This study was focused on the factors that contribute to the high attrition rates in doctoral programs, particularly emphasizing the impact of online education on student persistence and completion rates. The primary intent of the research was to gain a deeper understanding of the various challenges that doctoral candidates faced and how they…

Black men's experiences in education are often marked by isolation, imposter syndrome, and racial microaggressions. This qualitative case study, guided by the five enactments of Cross and Fhagen Smith's (2001) model of Black identity development, explored the experiences of 20 Black men doctoral students as they navigated and continually redefined…

The doctorate forms the basis for academic careers and the regeneration of academia, and has increasingly become important for other sectors of society. The latter is reflected in efforts on institutional, national as well as supranational levels to change and adapt the doctoral degree to new expectations. As doctoral education is embedded in…

Purpose and Method of Study: The purpose of this study was to explore the concept of transformation by studying the transformative experiences of the faculty and graduates of ORU's Doctor of Education Program (Ed.D.). The theoretical framework for this study was Young's (2013a) transformational learning theory reframed (TLTR). An exploratory…

Purpose: Highly developed and agile learners who can clearly convey and call on their skills are sought in all walks of life. Diverse demand for these capacities has called attention to how the skills and knowledge gained during doctoral study can be conveyed, translated and leveraged in non-academic settings; however, the complex learning reality…

Traditionally, the candidate-supervisor-relationship is predicated on a supervisor as teacher/expert -- candidate as learner/novice model. But what becomes possible when the materialities of this power dynamic are destabilised and reimagined? This article draws from emerging feminist ontologies to introduce the concept of velo-onto-epistemology…

Academic mentorship is a vital step in preparing the next generation, yet little information exists on what successful mentorship looks like--particularly the process by which one ascertains a mentor, builds and maintains mentoring relationships, and achieves success in doctoral programs. Systems thinking is applied here to conceptualize academic…

Under the relentless neoliberalism, there is a growing claim that doctoral students have transformed into highly performative, enterprising, and self-reliant subjects in the current higher education landscape. Whilst this seems almost a truism to encapsulate the unprecedentedly competitive educational context in which the PhD is pursued, it is…

Researchers have shown that the pursuit of doctoral studies is often related to the desire to become an academic, despite the constrained academic labour markets and changing (or deteriorating, as some have argued) academic working conditions (AWC) worldwide. In this study, we assessed the extent to which Chinese PhD students were aware of the…

Higher learning institutions teaching gross anatomy are implementing 3D technology, such as the Anatomage Table, to supplement cadaveric dissection. However, the literature is scant about the effects of introducing 3D technologies on students' learning outcomes in the study of gross anatomy. The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine…

Doctoral student mothers faced unique challenges navigating school, work, and parenting responsibilities throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. The pressure to keep up with academic benchmarks and productivity standards, alongside social isolation and disruptions to caregiving supports, can impact parenting students' well-being and progression through…

Purpose: Many PhD students have strong reading comprehension, but some struggle with how to read critically. The purpose of this study is to understand what reading looks like for PhD students, what they are doing when they read scholarly texts and how they bring these texts to life in meaningful ways. Design/methodology/approach: The authors…

In this article, we think-with nots, knots, and (k)nots in the interstices of theory, methodology, pedagogy, and art. We define the (k)not as a bringing together of nots--openings toward creativity, mapping, and disruption--and knots--openings toward connection, entanglement, and speculative futures. Playing (k)nots within our own relations,…

Employability is rapidly becoming a primary aim of PhD programmes. Internships have been shown to maximise students' chances of employment; however, there is limited evidence for how relevant this approach is to social science PhD students. This article reports on a mixed methods study, designed to utilise secondary and primary programme…

The barriers for Black doctoral students are a long-term higher education issue that needs to be addressed and considered seriously as an academic pipeline issue. Anti-Blackness in higher education admissions and curriculum not only harms educational democracy but directly affects the limited number of Black doctoral students. Black doctoral…