PhD Progression: a micro-credentialing program motivates and supports PhD students’ professional development at a US University
Studies in Graduate and Postdoctoral Education
ISSN: 2398-4686
Article publication date: 18 July 2024
Issue publication date: 26 August 2024
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to present the evaluation of a competency-based online professional development training program, PhD Progression, tied to a digital badge system, created to support PhD students across fields.
Design/methodology/approach
This study took place at Boston University, a large, nonprofit, Carnegie Classified R1 research-intensive institution located in the northeastern region of the USA. Through internal campus collaborations, the authors developed a PhD core capacities framework. Building from this framework, the authors designed the first learning level of the program and ran a pilot study with PhD students from various fields and at different stages of their PhD. Using surveys and focus groups, the authors collected both quantitative and qualitative data to evaluate this program.
Findings
The quantitative and qualitative data show that the majority of the PhD student participants found the contents of the competency-based training program useful, appropriate for building skills and knowledge and therefore relevant for both their degree progress and their future job. Gaining digital badges significantly increased their motivation to complete training modules.
Practical implications
This type of resource is scalable to other institutions that wish to provide self-paced professional development support to their PhD students while rewarding them for investing time in building professional skills and enabling them to showcase these skills to potential employers.
Originality/value
This study demonstrates, for the first time, that tying a digital badging system to a competency-based professional development program significantly motivates PhD students to set professional development goals and invest time in building skills.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge the support of Dr Daniel L. Kleinman (Associate Provost for Graduate Affairs at Boston University) in initial intellectual conversations conceptualizing the work and for establishing many faculty members and administrators as our partners and collaborators through his advocacy.
Competing interests. The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Funding: The development of the Canvas Credentials platform and our pilot phase of content were supported by an initial grant funded by Boston University’s Digital Learning and Innovation (DL&I)’s Digital Education Incubator. DL&I continues to be a partner in this initiative as we scale up the longer term development of the platform. Dr Kuang Li is funded by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 2224988 (Innovations in Graduate Education).
Citation
Gnangnon, B., Li, K., Rezaei, D.F., Marks, M.M., Dellarocas, C., Hokanson, S.C. and Goldman, S.B. (2024), "PhD Progression: a micro-credentialing program motivates and supports PhD students’ professional development at a US University", Studies in Graduate and Postdoctoral Education, Vol. 15 No. 3, pp. 323-347. https://doi.org/10.1108/SGPE-07-2023-0070
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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