This article addresses multi-disciplinary writing groups in supporting writing for publication for higher degree by research candidates in the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences. Drawing on focus group discussions with postgraduate research students from the Faculty of Arts at Monash University in Australia who participated in the writing…

This study was conducted to determine the policy of a single university department concerning admissions to the doctoral program. (CK)

Many postgraduate students in Britain experience a "mock" viva some time before their "rea" one, but little has been published on this aspect of gaining a Ph.D. or professional doctorate. In this study questionnaire data on the experiences and feelings of 29 UK postgraduate students concerning their mock vivas are summarized. The results suggest…

Supervision lies at the heart of PhD pedagogy, but the focus has been on improving efficiency and completion rates of the PhD process rather than theorising about the nature of the postgraduate supervision process. The study explores the usefulness of situated learning as a theoretical framework for thinking about PhD pedagogy. In the process,…

This study explored the experiences of seven Afghan women pursuing doctoral degrees in a variety of disciplines and programs across the United States. The guiding question for this study was: What factors influence Afghan women's journeys to and experiences in doctoral programs? In an attempt to understand Afghan women doctoral students, I…

It is well documented that the achievement gap between affluent students and economically disadvantaged students and between White students and students of color continues to widen. In addition to these achievement gaps, marginalizing practices are often imbedded in the structures of schooling. These challenges require educational leadership…

Community college leadership programs may take a variety of forms, among them university-based programs, leadership institutes, community college-based "grow your own" programs, professional organization-based institutes, or a combination of these. University-based doctorate leadership programs are the principal providers of these…

The success of doctoral student mentoring is largely dependent upon faculty members, but structural and institutional obstacles compound deficiencies in the performance of all participants. University leaders must emphasize the value of mentorship in stimulating positive learning conditions and stress the importance of recognizing faculty members…

Twenty doctoral students in the disciplines of chemistry and history were interviewed to better understand the socialization processes that influence their success and how these processes differ by year in the degree program and disciplinary culture. Five major themes emerged describing these socialization processes and how they facilitate or…

The purpose of this study was to contribute to the construct validity of the scores from Rose's (2003) 34-item "Ideal Mentor Scale" (IMS) and to examine whether male and female doctoral students value different attributes in their ideal mentor. Two hundred and twenty-four doctoral students from colleges (Education, Public Health, Nursing, Arts and…

A quantitative analysis of the admissions requirements guidelines of the education doctoral programs at the top 20 American universities was conducted. An Internet search was used to obtain information on top-ranked world and U.S. universities. Admission requirements typically include, at minimum, an application fee (mean 55.5 USD), previous…

English and History doctoral programs produced varying amounts of doctoral degrees between 1973 and 2003. These doctoral degree recipients experienced changing employment outcomes influenced by program prestige. The main goal of this study is to explain the changes over time in doctoral degree production and employment outcomes for doctoral degree…

The study was conducted with 3,385 participants who took an English language proficiency test as a partial requirement for entering a PhD program in different fields of education. This test has three sections which are grammar, vocabulary and reading comprehension. To determine the construct validity of the test, a series of analyses were done.…

This study evaluated the impact of a distance education program to meet the practice learning needs of first-year doctoral students. The program, a six-session case-based telephonic seminar, was taught to 19 first-year doctoral students. Evaluation of the program included self-report quantitative and qualitative data gathered pre- and postseminar,…

This paper grows from research which focuses on the learning characteristics of PhD students, incorporating communities of practice both during their studies and beyond completion of their PhD, and drawing on theories of adult learning and lifelong learning. It shows how professional discourse enhances academic discourse through student engagement…