Doctoral education and early career researcher preparedness for diverse research output production

Abstract

ABSTRACT It is no longer sufficient for higher education providers to solely focus on fostering academic research communication skills in their doctoral candidates, as a broader skillset is needed to communicate research effectively to diverse audiences. Such knowledge mobilisation facilitates research impact beyond academia and is linked to funding opportunities and career advancement. This paper draws upon qualitative interview data from 30 early career researchers (ECRs) based in both Australia and Japan, exploring how their experiences during doctoral candidature prepared them to produce research outputs for both academic and non-academic audiences. It also sought to capture their perceived overall knowledge and skills in producing these academic research outputs for diverse audiences. Findings suggest that preparedness for producing research outputs for the academic community during doctoral candidature are shaped by supervision, self-direction and experience. Far less support for producing research outputs for non-academic users may be provided during doctoral candidature. ECRs’ perception of capability for academic research output production stems from benchmarking against personal prior performance, and colleagues in the field. Capability for non-academic research output production may be much lower than for academic research output production, with ECRs’ professional experiences beyond academia supporting development of these skills.