Australian PhD Research Articles

The impact of Australian higher education policy changes on the production of PhDs in the field of accounting and finance

AbstractThis article examines the growth in accounting and finance PhD graduates across all Australian universities from 1965 to 2006. It investigates the impact of the major changes that were initiated in 1988 in higher education in Australia with the introduction of the Unified National Scheme (UNS) and, in 2002, with the Research Training Scheme (RTS). A data set of PhD thesis records provides data of actual PhD completions, as distinct from enrolments. Analyses show that both the number of accounting and finance PhD completions and the dispersion of these PhD completions across Australian universities increased from 1988 with the introduction of the UNS. There is also evidence that the proportion of accounting and finance–related PhD completions relative to total Australian PhD completions increased from 1988. While there is strong statistical support for the effect of the UNS on PhD completions, this is not the case for the more recent changes associated with the Research Training Scheme (RTS).

The purpose of the PhD: theorising the skills acquired by students

In the past decade there has been a marked push for the development of employability skills to be part of the PhD process. This push is generally by stakeholders from above and outside the PhD process, i.e. government and industry, who view skills as a summative product of the PhD. In contrast, our study interviewed stakeholders inside the PhD process – twenty final‐year, full‐time Australian PhD students – to provide a bottom‐up perspective into the skills question. Using grounded theory procedures we theorise the skills students develop during the PhD as a formative developmental process of acquiring intellectual virtues. Drawing on Aristotelian theory, we propose that theorising the PhD as a process of acquiring intellectual virtues offers a more robust and conceptually richer framework for understanding students’ development during the PhD than the instrumental focus on skills evident in contemporary debates.

Why I Wanted More: Inspirational Experiences of the Teaching–Research Nexus for Engineering Undergraduates

What is it about the teaching-research nexus that inspires engineering undergraduates to want more and become researchers themselves? In this study, we sought to discover more about the influences on current PhD students’ choices to embark on higher degrees by research in various fields in engineering in an Australian research-intensive university. An online survey and follow-up focus group discussion revealed that these students are driven primarily by a genuine interest in research itself, rather than other factors such as career advancement (although this too, plays a role). While this is not particularly surprising, what did become apparent was the specific undergraduate experiences that most strongly influenced their decision to undertake research degrees, including enjoying doing project-based work, being exposed to lecturers who were passionate about their own research, and working on a vacation research scholarship. Further analysis reveals that the weighting of various influences changes according to whether the students are local Australian graduates or international PhD candidates.

Classifying Australian PhD Theses: Linking Research and Library Practices

This article draws on the findings from, and the methods and approach used in the provision of a database of Australian PhD thesis records for the period 1987 to 2006, coded by Research Fields, Courses and Disciplines (RFCD) fields of study. Importantly, the project was not merely the creation of yet another database but something that constitutes a valuable research resource in its own right. The database is significant as it can be used to track knowledge production in Australia over a twenty year period and contains approximately 54,000 bibliographic records. Recommendations for practice relate to university libraries, doctoral candidates, and the coded database.

Australian PhD Theses in Selected Professional and Academic Disciplines1987-2006 and the Implications for Future Research Capacity

. It is contextualised in terms of the current Australian and international debates about the nature, substance and impact of doctoral education on nations, societies, communities and economies. Four professional disciplines (architecture and building, education, librarianship and nursing) and four academic disciplines (astronomy, chemistry, cultural studies and demography) are selected for analysis of their 1987-2006 PhD thesis records. These selections were made to reflect a range of professional and academic disciplines in Australia and to illustrate the changes that have occurred over the past two decades. The period 1987-2006 covers several major changes in Australian university education and PhD education in particular.

Unplanned Educational Obsolescence: Is the ‘Traditional’ PhD Becoming Obsolete?

Unplanned Educational Obsolescence: Is the ‘Traditional’ PhD Becoming Obsolete?

Investigating PhD thesis examination reports

There has been a slow but steady accretion of findings on doctoral assessment and examination processes over the past decade and a half. The study of Australian PhD examination reported here draws on the written reports on 301 theses across all discipline areas. Text categories identified in the reports are linked to other data including the recommendation examiners give the thesis and the final report of the committee. The assessment discourse of examiners is explored in depth with reference to high- and low-quality theses. The questions addressed are: (1) What qualities, attributes and characteristics of the thesis are examiners emphasising in their reports? (2) What form does their evaluative comment take? (3) What can the reports indicate about the relative strengths and weaknesses of a thesis and the standards examiners apply in determining a recommendation? and (4) what areas of report content and types of comment most clearly differentiate between the high-and low-quality theses? While it was evident in the reports that examiners weigh and balance many features of the thesis against their expectations to arrive at a recommendation, there were three general criteria that distinguished each of high-quality low-quality theses.

International PhD students in Australian universities: financial support, course experience and career plans

Using data from a social survey of PhD students in two major Australian universities supplemented by student interviews, this article reports on the financial support, course experience and career plans of international PhD students. While most international PhD students hold scholarships which include stipends, a minority of students experience financial problems and lack adequate research support. Overall international PhD students express a high degree of satisfaction with their courses, although there are concerns about the quality and effectiveness of supervision, working space available to research students and help provided in designing research projects. Language problems sometimes adversely affect student progress while some international students find difficulty adjusting to a less deferential working arrangement with their supervisors and less structure in research direction. International PhD students are optimistic about their career prospects and certainly more confident about their careers than Australian PhD students. High proportions of international PhD students expect to follow research careers and say that the PhD degree will enhance their career prospects.

A UK PhD in Psychology: The British Psychological Society Guidelines

This paper first presents the author's impressions of the UK PhD in psychology, with respect to the author's experience of 9 years' teaching at the Universities of Oxford (1987-1989) and Manchester (1992-1999). In the second section of the paper, he discusses the Guidelines for the Assessment of the PhD in Psychology and Related Disciplines, endorsed by the British Psychological Society. Reference is also made to the Australian and North-American PhD systems, based on the author's experience working at the University of Toronto (1990-1992) and the University of Western Australia (2000-present). Several current trends are identified for the UK PhD in psychology, including the tendency for the UK PhD to become more programmatic, better regulated, and more formalized. A final point concerns the development of the international “market” in PhD graduates, facilitated via media such as the internet. The author agrees with the majority of the recommendations made by the BPS PhD Guidelines. However, based on his recent UK teaching experience, he is somewhat sceptical concerning whether these Guidelines will—realistically—be implemented within the current political and managerial climate existing in the UK higher education sector.

Continuing Research by PhD Graduates

A survey of Australian PhD graduates has revealed that they do not necessarily fit traditional stereotypes in terms of age, previous or concurrent work experience nor, perhaps most importantly, a prospective career in research. Two years after graduating with PhD, just 36 per cent of those who found employment in the non‐academic workforce continued to be ‘xtensively’ involved in research, while only 56 per cent of those in academic employment (other than those with postdoctoral fellowships) were so involved. Many of those trained in research are frustrated in not being able to implement and extend that training through appropriate employment, others who have the opportunity do not have the desire. Factors predictive of and related to continuing involvement in research are examined, with some surprising results and policy implications regarding postgraduate research degrees.

Australian PhD Theses in Astronomy: Abstracts

Australian PhD Theses in Astronomy: Abstracts

Australian PhD Theses in Astronomy: Abstracts

Australian PhD Theses in Astronomy: Abstracts

Psychological forum: The Australian PHD examination system: A critique and a proposal for reform

Psychological forum: The Australian PHD examination system: A critique and a proposal for reform