‘A doctorate in a tight compartment’: why do students choose a professional doctorate and what impact does it have on their personal and professional lives?

Wellington, Jerry; Sikes, Pat

doi:10.1080/03075070601004358

Cited by 113 publications

(106 citation statements)

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“…Motivation for undertaking the EdD therefore does not fit with findings from previous research (Wellington and Sikes, 2006). Apprentice trainers take the EdD as a secondary goal, their primary goal being linked to becoming Reading Recovery trainers.…”

Section: Participantscontrasting

confidence: 42%

“…All were EdD cohort members for all but the Specialist Route course, and some also took opportunities afforded to them by attending IFS workshops with their cohort peers. Cohortness is often given as a reason for students undertaking a professional doctorate (Wellington and Sikes, 2006;Pratt et al, 2015). Four participants still currently work in the trainer role, while others have retired, with some working in alternative university-based roles.…”

Section: Participantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Research also often focuses on who might study a professional doctorate and why (Wellington and Sikes, 2006). Specifically, Hawkes and Taylor (2014) consider who might study an EdD.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The UCL EdD: An apprenticeship for the future educational professional?

Taylor¹

2018

London Review of Education

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In 2001, the Institute of Education (now the UCL Institute of Education (UCL IOE)) became one of only three internationally accredited centres for the training of Reading Recovery trainers. To achieve accreditation, the training programme was required by the International Reading Recovery Trainers Organization to be linked to the IOE doctor of education (EdD). Specifically, apprentice trainers were required to complete a minimum of Year 2 of the EdD programme (the Institution-Focused Study) successfully, as a gateway to achieving their professional qualification. The IOE EdD allowed for a unique apprenticeship model that combined academic study and research at doctoral level together with practical experiences. This paper presents a case study of the apprenticeship model as viewed by professionals who have undergone the experience. Findings suggest similarities to previous reports on professional doctorates, but also suggest a bridge and transition from apprentice to an apprentice who is also a mentor. A range of tensions are also suggested, some of which have been described by previous authors, but also others that have not previously been reported. Apprentice trainers reported feeling like 'weird fish' in that although their apprenticeship model was part of the EdD, it did not 'fit' with experiences the rest of their cohorts received. Nevertheless, there was a sense of preparedness for participants' new, complex professional roles. Implications of findings for linking the EdD to specific professional roles are also discussed.

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Section: Participantscontrasting

confidence: 42%

Section: Participantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The UCL EdD: An apprenticeship for the future educational professional?

Taylor¹

2018

London Review of Education

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“…Internal conflict between the developing academic identity and other identities may result in denial or discontinuance of as-pects of self or relationships associated with specific identities (Eisenbach, 2013;Wellington & Sikes, 2006). Divorce and marital difficulties are documented consequences of the doctoral journey (Middleton, 2001;Norton, Thomas, Morgan, Tilley, & Dickins, 1998;Rockinson-Szapkiw, Spaulding, & Knight, 2015), and researchers have noted, "family and personal relationships are sometimes strained and can even break down as a result of a student's involvement in their studies" (Wellington & Sikes, 2006, p. 731).…”

Section: The Current State Of the Literature And The Gapmentioning

confidence: 99%

Women in Distance Doctoral Programs: How They Negotiate Their Identities As Mothers, Professionals, and Academics In Order to Persist

Rockinson‐Szapkiw

Spaulding

Lunde

2017

IJDS

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Aim/PurposeThe purpose of this study was to explain how Distance Education women EdD students who are mothers balanced and integrated their multiple identities (e.g., mother, student, professional) to persist. Background It is well documented that parenting students experience higher levels of stress and pressure during their degree pursuit than their non-parenting counterparts. It is also well documented that doctoral attrition is a persistent problem across decades and disciplines, and examination of specific populations was necessary to better understand how to foster doctoral persistence. Methodology Data were collected from 17 women via questionnaires, life maps, and interviews and were analyzed in accordance with grounded theory procedures. ContributionThis study generated a novel theoretical model to explain women EdD students' academic identity progression from students to scholars and its intersection with other salient identities, especially mother, and the core sense of self in alignment with other identity theories. Findings Academic identity development from student to research scholar is complex and challenging, but follows a unique progression that begins with gaining competence in research, followed by a confidence to conduct research. This positive attitude toward research is often shaped by an influential advisor or mentor, a relationship that enables a student mother to envision herself as a scholar and mother. However, it is a woman's social conditions (e.g., supportive spouse, friends, or employer) that provide her the confidence and space to difWomen in Distance Doctoral Programs 50 ferentiate, develop, and intersect multiple identities, a process that allows for successful negotiation and integration of identities, and ultimately, persistence and attainment of the doctorate. Recommendations for PractitionersFindings highlight the need for more women faculty role models in higher education. To increase the number of women faculty mentors in academia, program administrators can recruit, retain, and support and encourage parental visibility through developing structures and supports for faculty with families. Given the women candidates' emphasis on stewardship, faculty should design coursework to allow students to intersect assignments with professional goals and practices, and support empirically and theoretically grounded dissertations aimed at not only solving problems of practice but also aimed at advocacy. Recommendation for ResearchersResearch is needed with women doctoral candidates in other disciplines from other institutions and regions of the country, including those without children and individuals in non-heterosexual relationships. Impact on Society This study is an important first step in better understanding female identity development through the doctoral process. Future ResearchThemes uncovered in this research need further investigation. Ruptures in relationships were uncovered but not fully explored or saturated. More research is needed to understand the specific co...

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“…Subsumed under research question one are also other issues, such as whether these academics see the EdD thesis purely as a site for applied research, and the extent to which they think that EdD students must address themselves to professional issues (that is, issues of direct relevance to his/her concerns in the professional setting). Also perhaps fruitful for further research might be perceptions among EdD academics of why 'non-academics' (such as those teaching or managing in UK schools or international schools) choose to enrol on an EdD programme (see also Wellington & Sikes 2006). Unless such perceptions are in line with students' actual motivations it is difficult to see how the learning experience in EdD programmes can be properly attuned to students' needs and wants.…”

Section: Research Questionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perspectives on the EdD from academics at English universities

Poole

2012

Jnl of Research in Internatl Education

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This thesis may be made available for consultation within the University Library and may be photocopied or lent to other libraries for the purpose of consultation. DECLARATION OF AUTHENTICITY OF THE THESISI hereby declare that this thesis, submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education, contains no material previously published or written in any medium by another person, except where appropriate reference has been made. Pitted against each other are "young Kenny Trabner of Australia" (immaculate shorts, crew-cut, "playing the ruthless tennis they play now") and "the Old Fox" (full-length pre-war flannels, bald, "green eye-shade on his forehead above his bifocals"). As one might expect, things do not go well for the Old Fox. Trabner wins the first set 6-0, and the second set by the same margin.All too soon, it is 5-0 in the third set and 40-0 in its sixth game, with Trabner serving. But the Old Fox has one thing going for him: "the crowd is on his side". Hence, when he "pulls out from the pocket of his flannel trousers an ancient matchlock pistol" and shoots Trabner, just as the latter is throwing up the ball to serve for match point, "the crowd is on ten thousand delirious, cheering, swooning, feet." Since Trabner is dead, the umpire awards the match to the Old Fox.The successful completion of a doctorate four-fifths of the way through one's working life (bald, varifocal lenses, no eye shade) does not normally require the discharging of firearms, but it is not easy, and I would like to thank those who supported me even when it felt to me as though I was match point down. Emeritus Professor Jeff Thompson has, from the beginning, been a reassuring, resourceful and cheerful supervisor. Even before Dr Mary Hayden joined Jeff as a cosupervisor she frequently passed to me valuable references or ideas, and since then she has re- ABSTRACTSince first appearing in British universities during the early 1990s, the Doctor of Education (EdD) degree has spread rapidly through the UK higher education sector. However, despite the existence of a single set of Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) descriptors for doctoral level achievement, some in academia have always been willing to describe the EdD, either openly or in private, as inferior to the PhD. This thesis endeavours (through a wide-ranging questionnaire completed anonymously by 27 academics from a total of 16 English universities, and follow-up interviews with seven individuals selected from the original sample) to discover how a sample of those who teach on such programmes (EdD academics) view the EdD, in general terms. For instance, it seeks to ascertain how widespread among EdD academics is the notion that the EdD does not reach the 'gold standard' represented by the PhD in Education.As data collection proceeds from the questionnaire to the interviews, the focus narrows to three key topics: specific characteristics of the EdD as compared with the PhD in Education (in terms, for example, of learning experience, programme aims, and...

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‘A doctorate in a tight compartment’: why do students choose a professional doctorate and what impact does it have on their personal and professional lives?

Abstract: Wellington, J., & Sikes, P. (2006). 'A doctorate in a tight compartment': Why do students choose a professional doctorate and what impact does it have on their personal and professional lives? Studies in Higher Education, 31(6), 723-734.

Cited by 113 publications

References 9 publications

The UCL EdD: An apprenticeship for the future educational professional?

The UCL EdD: An apprenticeship for the future educational professional?

Women in Distance Doctoral Programs: How They Negotiate Their Identities As Mothers, Professionals, and Academics In Order to Persist

Perspectives on the EdD from academics at English universities

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