Professional learning and development of postdoctoral scholars: a scoping review protocol

Lorelli Nowell,Nancy Chick,Carolyn Emery,K Alix Hayden,Natasha Kenny,Carol Berenson

doi:10.1186/s13643-018-0892-5

Lorelli Nowell, Nancy Chick + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/s13643-018-0892-5

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Abstract

BackgroundA growing number of postdoctoral scholars are following diverse career paths that require broad skill sets to ensure success. Yet, most postdoctoral professional learning and development initiatives are intended for academic careers and seldom include professional skills needed to succeed in non-academic settings. Given that fewer than 20% of postdoctoral scholars will obtain tenure-track academic positions, there is a great need for postdoctoral scholars to prepare for a range of future careers. Creating professional learning and development strategies to address these concerns requires an understanding of current approaches, yet there is a distinct lack of literature exploring and synthesizing sources of evidence on the professional learning and development of postdoctoral scholars. The purpose of this scoping review is to examine, synthesize, and map the sources of evidence on professional learning and development pertaining to postdoctoral scholars.MethodsWe will perform a scoping review to identify sources of evidence around professional learning and development of postdoctoral scholars. Our search strategy, limited to English language, will include searching relevant disciplinary and interdisciplinary databases with no limitation on date of publication. We will conduct forward and backward citation chasing of included articles. Gray literature will be searched in electronic databases and websites of national postdoctoral associations. Search strategies will be developed using controlled vocabulary and keyword terms related to postdoctoral scholars and professional development. Two reviewers will independently screen titles and abstracts for inclusion, and two reviewers will independently screen full text to determine final inclusion. These data will be summarized quantitatively (using a simple numerical count) and qualitatively using thematic analysis methods. Through this process, we will summarize the current state of evidence around professional development and learning of postdoctoral scholars and identify current gaps in the literature, as well as the research areas requiring systematic reviews and/or primary research.DiscussionDespite the growing numbers of postdoctoral scholars, there has been no synthesis of the sources of evidence of postdoctoral scholars’ professional learning and development. In reviewing a wide range of evidence and integrating it into a manageable and meaningful whole, this scoping review will be a critical first step in understanding the professional learning and development of postdoctoral scholars. Our results will help inform future research and the development of a framework for postdoctoral scholar’s professional learning and development.

Highlights

A growing number of postdoctoral scholars are following diverse career paths that require broad skill sets to ensure success
Our overarching research question is as follows: What is known from existing sources of evidence about the professional learning and development of postdoctoral scholars? Our objectives are the following: first, to describe which professional learning and development opportunities are being reported worldwide; second, to explore how professional learning and development opportunities are being used by postdoctoral scholars; third, to categorize professional learning and development opportunities that are relevant to meeting the needs of postdoctoral scholars; and fourth, to identify optimal strategies for providing professional development to postdoctoral scholars
As highly trained and experienced early career researchers, postdoctoral scholars play a key role in driving discovery and expanding knowledge [2, 3]

Summary

Introduction

A growing number of postdoctoral scholars are following diverse career paths that require broad skill sets to ensure success. Creating professional learning and development strategies to address these concerns requires an understanding of current approaches, yet there is a distinct lack of literature exploring and synthesizing sources of evidence on the professional learning and development of postdoctoral scholars. Postdoctoral scholars hold doctoral degrees and are engaged in mentorship opportunities to develop their scientific independence, academic merit, and entrepreneurial research skills [1]. They are central to the advancement of scientific inquiry, improvement of teaching practices in higher education, studying relevant problems, addressing important societal issues, and informing future policy [2, 3]. As a result of this trend, today’s postdoctoral scholars are following more diverse career paths and increasingly pursuing careers in industry, government, and beyond, or leaving research altogether [7]

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