Doctoral education's reform in Switzerland and Norway : a public management analyis

This doctoral thesis examines a recent phenomenon in European higher education, namely the reform of doctoral education. On the basis of a number of case studies, consisting of Swiss and Norwegian doctoral schools, and their institutional, national and international context, it demonstrates to what extent changes appear in doctoral education and its governance. Findings indicate new practices regarding doctoral students' recruitment, curricular component, supervision, scientific exchange, follow-up and their career. Doctoral education's character is not anymore exclusively determined by individual supervisors, but increasingly by interdisciplinary and interinstitutional colleges of academics. Finally, general governance patterns are identified: according to the type of scientific discipline and higher education institution, the institution's size and national political system, the field of higher education is more or less dominated by New Public Management or Network Governance characteristics.

Doctoral Education and Skills Development : an International and Historical Perspective. 'Educación doctoral y desarrollo de competencias : una perspectiva internacional e histórica'.

Monográfico con el título: 'Competencias docentes en la Educación Superior'. Resumen basado en el de la publicación

Successful Navigation of the Conflict between Doctoral Education and Cultural Expectations of Child Rearing in Hispanic Culture

While the numbers are slowly rising, Hispanic students continue to be disproportionately underrepresented in all levels of higher education, including doctoral education. There are many factors that may contribute to the low numbers of Hispanic doctoral students; for Hispanic women, one of these factors may be the perceived conflict between cultural expectations of childrearing and doctoral education. For Hispanic students who hold strong cultural values, this conflict may prevent enrollment in, or result in attrition from, doctoral education. As the number of Hispanic college enrollment increases, we will see more students trying to navigate between the collectivistic value of childrearing and the individualistic value of pursuing higher education. Thus, it is important to understand the needs of these students to aid in recruitment and retention of student-parents in all levels of higher education. This paper explores the barriers and supportive factors for current Hispanic doctoral student-parents. Suggestions are made to increase support which will allow these individuals to successfully complete a doctoral education, while attending to the responsibilities of parenting.

An Exploration Into Doctoral Students' Sense of Community and its Influence on the Formation of Informal Mentoring Relationships

This exploratory mixed method research project was designed to investigate an area of doctoral education that has received little attention in the past. This research focused specifically on the non-intellectual, hoped-for by-products of doctoral education; the dynamic processes of developing and maintaining both a sense of community and informal mentoring relationships. The design of the study captured the experiences of doctoral students and alumni at various time periods in the doctoral program. Participants represented a diverse group of students with differences in professional and academic backgrounds and life stages. A pilot study for this research suggested that the presence of a sense of community and informal mentoring may provide the necessary relationships to support this diversity. The primary question at the forefront of this study was: Do doctoral students feel connected to one another? Five subquestions were developed to address this research topic: Does a sense of community already exist and flourish in doctoral education? Are the programs and resources of the doctoral program organized to nurture the creation and maintenance of a sense of community? Is a sense of community a foundational element in the formation of naturally occurring relationships among doctoral students? What educational and socio-emotional benefits are associated with informal mentoring relationships during the doctoral experience? and Do doctoral students perceive a change in their development as stewards of their discipline over time? The principal methods used to investigate these research questions combined both quantitative and qualitative techniques in a concurrent time sequence. The quantitative portion of the study involved a questionnaire, while the qualitative portion involved two approaches; face-to-face interviews and an open-ended question at the end of the questionnaire. Findings from the study indicated that the presence of both sense of community and informal mentoring enhance the overall quality of doctoral education. Program elements that enhanced or hindered connection between students were identified. Both the dynamics and the emotional, social, and academic benefits of informal mentoring were elucidated. Over time participants perceived changes in their development of the qualities assqciated with stewardship. This study brought the "hoped-for by-products" associated with doctoral education from the background shadows to an illuminated position at the forefront of inquiry.

Analysis of the information about Doctoral Degrees presented in the Spanish universities websites.

Globalization has intensified competition, as evidenced by the growing number of international classification systems (rankings) and the attention paid to them. Doctoral education has an international character in itself. It should promote opportunities for graduate students lo participate in these international studies. The quality and competitiveness are two of the most important issues for universities. To promote the interest of graduates to continue their education after the graduate level, it would be necessary to improve the published information of ihe doctoral programs. It should increase the visibility and provide high-quality, easily accessible and comparable information which includes all the relevant aspects of these programs. The authors analysed the website contents of doctoral programs, it was observed a lack of quality of them and very poor information about the contents, so that it was decided that any of them could constitute a model for creating new websites. The recommendations on the format and contents in the web were made by a discussion group. They recommended an attractive design; a page with easy access to contents and easy to find on Ihe net and with the information in more than one language. It should include complete program and academic staff information. It should also be included the study's results which should be easily accessible and includes quantitative data, such as number of students who completed scholars, publications, research projects, average duration of the studies, etc. It will facilitate the choice of program

The risky business of doctoral management

Universities are under no less pressure to adopt risk management strategies than other public and private organisations. The risk management of doctoral education is a particularly important issue given that a doctorate is the highest academic qualification a university offers and stakes are high in terms of assuring its quality. However, intense risk management can interfere with the intellectual and pedagogical work which are essentially part of doctoral education. This paper seeks to understand how the culture of risk meets the culture of doctoral education and with what effect. The authors draw on sociological understandings of risk in the work of Anthony Giddens (2002) and Ulrich Beck (1992), the anthropological focus on liminality in the work of Mary Douglas (1990), and the psychological theorising of human error in the work of James Reason (1990). The paper concludes that risk consciousness brings its own risks—in particular, the potential transformation of a culture based on intellect into a culture based on compliance.

Determinantes del progreso en los estudios de doctorado. Diferencias entre disciplinas científico-tecnológicas versus ciencias sociales y humanidades

En numerosos países, incluido España, existen problemas en relación con las tasas de éxito en los estudios de doctorado. El trabajo que aquí se presenta fue diseñado con el fin de identificar los factores asociados con el progreso durante el tercer ciclo y la elaboración de las tesis doctorales en dos grupos disciplinares: científico-tecnológico versus humanidades y ciencias sociales. El artículo presenta la información obtenida a partir de un cuestionario aplicado a 81 estudiantes de doctorado de la Universidad de Girona, en relación con tres áreas de interés: variables económicas, personales y académicas que condicionan el éxito en el tercer ciclo. Los resultados muestran diferencias substanciales entre disciplinas. Los factores responsables de estas diferencias son, principalmente: la vinculación profesional a la universidad, la planificación del proyecto de investigación y los objetivos personales.

Finnish doctoral dissertations of nursing education research

Nursing education research has confirmed its place in the discipline of nursing and caring sciences being one of the most central research areas. However, extensive and systematic analysis of nursing education research has been lacking both nationally and internationally. The aim of this study was to describe the focus of nursing education research in Finnish doctoral dissertations in the field of nursing and caring sciences between the years 1990–2014. In addition, the characteristics (i.e. methods, study informants and reporting of validity, reliability, and research ethics) of the dissertations were described. Also, international reviews (N=39) focusing on nursing education research were analysed for a background literature. A literature review was carried out. Altogether 51 (=N) Finnish doctoral dissertations of nursing and caring sciences in the field of nursing education research were included in the final analysis. The data for this research was collected from the open publication lists of each university offering education in nursing and caring sciences in Finland. The dissertations were published in 1990–2014. The data were analysed by content analysis both deductively and inductively. This study consists of a scientific article manuscript and a background literature review. Nursing education research has focused both nationally and internationally on four main areas: structural factors in nursing education, nurse teacherhood, teaching activities, and learning and learning outcomes in nursing education. In Finland, the most central focus area was learning (84.3 %) whereas nurse teacherhood and structural factors in nursing education were studied the least. Students were the predominant study informant group while nurse staff including nurse mentors were next and nurse educators only the third. Surveys and interviews were the most common data collection methods. In the findings there were a lot of similarities with international reviews of nursing education research. Finnish nursing education research has been very student-centred yet studies focusing on the education of other nursing based professions or different levels of education are rare. Future research about nurse teacherhood, curricula and structural factors in nursing education is recommended. There is also a need for experimental designs. In addition, nursing education research should focus on the central phenomena of nursing education and working life. All in all, more nursing education research is needed. Nursing education dissertations cover only 12.3 % of all the dissertations of nursing and caring sciences in Finland.

A Case Study of Doctoral Research Assistantships: Access and Experiences of Full-Time and Part-Time Education Students

Graduate students’ development as researchers is a key objective in higher education. Research assistantships provide distinctive spaces where graduate students can be nurtured and shaped as novice researchers as they develop theoretical and methodological knowledge. However, few scholars have investigated graduate student research assistants’ experiences and the ways these experiences are influenced by institutional regulations, informal practices, and social relations. The purpose of this case-within-a-case study was to explore the research assistantship experiences of full-time and part-time doctoral students in Education at an Ontario university. I present separate subcases for full-time and part-time students, and an overarching case of research assistantships in one program at a specific period of time. The main question was how do institutional regulations, informal practices, and social relations influence full-time and part-time doctoral students’ access to and experiences within research assistantships. My objective was to draw from interviews and documents to acquire a thorough understanding of the organizational characteristics of research assistantships (i.e., structures of access, distribution, and coordination of participation) to explore the ways institutional regulations, informal practices, and social relations promote, prevent, or limit full-time and part-time students’ legitimate peripheral participation in research assistantships. Although I devoted particular attention to the ways students’ full-time and part-time status shaped their decisions, relationships, and experiences, I was conscious that other factors such as gender, age, and cultural background may have also influenced doctoral research assistant experiences.