The changing concept of doctoral education: an insight from Portuguese universities

Abstract

ABSTRACT Doctoral education in Europe has changed significantly in the last two to three decades. This transformation, visible in the structuring dimensions of doctoral education, appears to indicate a move to a more instrumental approach. This paper aims to determine the prevalence of an instrumental concept of doctoral education in Portuguese universities. It draws on the findings of a 2020 study that focused on how these institutions are adhering to this concept. The study relied on the analysis of the information disclosed by the institutional websites of 118 doctoral programmes, selected to be representative of all the doctoral offer in the country. Findings suggest the existence of a hybrid concept of doctoral education among Portuguese universities, which is revealed by its association sometimes with a traditional concept, other times with an instrumental concept, or with a combination of both. Especially in these two last cases, the influence of academic capitalism and isomorphic pressures is evident.