structured interviews with students to collect relevant data. The sample consists of 18 African doctoral students from across all faculties of the university. For the purpose of the study, African students are identified as students who self-identify as African, whether they are South African nationals (irrespective of official population group) or students from the African continent (international students). They are purposefully selected to enable the study of a group of students that continues to be under-represented in doctoral studies in South Africa. The analysis of the qualitative data involves narrative analysis and critical interpretation. The study finds that using Bourdieu’s concepts of habitus, cultural capital, and field can help us to establish and better understand the practices that doctoral students employ as strategies to overcome barriers that they encounter during their studies. The study shows that African doctoral students’ completion practices are strongly influenced by specific aspects of their habitus and cultural capital, which are determined as relevant by the field. The study focuses on aspects of habitus such as motivation, level of family education and status, cultural beliefs, values and home language, as relevant sources of academically relevant habitus. It also shows that the socio-economic class, status and occupation of core family members provide a bigger motivation for completion of their doctoral study than cultural capital. In relation to cultural capital in particular, the study thus emphasises matters such as prior academic learning; attitudes, skills and competences learnt in the academic workplace (with particular reference to lecturer-participants of the study); an understanding of the university and of the nature of doctoral study; and learning from the supervisor, other academic and research colleagues, peers and role models. Three attributes of the field of doctoral study are shown to be most relevant to completion: (1) the ‘nature of doctoral study’ and related aspects such as the choice of the research topic, thesis writing, the use of the English language, and writing and presentation of work in progress; (2) the relationship with the supervisor and aspects of the supervision process; and (3) funding. By focusing on the practices of lecturer-participants in particular, the study argues for a model of doctoral study that conceives of doctoral candidates as ‘junior staff members’ rather than merely as students, and thus employs them in a contractual relationship that involves elements of work and study. Finally, it is argued that there is much complexity in the dynamic interaction of the concepts in Bourdieu’s ‘mathematical model’. In particular, it is shown that there are dynamics by which deficiencies in the field and in the resources embodied by participants are being compensated by means of other aspects of the field, cultural capital and habitus and with new learning and adaptation to generate practices that are beneficial to completion. A number of findings also diverge from Bourdieu’s arguments. In particular, the study notes that African doctoral students’ habitus is derived from a wider influence than primarily the nuclear family (especially parents), since sibling influence, the influence of extended family members (especially well-educated ones) and a wider social network are important factors

The purpose of this study was to determine whether differences exist between characteristics and attitudes of graduates and those of non-graduates of doctoral programs in education. The subjects were the 256 students who had successfully completed the qualifying examinations in the College of Education at North Texas State University during the years of 1978 through 1980. Although the data findings from this study are too numerous to list within the restrictions of this abstract, the most notable findings include that (1) 74.2 per cent had graduated; (2) graduates were more likely to have selected the dissertation topic before the qualifying examinations; (3) graduates rated personal motivation higher than did non-graduates; and (4) there were no significant differences in Graduate Record Examination scores (verbal, quantitative, or total) between graduates and non-graduates. Among the conclusions drawn from this study are that (1) the process of going through a doctoral program discourages the less serious students before they reach the qualifying examinations and (2) graduates have high personal motivation and receive high support for dissertation efforts from many segments of life (spouse, family, friends, major professor, and doctoral committee). The recommendations drawn from this study are for (1) further research into the personal motivation of the candidate, (2) further research as to the effect of the candidate's attitudes toward and grades for courses in research and statistics, (3) universities to maintain records that allow for determination of completion rates of doctoral students and to consider these rates in the evaluation of doctoral programs, and (4) graduate faculty to encourage doctoral students to give serious consideration to possible dissertation topics early in their graduate programs.

No description available.

This study describes the experiences of doctoral students in education at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The study focused only on the 14 HBCUs that offer doctoral degrees in education. Twelve of the 14 eligible institutions agreed to participate in the study. A total of 47 doctoral students who were in their third year of study or close to completion participated in the study. These doctoral students completed a survey that was utilized in a national study of doctoral students at predominately white institutions and Ivy League institutions conducted by Golde and Dore in 2001. The purpose of this study was to determine if doctoral students in education at HBCUs are receiving a quality education and if they are being adequately prepared for their careers. This study offers 368 findings from which the doctoral experience in education at HBCUs can be comprehensively evaluated. It was determined that doctoral students in education at HBCUs do receive a quality education and are being effectively prepared for their careers.

Utilizing social support as the theoretical foundation for this research, the study proposes and tests the Mentoring Relational Process Model (MRPM). The influence of support sought, relational maintenance strategies, and support obtained on the critical graduate outcomes of relational satisfaction, research self-efficacy, perceived time-todegree, and relational quality is examined. Data collected from 310 doctoral students through an online survey is used to test the MRPM. Over 50% of the variance in relational satisfaction and relational quality, respectively, is predicted by the MRPM. Research selfefficacy and perceived time-to-degree were not well-predicted by the current data.

The problem of this study was to analyze doctoral programs in mathematics and education for the preparation of teachers of undergraduate mathematics. The purpose of the study was to determine (1) the need for such programs, (2) the attitude of college and university officials toward them, (3) the composition of present offerings and (4) recommendations to the future course their development should take.

Learning community literature supports the use of student cohorts to enhance learning through increased peer interaction and common course work. Researchers employed the qualitative method of phenomenography to identify various ways doctoral counseling students conceptualize and experience learning in a cohort over the course of a single academic year. Participants were all 10 members of a single southwestern U.S. university counseling program doctoral cohort of full-time students between 20 and 59 years of age with 5 members 20-29, 4 members 30-39, 1 member 50-59; 8 female, 2 male; 9 White non-Hispanic, 1 African-American. Data were transcripts from 30 one-hour interviews, three for each participant over the course of their first year of study. The research team that analyzed the data consisted of three advanced counseling program doctoral students, each with research methods coursework. Results revealed nine dynamic structural aspects of learning: dialogue, diversity, knowledge, motivation, support, shared experience, relationship development, interpersonal awareness, and conflict. Findings support the use of learning communities in doctoral level counselor education programs. Cohort members demonstrated increasing awareness of the potential learning benefits of cohort interaction and developed more in depth strategies over time to utilize the cohort to enhance learning. Future counselor educators may now with greater confidence design learning communities and curriculum to facilitate doctoral cohort development for optimal student interaction.