Academic Conferences as Learning Sites: A Multinational Comparison of Doctoral Students’ Perspectives and Institutional Policy

Abstract

Aim/Purpose: The aim of this paper is to explore trends and motivations for doctoral students’ participation in domestic and international conferences. We draw on doctoral students’ perceptions and experiences from four contexts (USA, Scotland, England, Australia) to further explore variations across different global contexts. Background: There is increased recognition of the importance of conferences within doctoral education. Yet very little is known or understood about doctoral students’ participation and motivations for participating in conferences. Methodology: Our sample includes doctoral students from four institutions studying in a School of Education. We used an online survey and follow-up focus group interviews to investigate doctoral students’ perceptions and experiences of conferences. Contribution: There are few studies on doctoral students’ participation in conferences. This study contributes to the literature on doctoral students as it investigates the trends and rationale for doctoral students’ participation in national and international conferences. We highlight the importance of conferences as learning sites for doctoral students. Furthermore, our research highlights dissimilarities and ambiguities in the provision of support for doctoral students’ regarding what we describe as the social aspect of their researcher learning and development, in this case, in networking activities. Findings: Our findings show that a) at both the individual (doctoral students) and institutional level, there is an implicit understanding of the importance of networking and yet programs rarely formally require conference attendance; b) students’ motivations to attend conferences may be mediated by their career aspirations and supportive structures (i.e., funding); and c) conferences support doctoral students’ learning and confidence in future networking. Recommendations for Practitioners: Our recommendations to doctoral education training programs and/or supervisors are to explicitly discuss and promote networking and/or conference attendance, and to find ways to support students to engage in networking outside their immediate study environment. Recommendation for Researchers: Our recommendation to researchers is to further investigate the importance of networking behaviors and experiences on doctoral student training and/or career outcomes. Impact on Society: This research highlights the importance of recognizing the learning needs of doctoral students who are expected to work in a complex, globally connected society as part of the reality of higher education in the 21st century. Future Research: Results from the study could help inform a larger study on the trends and motivations of doctoral students’ networking across all disciplines.

“I felt like I was not just a student:” examining graduate student learning at academic and professional conferences

“…Among these various learning opportunities for graduate students are academic and professional conferences. Research on learning at conferences has found that academic conference attendance helped doctoral students gain greater independence and agency as scholars, including developing a more positive sense of themselves as researchers (Kuzhabekova and Temerbayeva, 2018), and allowed doctoral students to expand their knowledge and improve their research presentation skills through observation, engagement and feedback (Fakunle et al, 2019). Hyland and Kranzow (2012) found that regional conferences allowed graduate students to "increase their level of professional development, self-motivation and creativity" (p. 2) through a structured curriculum and conference attendance.…”

Thoughtful gatherings: gendering conferences as spaces of learning, knowledge production and community

“…Our respective forays into conferences research have revealed a substantial body of literature which focuses entirely or in part on the conferences phenomenon. 1 The literature is dispersed across disciplines and is disparate in terms of method, orientation and approach, varying from business literature on enhancing the profitability of conferences (Comas and Moscardo 2005;Hahm et al 2016), to sociological and geographical analyses of the geopolitical distribution of conferences (Derudder and Liu 2016;Dubrow et al 2015), to an educational focus on learning at conferences (Fakunle et al 2019;Walkington, Hill, and Kneale 2017). Furthermore literature on conferences often takes the form of reflective pieces (Bruce 2010;Tsalach 2012), particularly in short-form 'think piece' journal articles (Hickson 2006;Skelton 1997), which do not carry the same weight as full-length articles, and much of the commentary on conferences is located in blog posts and grey literature.…”

Guest editorial: Emerging voices in lesson studies

“…Over the past two decades, politicians, policymakers and universities have expressed a desire to not only prepare doctoral candidates and graduates for academic careers but also to equip them with the skills and training necessary to make valuable contributions to the knowledge society as well-trained researchers (Zinner et al ., 2022). To facilitate and support such development in doctoral education for early-stage researchers, initiatives such as including doctoral consortiums in conferences and building a peer support network are becoming more prevalent (Fakunle et al ., 2019).…”