terra sprague, lizzi milligan & guy le fanu building the cv? embedding employability and the...
TRANSCRIPT
Terra Sprague, Lizzi Milligan & Guy Le Fanu
Building the CV? Embedding Employability and the Changing Nature of Doctoral ResearchThe Third Annual ESCalate Conference,11 April 2011
Project Origins 3 Doctoral Students
with similar experience
1 Supervisor
Shared curiosity about
Doctoral Student
Engagement:
Publishing
Teaching
Researching
Research Questions
• What career-preparation / academic activities are students
engaged in outside of their doctoral research?
• What has prompted students to engage in these activities?
• To what extent might this facilitate, contribute to or hinder
their own research?
Background: Changing Nature of the Doctoral Experience
• Increased ‘embedding’ of employability by universities in
doctoral programmes (Metcalfe & Gray, 2005; Park, 2005)
But...
• Crucial role played by supervisors in shaping the doctoral
experience (Barnes & Austin, 2009; Brightman, 2009)
• Resistance among some students to ‘employability agenda’
(Brailsford, 2010; Owler, 2010)
• Impact of other factors on doctoral experience (Malfroy,
2005; Pearson, Evans, & Macauley, 2008)
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Methodology
1st Year 2nd Year 4th Year
• Two focus groups with doctoral research students at
the University of Bristol Graduate School of Education
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What types of
activities do you
participate in aside
from your doctoral
research?
What are your motivations for
doing these activities?
What role does
your supervisor
play in this?
Key: Home Student, International Student, International Student
Methodology
• Reflection among the research team drawing on
own experiences as doctoral students– Interpretive Perspective
Methodology
• Thematic analysis of motivations using a quartile mapping system
Intrinsic/Research
Social
Career
Financial
The research student experience is unique and individually tailored
• Each student experience is unique and defined by wide
range in level of engagement in activities, driven by
differing:– motivations for undertaking the Doctorate;– Attention paid to future plans; and– Personal feelings towards own research and
purpose of research more generally.
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I chose to do a PhD for a lot of reasons…but from a pragmatic point
of view I hope there is a job at the end of it…hopefully an academic one
Many students engage in a wide range of activities
• For those who do engage in a range of activities, the most
popular are seminar, workshop and conference attendance
• Others include: – Presenting at conferences, research assistantships,
publishing, teaching, related part-time work
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I go to seminars, workshops, conferences because I feel it is what a PhD student does. As
a student, its my responsibility, like it was at masters level to go to lectures
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Building the CV is a significant factor in engaging in these activities for some students...
I’m feeling increasingly worried about what happens after the PhD...I’m
definitely looking to build my CV in whatever way I can alongside my own research with more than half an eye
on what comes next...
I do them for the experience, and also they look good for
my CV [and] for my own curiosity, I want to explore and be exposed to different people
and topics … to get paid or put things on the CV are by-products, they’re not the aim. My reason for wanting to do
them is always experience or interest in the first instance
...But it is not the only one• Wide range of motivations for taking part in the many
activities, including:
– Social interaction;
– To enhance own research;
– Expectations of funders; and
– ‘It’s what a PhD student does’;
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I usually only do other activities which are related to my research … to give me some inspiration … I’m always thinking about my own
research project ..
I’m part of a team [that are funded] and there are certain commitments
that we have to fulfil … but apart from that its also for my work and my own professional development
And motivations are multiple and related
Supervisor promotion of career development is far from uniform
• Some supervisors are very proactive in identifying
opportunities and promoting career development,
others are less so;
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My supervisor never gives me information about seminars or conferences or anything like
that. I look for them myself and if I need a supervisor signature I go to them and ask for it …
When I started my PhD my supervisor drew me a
timeline … she said that if I wanted to publish by the
end of my PhD, I needed a timeline for when I needed to start having ideas, how
long it would take to publish
There is disagreement among students about what exactly the supervisors’ role in this should be...
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I don’t think the supervisor has responsibility for [career development], I
think they could give suggestions, help you if you ask them [about conferences and
publishing] how can I get there, how can I do this … they can encourage you if you want to do these things, but they’re not
responsible for it
I like to have my supervisor’s suggestions or directions or what sort of conference I should target on … but I like to be the person who takes the initiative myself. I wouldn’t want my supervisor to say ‘do this’, ‘do that’
It’s their job
...again, flexibility and an individually-tailored relationship are key
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It’s like a dance between the student and the teacher for them to understand each other. Part of the student’s responsibility is to take the initiative to say I’m thinking in this way and I hope I can achieve this and the teacher can respond to those thinkings and say ‘you might want to do this’ or ‘read this’. But, the teacher can also take some initiative to say that you might be interested in this
… overall, it’s about the quality of the communication
For your career into the academic world, each student is different in their vision to do something. For me, its not
possible to do any thinking about publishing at the moment if my
supervisor advised me to follow a timeline, I’d feel more stressed
...and could be an area for potential further research
• Embedding employability - More important for
home students in the current climate?
• What is the supervisor’s role and is it changing?
How prescriptive should it be?
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What could be the implications of a move to an emphasis on embedding employability?
• If there is a shift towards
embedding employability as
part of the doctoral experience,
there are some concerns that:
• It may not be right for
everyone; and
• could impact on quality of the
research process and
experience.
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References
Barnes, B.J., & Austin, A.E. (2009). The role of doctoral advisors: A look
at advising from the advisor’s perspective. Innovative Higher
Education, 33(5), 297-315.
Brailsford, I. (2010). Motives and aspirations for doctoral study: Career,
personal, and inter-personal factors in the decision to embark on a
History PhD. International Journal of Doctoral Studies, 5, 15-27.
Brightman, H.J. (2009). The need for teaching doctoral students how to
teach. International Journal of Doctoral Studies, 4, 1-11.
Malfroy, J. (2005). Doctoral supervision, workplace research and
development. Higher Education Research & Development, 24(2), 165-
178.
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References
Metcalfe, J., & Gray, A. (2005). Learning & employability: Series Two.
Employability and doctoral research postgraduates. York, United Kingdom: The
Higher Education Academy.
Owler, K. (2010). A 'problem' to be managed? Completing a PhD in the Arts and
Humanities. Arts and Humanities in Higher Education, 9(3), 289-304.
Park, C. (2005). New variant PhD: The changing nature of the doctorate in the
UK. Journal of Higher Education Policy & Management, 27(2), 189-207.
Pearson, M., Evans, T., Macauley, P. (2008). Growth and diversity in doctoral
education: Assessing the Australian experience. Higher Education, 55(3), 357-
372.
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