The impact of supervisor and research community support on PhD candidates’ research engagement

Abstract

ABSTRACT Supervisor and research community support are among the key determinants of a positive experience for PhD candidates. Yet, empirical evidence of the individual variation in experienced social support among PhD candidates is still limited. In this study, we adopted a person-centered approach to detect distinct social support profiles and their relationship with the experiences of research engagement. We also examined how certain background variables explained belonging to a profile. The data were collected in spring 2021. Altogether, 768 PhD candidates from a Finnish university participated in the study. We detected three distinct social support profiles (High, Moderate and Low research community and supervisor support) that systematically differed from each other in terms of the levels of PhD candidates’ research engagement. Additionally, we discovered that writing a monograph, working alone (not in a group), being in latter phases of studying, and being a domestic PhD candidate, raised the odds of belonging to a profile with lower levels of support. The results from this study can be used in developing doctoral education and supervision practices.