Abstract
Reduced levels of engagement and dropping out have been identified as a major problem in doctoral education worldwide, including in the biosciences. Research suggests that engagement predict student satisfaction, degree completion, and persistence in studies. To explore the anatomy of engaging experiences altogether 40 doctoral students’ theme interviews were analyzed by using abductive strategy. Accordingly, we were able to identify factors that promoted doctoral students’ engagement in their work. In general, the students described many experiences of satisfaction, inspiration, joy, positive work drive, meaningfulness, and fulfillment in terms of their doctoral studies. The doctoral students’ engagement in their work originated from various contexts of academic work, including research, scholarly communities, the supervisory relationship, and formal studies. The results indicate that although the interrelationship between individuals and the environment is complex and it is difficult to predict the outcome at an individual level, the central ingredients of engaging experiences among biosciences can be identified. Accordingly, activities that contribute to the doctoral students’ sense of competence, autonomy, belonging, and contribution ought to be considered when trying to develop engaging learning environments for doctoral students. The results provide evidence-based tools for developing doctoral education in an academic environment.
Highlights
Doctoral students form a highly skillful group based on their academic backgrounds
No previous studies have been conducted on the factors and episodes that contribute to the engagement of doctoral students in their thesis work in the context of biosciences
This study aimed at contributing to the advancement of the understanding of the basic ingredients of engaging doctoral experiences in this domain by exploring the episodes that contributed to the doctoral students’ engagement in their thesis work
Summary
Doctoral students form a highly skillful group based on their academic backgrounds. Previous research suggests that while some students find doctoral studies to be highly engaging there are number of doctoral students who never finish their thesis (Gardner, 2007; Nettles & Millet, 2006). Attrition rates among doctoral students are suggested to range from 30% to up to 50%, depending on the discipline and country (Bair & Haworth, 2004; Golde, 2005; McAlpine & Norton, 2006). Little is known about the factors and events that engage doctoral students in doctoral studies and contribute to resilience in facing challenges. The present study focuses on exploring episodes that promote doctoral student engagement in doctoral studies in the context of biosciences by studying the students’ positive experiences. The study comes from a general framework of the positive psychology (e.g., Lopez & Snyder, 2011; Marques, Pais-Ribeiro, & Lopez, 2011; Myers, 2000; Rich, 2003)
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