This study explores STEM doctoral student agency with respect to funding as it relates to degree completion and career preparation. We interviewed 39 graduate students in chemistry, physics, and engineering at two large, public, research-intensive institutions in the USA. Although STEM doctoral students have a high expectation of full funding,…

This paper critically engages with the pedagogical design of a generic professional doctorate programme as a framework for creation of actionable knowledge within the practice of both adviser and candidate. Within this exploration the relational dimensions of the adviser-candidate interaction are identified and their potential impact partially…

While much research focuses on factors contributing to doctoral completion, few studies explore the role of the doctorate in forming active researchers with the skills, know-how and appetite to pursue research post-completion. This article investigates 15 existing studies for evidence of what factors in the doctoral experience may contribute to…

This article is part of a larger study which presents findings from an in-depth longitudinal case study of a student's Ph.D. journey. It shows how criticism is produced and managed in the supervisory relationship. As well as an overview of types of criticism produced across a range of supervisory interactions, the article presents a micro-analysis…

Examines some fundamental assumptions that have informed recent policy on doctoral research in the United Kingdom in light of empirical, quantitative research on doctoral supervisors and their students, and argues those assumptions are insensitive to significant differences between academic cultures of different disciplines. Looks at issues of…

Discusses the development and use of negotiated written contracts between Ph.D. degree students and faculty supervisors to alleviate many of the problems inherent in the student-adviser relationship. Interviews with 89 supervisors indicated that the most fundamental problem encountered by them was students who displayed inadequate motivation to…

Educational and psychological functions of the supervisor of undergraduate dissertations are identified. Special problems of supervisors are discussed together with the difficulties commonly experienced by students. Ways problems may be minimized and the desirability of supervisors acting within an agreed set of departmental aims, objectives, and…

A survey of 32 Australian and 18 Sri Lankan graduate faculty new to doctoral dissertation supervision indicated that these faculty identified content knowledge, research skills, dissertation and time management skills, knowledge of resources and procedures, and interpersonal competence as desirable attributes in supervisors. They were concerned…

This article argues that to understand higher education student retention, equal emphasis needs to be placed on successful integration into the social world of the university as into the academic world. To date, sociological research reflecting first-year students' perceptions of the processes involved in developing social lives at university is…