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.

Part-time research students: are they producing knowledge where it counts?

Over the past twenty years, in Australia and overseas, there has been a steady growth in the numbers of part-time research students. It is possible to view this as substantially a product of "creeping credentialism" following from the previous growth in part-time coursework Masters degrees. However, research degrees are a different kind of credential and program to coursework degrees. They are not only about research training-- in the sense of teaching people how to conceptualise, plan, undertake, analyse and communicate research--but they are also "tested" by the candidate's production of some new and significant knowledge (especially in doctorates). Therefore, unlike coursework degrees, some new public "good" is created and added to the "stock of knowledge". Common criticisms of the "traditional" PhD research degree, in Australia and overseas, are that it is (now) too narrow and specialised for either the graduate or their research findings to be of utility beyond their specialism, the graduates are limited in their communication and workplace skills, and their employment opportunities are relatively weak, especially given the high costs of their research degrees. However, the rise of part-time candidature and of professional doctorates--commonly involving research in workplaces or professions-- suggests that, if this criticism is valid, it would be unlikely to be valid for part-time PhDs and professional doctorates. This article analyses these criticisms in relation to the ways in which part-time research students are positioned within the knowledge economy. It makes an argument for a greater understanding and analysis of the impact and benefits of part-time doctoral students to the knowledge economy and the public good.

Working doctoral students : challenges and opportunities

Doctoral education is traditionally conceptualised in policies and practices about young, full-time students with no work or related commitments. However, nowadays, doctoral candidates constitute a diverse population working in various institutional, community and industry sites. This paper will report on initial work conducted as part of an ARC Linkage Project in which three postgraduate student associations are involved as industry partners – viz. CAPA, PARSA and DUSA. The main objective of the paper is to identify and explore some of the issues identified by two researchers who are working independently and collaboratively in this project to investigate the contemporary experiences of full and part-time doctoral candidates.

The invisible part-time research students : a case study of satisfaction and completion

Internationally, the attention being paid by governments to research education is growing in line with the increasing numbers of students undertaking research degrees. With this emphasis on research students it is, however, becoming clear that there is a specific category of research student that has been overlooked to the point that they are 'invisible', in both policy and research terms: part-time students. This article addresses this gap by presenting an analysis of the satisfaction of Australian part-time research graduates, and a case study of predictors of their completion. The Australian example provides valuable lessons that can impact on the changes and features of research student programs in other countries. Part-time doctoral students were found to have faster completion times than full-time doctoral students, in equivalent-time terms. In terms of satisfaction with their student experience, part-time research graduates are less satisfied with the infrastructure support provided, and have a less favourable perception of the research climate of their department, than full-time research students. More specifically, the analyses in the case study highlight the varying issues and demands that are the best predictors of time to completion by mode of study for doctoral students. Internationally, the attention being paid by governments to research education is growing in line with the increasing numbers of students undertaking research degrees. With this emphasis on research students it is, however, becoming clear that there is a specific category of research student that has been overlooked to the point that they are 'invisible', in both policy and research terms: part-time students. This article addresses this gap by presenting an analysis of the satisfaction of Australian part-time research graduates, and a case study of predictors of their completion. The Australian example provides valuable lessons that can impact on the changes and features of research student programs in other countries. Part-time doctoral students were found to have faster completion times than full-time doctoral students, in equivalent-time terms. In terms of satisfaction with their student experience, part-time research graduates are less satisfied with the infrastructure support provided, and have a less favourable perception of the research climate of their department, than full-time research students. More specifically, the analyses in the case study highlight the varying issues and demands that are the best predictors of time to completion by mode of study for doctoral students.

Reconceptualising the Australian doctoral experience

This thesis showed that part-time doctoral candidates have complex interrelationships between activities inside and outside of their studies. It is argued that these interrelationships are critical as work becomes more focused on the creation of ideas and doctorates become more focused on the world of work.

Successful Australian general practitioner doctoral candidates 2005-14

Aims/objectives:Appointment to higher academic positions and success in high prestige research grantsIn Australia requires the possession of a research based doctorate. With the expandingNeeds of general practice can we meet the need for suitably qualified applicants?Using a variety of public domain databases Australian GPs who lodged a doctoral thesis in a University library from 1 Jan 2005 to 31 Dec 2014 were identified.Content:In this time 73 of the current 32,000 registered general practitioners had doctoral thesis accepted; 48 of these were in the first five years.Median time for thesis submission is around 25 years after the primary medical qualification.Relevance/impact:The capability to expand GP academic departments and research output in Australia is hampered by low GP doctoral completion rates. Doctorates are achieved in a late stage of a professional career limiting the research career lifespan. More research opportunities have been identified as attracting younger graduates to general practice.Discussion:There is an urgent need to provide more practical and financial support to younger GPs to enable them to undertake academic career development. A clear career pathway with some stability of income is also needed.

School students and part-time work: Workplace problems and challenges.

This paper uses data from a large national project on student-working to examine problems and challenges for school students working in part-time jobs. While literature has identified some potential problems and challenges, and some potential difficulties can be extrapolated from the nature of a young teenage workforce and the nature of the workplaces, these were largely absent in the two companies researched because the companies already had policies in place that addressed the potential problems. Some suggestions are made about how problems and challenges could be avoided in a wider range of adolescent workplaces.

Full-time is a given here : part-time versus full-time job quality

This study explores full-time workers' understanding of and assumptions about part-time work against six job quality components identified in recent literature. Forty interviews were conducted with employees in a public sector agency in Australia, a study context where part-time work is ostensibly 'good quality' and is typically long term, voluntary, involving secure contracts (i.e. permanent rather than casual) and having predictable hours distributed evenly over the week and year. Despite strong collective bargaining arrangements as well as substantial legal and industrial obligations, the findings revealed some serious concerns for part-time job quality. These concerns included reduced responsibilities and lesser access to high status roles and projects, a lack of access to promotion opportunities, increased work intensity and poor workplace support. The highly gendered, part-time labour market also means that it is women who disproportionately experience this disadvantage. To foster equity, greater attention needs to focus on monitoring and enhancing job quality, regardless of hours worked.

Part-time work of high school students and impact on educational outcomes

While increasing numbers of young high school students engage in part-time work, there is no consensus about its impact on educational outcomes. Indeed this field has had a dearth of research. The present paper presents a review of recent research, primarily from Australia and the US, although it is acknowledged that there are considerable contextual differences. Suggestions for school counsellors to harness the students’ experiences to assist in educational and career decision-making are presented.

Who's talking? Communication and the casual/part-time nurse : a literature review

The rapidly evolving nursing working environment has seen the increased use of flexible non standard employment, including part-time, casual and itinerate workers. Evidence suggests that the nursing workforce has been at the forefront of the flexibility push which has seen the appearance of a dual workforce and marginalization of part- time and casual workers by their full-time peers and managers. The resulting fragmentation has meant that effective communication management has become difficult. Additionally, it is likely that poor organisational communication exacerbated by the increased use of non standard staff, is a factor underlying current discontent in the nursing industry and may impact on both recruitment and retention problems as well as patient outcomes. This literature review explores the relationship between the increasing casualisation of the nursing workforce and, among other things, the communication practices of nurses within healthcare organisations.