Supervising doctorates at a distance: Three trans-Tasman stories

Purpose -- The purpose of this paper is to describe the challenges of post-traditional, distance PhD supervision and suggest pedagogical interventions to bridge the distance. The paper investigates the skills and understandings necessary for mediating the supervisor-supervisee dyad within faceless encounters. Design/methodology/approach -- Grounded in a literature review and using interview-based narratives, the paper describes a case study investigating the needs and experiences of three part-time, trans-Tasman PhD students, writing practitioner- or practice-led research (PLR) higher degrees by research (HDR) by artefact and exegesis. Findings -- Findings reveal the importance of proactivity, dialogue and mutual trust and the necessity of knowing which interactions, including e-moderated supervisions and fast-turnaround electronic communications, potentially help to bridge the gulf. Research limitations/implications -- While this small-scale study makes no major claims that results can be generalised, the results are pertinent to those involved in distance HDR supervision, particularly in PLR. Originality/value -- As distance supervisions become increasingly commonplace, HDR supervisors need to build best practice models from shared personal and professional understandings of effective supervisory interventions in this mode

Doctorates for professionals through distance education

This chapter reviews a selection of international practices and matters concerned with offering research doctorates in professional fields. It considers the history of doctortates at a distance and the contemporary concerns and practices that influence the field

A learning-centred blended model for professional doctorates

A solid pedagogy can ensure the achievement of the learning outcomes set for any university qualification, whether at undergraduate or postgraduate level. Currently there is an urgent need for a wider consideration of appropriate pedagogies for doctoral programmes. This paper looks in particular at the characteristics of professional doctorates, which are typically studied part-time and focus on researching a professional setting. Based on the needs of these programmes, it proposes a learning-centred blended mode of delivery that fosters students’ engagement with activities anchored in the set learning outcomes. The range of activities aims at facilitating the multiple interactions necessary for competent researchers by making use of the resources, tools and spaces within two main learning environments: the virtual and the physical. This model prompts universities to consider appropriate pedagogies for the delivery of professional doctorates and suggests the need to ensure the alignment of their approaches with available technologies, educational policies, and practices of teaching and learning in their institutions. In order to ensure a successful implementation, such a consideration must also include effective action for the development of the relevant academic staff

Professional doctorates and DBAs in Australia: dilemmas and opportunities to innovate

The aims of this paper are to a) share information about the focus, aims, structure and examination criteria of the Doctor of Business Education (DBA) programs in Australian universities, b) clarify current dilemmas in terms of program delivery when instituting and managing such programs and c) identify opportunities to collaborate between Australian and American universities to share insights about best practices in the management of DBA program

Research education for diversity in educational research

Concern, expressed by government and other funding agencies and consumers of research, about the quality and relevance of research in the field of education affects not only the kind of research is conducted but also the way in which we educate researchers. The economic imperative for ‘value for money’ from research and researchers has, for instance, led to the education of research students to be seen increasingly in terms of training in a range of generic skills that can be applied to the investigation of a range of forms of research problem in a variety of contexts. Whilst breadth in the education of researchers has clear advantages, both for the careers of individual researchers and the wider research community, there is some tension between this approach and the more established view of a research degree as an induction into a narrow domain of knowledge and the production of a highly specialised academic identity. There are further developments that erode this notion of specialisation, for instance the growth of mixed method research, which has the potential to challenge the polarisation of qualitative and quantitative research, and shifts in the sites and agents of educational research signified by the growth of professional doctorates, which could further challenge the university as a dominant institution in the production of educational knowledge. In this paper I will explore what these developments mean for the teaching of research and consider how we can work collaboratively to develop both professional researchers and researching professionals, and reconcile the acquisition of skills with induction into specialised knowledge domains. This will involve exploration of both an overarching framework for thinking about the processes of doing research and specific examples of practice. Underlying the approach taken is a general commitment to research education, rather than to training and the teaching of methods, and the desire to ensure dynamism and diversity in educational research, in terms of approach, substantive focus and theoretical orientation, and of sites, practices and agents of knowledge production

To publish or not to publish before submission? Considerations for doctoral students and supervisors

Postgraduate research education is multi-faceted incorporating the teaching of a range of skills and study behaviours. A key skill for doctoral students is that of scholarly writing that Aitchison (2009) argues is often difficult to teach, with students unclear about the standards required for doctoral work. One benchmark of standards of academic literacy is published outputs, with Kamler (2008) pressing for greater pedagogical attention to be given to writing for publication within doctoral education. However, the case for pursuing publication as part of doctoral research experience is subject to a number of variables. This discussion paper debates some of these variables to consider writing for publication within diverse doctoral education. Features of difference will be discussed to reveal that the choice of whether or not to “publish as you go” (Taylor & Beasley, 2005: 130) is influenced by the personal, disciplinary and institutional context that frames the doctoral undertaking

Trajectories from public sector of research to private sector : an analysis using french data on young PhD graduates

The organisation of research is a powerful factor structuring the labour market for recent doctorate recipients. The queue for permanent research positions in the academic sector has created a specific labour market for young doctorates, characterised by a proliferation of postdoctoralprogrammes and fixed-term contracts. In that specific context, our paper deals with the way the young PhD graduates enter the labour market, the way they get a job as researcher in the private or public sector and how much the return of the job mobility from the public academic sector to the private sector is. Using a longitudinal survey provided by the Cereq, our results suggest that even if nearly the half of the cohort has a direct access to jobs in the research sector (private or public), 20% remain in trajectories dominated by under-qualifiedjobs or recurrent unemployment. Our empirical investigation show a negative or non significant returns of the job mobility from the public academic sector to the private sector.Marché du travail; Insertion professionnelle; Post Doctorant; Jeune; Mobilité professionnelle; France

Understanding the part-time researcher experience

Vitae is supported by Research Councils UK (RCUK), managed by CRAC: The Career Development Organisation and delivered in partnership with regional Hub host universitie