From clusters of crises to constellations of hope: career guidance for doctoral candidates in challenging times

This chapter describes practices of doctoral faculty in their efforts to support and encourage doctoral candidates for the EdD in conducting reliable and valid research for the writing of the dissertation. The setting of the degree program is in the School of Education in a private, four-year, liberal arts university in the Midwest United States. In guiding the doctoral candidates in their research endeavors, the faculty are promoting critical thinking applied to research design. Critical thinking is a process that represents a collection of skills difficult to teach in a doctoral program, as students who enroll bring a wide range of skills. The chapter includes a description of the doctoral program, some of the challenges faced by the doctoral faculty, and some of the strategies applied to promotion of strong research design among student work.

Classic Grounded Theory (classic GT), developed by Glaser and Strauss (1967), is a powerful qualitative methodology designed to generate theory grounded in data. Despite its enduring relevance across disciplines, classic GT is often perceived as too time-consuming and complex for doctoral candidates, particularly within the constraints of a 12-month research timeline. This manuscript challenges that perception and presents a practical framework demonstrating that classic GT can be both rigorous and feasible within a single year. Through a detailed synthesis of classic GT principles and processes, including constant comparative analysis, theoretical sampling, memoing, and the deliberate deferral of the literature review, this paper outlines a streamlined six-phase timeline designed to guide doctoral candidates efficiently from field entry to final write-up. Emphasis is placed on the early identification of the core category, which acts as a conceptual anchor, accelerating data collection and focused analysis. In this manuscript, we offer practical strategies to manage common challenges such as achieving theoretical saturation, maintaining theoretical sensitivity, and avoiding conceptual drift. It also underscores the critical role of supervision and peer support in sustaining momentum and methodological integrity throughout the research process. A streamlined timeline (Appendix B) illustrates how doctoral researchers can generate high-quality, substantive theory without compromising the emergent and discovery-driven foundations of classic GT. This work contributes to the growing body of literature advocating for classic GT’s wider adoption and demonstrates its compatibility with the demands of contemporary doctoral research. This work offers timely, actionable guidance for candidates, supervisors, and institutions seeking to support grounded theory research within structured academic timeframes.

Doctoral education is a crucial stage in the academic socialization of early-career researchers. Prior research has shown that career paths and activities of Ph.D.s are shaped by the universities and departments in which they were trained. To widen this focus, we analyze the role of public research organizations (PROs) and private-sector firms as organizational employment contexts of doctoral education. The empirical context of our study is Germany, where PROs and firms employ large numbers of doctoral candidates and provide the organizational environment for their dissertation research. Utilizing a novel process-generated dataset that covers about 40,000 STEM Ph.D.s who graduated from 1995 to 2011, we find that Ph.D.s employed at PROs during doctoral education are more likely to stay in academia than their university-employed peers. Despite extensive policy efforts that sought to strengthen the research performance of German universities, doctoral candidates employed at basic research-oriented PROs had the strongest cross-cohort increase in their post-graduation academic employment share. This group also experienced the most pronounced fall in the share of high post-graduation income owners. Industry-employed doctoral candidates are unlikely to migrate to the academic sector and have the highest likelihood of obtaining high post-graduation incomes.

The number of doctoral training programs in informatics increases every year, however not every doctoral candidate wishes to pursue a traditional career in academia. In addition, the knowledge and skills acquired through scientific training at the doctoral level can be valuable, even critical, for a number of career paths outside of academic research and teaching. This panel will present a diverse set of alternative career paths for which graduates of Informatics programs would be well suited, including patent law, research in industry, academic administration, and scientific journalism. Panelists will describe their own respective backgrounds and career paths, a day in the life in their current position, and how their training prepared them for their jobs. They will also touch on insights gained and lessons learned in exploring the professional landscape through non-traditional paths.

The spatial mobility of students and academics as part of the internationalisation of higher education is becoming increasingly relevant in securing top-tier positions, especially within academia. While the number of doctoral candidates is rising, new positions are not created at the same rate, leading to scarcer career opportunities in academia and the need to develop alternative career paths. Previous studies have much focused on the connection between mobility and career development among junior academics in the STEM fields, but the significance of mobility for SSH PhD candidates and their career development remains unanswered. Does spatial mobility have any effects there, and if so, which? For this reason, this paper studied doctoral SSH candidates from Germany with mobility experiences in the Netherlands. The findings show that spatial mobility affects the perception of the PhD candidate's career in several, sometimes ambivalent ways. It shows that the experience of mobility narrows the planning to a career in academia, contributes to the informal learning process of the candidate, and expands the horizon for possible opportunities in academia. The perceived asset of mobility varies alongside the internationalisation of disciplines and whether the candidate plans to return to Germany or pursue an international career.

This narrative study aims to provide an illustrative example of the role of networking in a career path into doctoral candidature and research. Currently there is a push to build capacity for primary health care research. Mentoring and networking are increasingly relevant for recruitment, retention and research output, as can be seen in the case of this novice rural female researcher. The narrative ofmy career path from a rural general practice trainee, general practice obstetrician and educator through to postgraduate researcher is mapped and analysed. In this light this paper witnesses the development of the cluster-randomised controlled trial that is the basis of my doctoral research. My research topic is the use of a motivational interviewing intervention to increase breastfeeding rates through increased support for mothers. Analysis of connections among researchers who have influenced my career transitions reveals my gradual awareness of parallels with the theoretical framework of motivational interviewing. Themes that arise are related to the spirit of motivational interviewing: linkage and collaboration, exchange and evocation, career direction and autonomy. There are potential public health benefits from promoting such connections that may help to sustain motivation and increase output in both breastfeeding and primary health care research.

Call for Volunteers to Translate Journal AbstractsAre You a Native Speaker of German or Spanish?The International Journal of Educational and Vocational Guidance is continually in need of volunteers to translate article abstracts. We are currently especially in need of additional volunteers who can translate English-language abstracts into German or Spanish. Typically, volunteers translate one 100-word abstract once every month or two, for a total of less than 10 abstracts a year. In exchange for this valuable service to our scientific community, your name will be listed in our masthead and you will receive free access to the journal. We can also provide a testimonial letter about your involvement with the journal if needed. A degree of familiarity with the domain is needed, but translators who are at the stage of being a doctoral candidate are already welcome.

Call for Volunteers to Translate Journal AbstractsAre You a Native Speaker of German?The International Journal of Educational and Vocational Guidance is continually in need of volunteers to translate article abstracts. We are currently especially in need of additional volunteers who can translate English-language abstracts into German. Typically, volunteers translate one 100-word abstract once every month or two, for a total of less than 10 abstracts a year. In exchange for this valuable service to our scientific community, your name will be listed in our masthead and you will receive free access to the journal. We can also provide a testimonial letter about your involvement with the journal if needed. A degree of familiarity with the domain is needed, but translators who are at the stage of being a doctoral candidate are already welcome.

Call for volunteers to translate journal abstractsAre you a native speaker of German or of Spanish?The International Journal of Educational and Vocational Guidance is continually in need to volunteers to translate article abstracts. We are currently especially in need of additional volunteers who can translate English-language abstracts into German and Spanish. Typically volunteers translate one 100-word abstract once every month or two, for a total of less than 10 abstracts a year. In exchange for this valuable service to our scientific community, your name will be listed in our masthead and you will receive free access to the journal. We can also provide a testimonial letter about your involvement with the journal if needed. A degree of familiarity with the domain is needed, but translators who are at the stage of being a doctoral candidate are already welcome.

In Search of Scholarly Impact

Herb Glazeroff, M.A., is Chief Psychologist. Disability Service, Rehabilitation Institute, Detroit, Michigan. Currently a Doctoral Degree Candidate at Wayne State University, he has had extensive clinical and research experience, and has presented several papers on rehabilitation of physically disabled and drug addicted persons. Dr. Arnie Coven is Assistant Professor of Rehabilitative Counseling in the College of Education, Wayne State University. His professional experience includes being a psychometrist, job counselor, career counselor, and rehabilitation workshop supervisor. He is a certified consulting psychologist and holds an Ed.D. in Rehabilitation Counseling from the University of Arizona.

Editorial: Tenure Track: The Royal Road to Professorship?

Doctoral education (DE) has increasingly expanded beyond its traditional academic focus, incorporating professional skills development and employability. This study explores how national and institutional contexts shape doctoral candidates’ agency in navigating global transformations in DE. A qualitative analysis of data from 42 candidates from Portugal, Germany, and Australia, revealed five key themes: Competency Development, Institutional Expectations, Precarity, Hope – Student-led Adaptation, and Value of the PhD. These themes illustrate how candidates navigate and respond to global shifts in DE, not only by adapting but also by actively influencing their doctoral experiences and career trajectories. The findings reveal that while structural transformations and national labour market conditions shape DE, doctoral candidates actively negotiate these constraints. The study underscores the need for further research, as well as policy and institutional interventions that support candidates’ agency and better align doctoral training with the evolving career paths they now pursue.

Twenty-first-century doctoral candidates face a consistently evolving employment landscape. This paper explores how gender and age influence doctoral students’ perceptions of employability preparedness provided by their higher education institution for future career pathways. A survey-based study (n = 222) was undertaken at a large regional Australian university to assess what employment pathways graduates intend to pursue, how prepared they feel for these pathways, and what strategies could be utilised to increase the effectiveness of doctoral training with a view to employability. Transition pedagogy is used as a lens to unpack and explore participants' perceptions about systems designed to support success. Key findings include (i) a surplus of candidates seeking academic careers; (ii) candidates reporting doctoral training inadequately prepares them for their preferred career path; and (iii) young males feeling most prepared by their doctoral programme and older females feeling the least prepared. We discuss how preparedness is not experienced equally, and how the conditions of higher education are constructed with assumptions of who a doctoral candidate is, with implications for who is most likely to benefit from it.

Pursuing a doctoral degree in Counselor Education and Supervision (CES) requires a significant commitment. Although there is research on motivations to pursue a doctorate in general, there has not been a specific examination of motivations among those who have pursued a doctorate in CES, which warrants investigation given the diversity of training and potential career paths offered by the degree. In this Q methodology study, 35 students, counselor educators, and practitioners sorted statements pertaining to their motivation for doctoral studies in CES. The sorted statements were correlated and factor analyzed, resulted in four distinct motivations. The motivations are described and implications for CES are discussed. Author's Notes Author Note Michelle S. Hinkle, Department of Special Education and Counseling, William Paterson University, Wayne, NJ 07470 Melanie M. Iarussi, Department of Special Education, Rehabilitation, and Counseling, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36830 Travis W. Schermer, Department of Psychology and Counseling, Carlow University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213 Jennifer F. Yensel, Doctoral Candidate, Department of Counseling and Human Development Services, Kent State University, Kent, OH 44240 The authors wish to thank Donald L. Bubenzer for his guidance in the beginning stages of this research. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Michelle S. Hinkle at hinklem@wpunj.edu