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1 – 10 of over 1000Juan Zhang, Xi Gao, Xi Hong and Hamish Coates
Although doctoral education has experienced substantial development in recent decades, it remains an elite, hence fragile, dimension of university policy and practice. This study…
Abstract
Purpose
Although doctoral education has experienced substantial development in recent decades, it remains an elite, hence fragile, dimension of university policy and practice. This study aims to articulate perspectives to guide the next phase of strengthening and growth.
Design/methodology/approach
Working from theoretical and empirical research conducted in China, including scholarship on workforce ecosystems, education design and the student experience, this study contributes a framework with qualitative insights which clarify the goals and experiences of doctoral education in ways that will render it more relevant, effective and contributing.
Findings
The paper identifies areas for doctoral reform to ensure career readiness, including three distinctive outcomes and four indispensable experiences.
Originality/value
This study advances a doctoral design framework which can render transparent the substance of programs and prompt program coordinators to develop and ensure career relevance.
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Vrinda Acharya and Ambigai Rajendran
This study aims to perform a scoping review of the recent studies on critical resources required for the doctoral program by mapping the resources at various levels of…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to perform a scoping review of the recent studies on critical resources required for the doctoral program by mapping the resources at various levels of Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems and their underlying theories. The study proposes a holistic model of supportive resources in the doctoral education.
Design/methodology/approach
The current scoping review is supported by Arksey and O'Malley's five-stage methodological guidance The authors reported sixty-eight articles that were published between 2010 and 2023 and complied with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) checklist.
Findings
The study identified two categories of resources that promote doctoral student well-being: personal resources such as research self-efficacy and intrinsic motivation of the doctoral student. Second, the contextual resources provided by supervisors, department, family, peers, institution and Government policy impact the well-being of doctoral students. The study relied on the self-determination and conservation of resources theory to determine doctoral students' stress-free, high-quality research journey.
Practical implications
The study findings can help higher education institutions, supervisors, peers and academicians plan and implement the finest resources to improve the well-being of doctoral students. The institutions can develop a wide range of strategies, tailored supportive programs, and interventions that can help in improving students' mental and emotional health, based on the developed multifaceted resource framework. Doctoral students can also use the review's findings to help them deal with program obstacles by encouraging themselves internally and participating in mentoring programs.
Originality/value
This review article proposes a comprehensive conceptual framework by considering Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems on multilevel resources that help to understand the inter-relationship between resources required in the doctoral student's program.
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Vrinda Acharya, Ambigai Rajendran and Nandan Prabhu
The present study develops, conceptualizes and validates a scale based on the transactional stress theory to assess the perceived challenge and hindrance demands of doctoral…
Abstract
Purpose
The present study develops, conceptualizes and validates a scale based on the transactional stress theory to assess the perceived challenge and hindrance demands of doctoral programs that impact doctoral students’ psychological well-being.
Design/methodology/approach
This research employs an exploratory-mixed methodology comprising five phases with a sequential qualitative-quantitative approach. A rigorous scale development process is adopted to validate the instrument’s psychometric properties. The study respondents are Indian full-time doctoral students in the management discipline.
Findings
The findings show that the construct of perceived challenge and hindrance demands is a first-order four-factor and a second-order two-factor model. The study has validated the scale to capture the challenge and hindrance demands of doctoral research programs with the following sub-constructs: doctoral program resource inadequacies, doctoral program ambiguity, doctoral program workload and complexity.
Practical implications
The recommended challenge demands and hindrance demands (CHD) scale provides a benchmark for doctoral institutes and program supervisors in focussing on research students’ perception of their doctoral education demands to reduce the strain and increase their well-being during their doctoral program journey.
Originality/value
Hindrance demands adversely influence the motivation resources needed for doctoral education; challenge demands positively impact the research students’ internal resources.
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Rosa Vinciguerra, Francesca Cappellieri, Michele Pizzo and Rosa Lombardi
This paper aims to define a hierarchical and multi-criteria framework based on pillars of the Modernization of Higher Education to evaluate European Accounting Doctoral Programmes…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to define a hierarchical and multi-criteria framework based on pillars of the Modernization of Higher Education to evaluate European Accounting Doctoral Programmes (EADE-Model).
Design/methodology/approach
The authors applied a quali-quantitative methodology based on the analytic hierarchy process and the survey approach. The authors conducted an extensive literature and regulation review to identify the dimensions affecting the quality of Doctoral Programmes, choosing accounting as the relevant and pivotal field. The authors also used the survey to select the most critical quality dimensions and derive their weight to build EADE Model. The validity of the proposed model has been tested through the application to the Italian scenario.
Findings
The findings provide a critical extension of accounting ranking studies constructing a multi-criteria, hierarchical and updated evaluation model recognizing the role of doctoral training in the knowledge-based society. The results shed new light on weak areas apt to be improved and propose potential amendments to enhance the quality standard of ADE.
Practical implications
Theoretical and practical implications of this paper are directed to academics, policymakers and PhD programmes administrators.
Originality/value
The research is original in drafting a hierarchical multi-criteria framework for evaluating ADE in the Higher Education System. This model may be extended to other fields.
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Jarett D. Haley, Amber N. Williams, Rosemary J. Perez and Claire K. Robbins
The purpose of this study is to explore how US graduate students described their diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) education and engagement experiences outside their academic…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to explore how US graduate students described their diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) education and engagement experiences outside their academic departments.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used a critical constructivist qualitative approach and methods (i.e. interviews) to explore how 44 graduate students across various disciplines and fields at two public research institutions in the USA described their DEI education and engagement experiences outside their departments.
Findings
Students identified expanded DEI and professional knowledge as key learning outcomes, while also highlighting the benefits and negative effects of the identity-centered (dis)connection, community and personal fulfillment that came from these experiences.
Research limitations/implications
Given that DEI education and engagement opportunities addressed some students’ needs and were unsatisfactory for others, more scholarship on the nature of these experiences is needed to better understand factors that contribute to students’ desirable and undesirable outcomes. There are also practical implications for faculty who advise graduate students and administrators who are responsible for funding the campus spaces in which these experiences occurred (e.g. graduate colleges, identity-based student organizations).
Originality/value
Few studies have explored graduate students’ participation in DEI education and engagement opportunities outside of their academic departments. Consequently, the efficacy of these initiatives, and the extent to which students benefit from them, warrant investigation. This study, thus, adds to researchers’ and practitioners’ understanding of this topic by highlighting the benefits and limitations of these experiences for graduate students.
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Alexandra Frank and Dalena Dillman Taylor
Post-COVID-19, public K–12 schools are still facing the consequences of the years of interrupted learning. Schools serving minoritized students are particularly at risk for facing…
Abstract
Purpose
Post-COVID-19, public K–12 schools are still facing the consequences of the years of interrupted learning. Schools serving minoritized students are particularly at risk for facing challenges with academics, behavior and student social emotional health. The university counseling programs are in positions to build capacity in urban schools while also supporting counselors-in-training through service-learning opportunities.
Design/methodology/approach
The following conceptual manuscript demonstrates how counselor education counseling programs and public schools can harness the capacity-building benefits of university–school partnerships. While prevalent in fields like special education, counselor educators have yet to heed the hall to participate in mutually beneficial partnership programs.
Findings
Using the multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) and the components of the university–school partnerships, counselor educators and school stakeholders can work together to support student mental health, school staff well-being and counselor-in-training competence.
Originality/value
The benefits and opportunities within the university–school partnerships are well documented. However, few researchers have described a model to support partnerships between the university counseling programs and urban elementary schools. We provide a best practice model using the principles of university–school partnerships and a school’s existing MTSS framework.
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María Ángeles García-Fortes, Isabel Banos-González and Patricia Esteve-Guirao
This study aims to analyse the self-perception of future secondary school teachers (FTs) of biology about their education for sustainable development (ESD) competencies and…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to analyse the self-perception of future secondary school teachers (FTs) of biology about their education for sustainable development (ESD) competencies and evaluate the competence profile they develop in their educational proposals.
Design/methodology/approach
A mixed methodological approach was used to analyse 162 FTs’ ESD action competencies as proposed by UNECE. Firstly, a six-point Likert-type scale questionnaire is used to explore their self-perception of the level of acquisition of these competencies. Then, a rubric is applied to analyse the competence profile when designing educational proposals to address socio-environmental issues related to consumption and waste generation. Besides descriptive analysis, inferential statistics were used to assess the significance of the differences detected between the competencies.
Findings
FTs self-perceive a partial acquisition of ESD action competencies, in line with their competence profile. Where they recognise and show significant difficulties is in assessing learning outcomes in terms of changes and achievements. Similarly, their best perception and competence profile is achieved in the approach to contextualised situations in the students’ lives. There are also some discrepancies between their perception and their profile. In particular, FTs regard themselves as very competent in considering different dimensions and perspectives of the issues, but this is precisely where they reveal a lower competence profile.
Originality/value
This study applies a fully replicable rubric for the assessment of teachers’ ESD competencies when designing proposals to address socio-environmental issues. This assessment allows one to approach the sustainability competencies that they will promote in their classrooms.
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