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 candidatesas well as those whom they deem to be influencing their research and learningare 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.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/216869 |
| Date | January 2007 |
| Creators | Cumming, Jim, jim.cumming@anu.edu.au |
| Publisher | The Australian National University. College of Arts and Social Sciences |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | http://www.anu.edu.au/legal/copyrit.html), Copyright Jim Cumming |
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