Doctoral students’ well-being in United Kingdom business schools: A survey of personal experience and support mechanisms

McCray, Janet; Joseph-Richard, Paul

doi:10.1016/j.ijme.2021.100490

Cited by 14 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…This includes online informal mentoring groups, supervisory emotional and technical assistance, and inspiring doctoral students that increase their sense of self-determination. At the exosystem level, institution resources and policies, could create and support the students by increasing access to research facilities and equipment, increasing funding opportunities for the students like stipends and research grants, providing intensive coursework (Skopek et al, 2022), increasing transparency in the doctoral education regulations (McCray and Joseph-Richard, 2021), affording scholarship opportunities and organizing professional development workshops on advanced statistics (Sin et al, 2021;Waight and Giordano, 2018), research methodology (Caliskan and Holley, 2017) and writing for high-impact journal publications (LT et al, 2022). The requirements of the doctoral program, which include presenting research output at conferences, writing for high-impact journal publications, managing the research fund along with personal expenses and developing the necessary research competencies, must be well communicated to the students by the universities in their doctoral regulations.…”

Section: Implications For Policy and Practice At The Different Levels...mentioning

confidence: 99%

A holistic model of resources to enhance the doctoral student's well-being

Acharya,

Rajendran

2023

IJEM

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PurposeThis study aims to perform a scoping review of the recent studies on critical resources required for the doctoral program by mapping the resources at various levels of Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems and their underlying theories. The study proposes a holistic model of supportive resources in the doctoral education.Design/methodology/approachThe current scoping review is supported by Arksey and O'Malley's five-stage methodological guidance The authors reported sixty-eight articles that were published between 2010 and 2023 and complied with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) checklist.FindingsThe study identified two categories of resources that promote doctoral student well-being: personal resources such as research self-efficacy and intrinsic motivation of the doctoral student. Second, the contextual resources provided by supervisors, department, family, peers, institution and Government policy impact the well-being of doctoral students. The study relied on the self-determination and conservation of resources theory to determine doctoral students' stress-free, high-quality research journey.Practical implicationsThe study findings can help higher education institutions, supervisors, peers and academicians plan and implement the finest resources to improve the well-being of doctoral students. The institutions can develop a wide range of strategies, tailored supportive programs, and interventions that can help in improving students' mental and emotional health, based on the developed multifaceted resource framework. Doctoral students can also use the review's findings to help them deal with program obstacles by encouraging themselves internally and participating in mentoring programs.Originality/valueThis review article proposes a comprehensive conceptual framework by considering Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems on multilevel resources that help to understand the inter-relationship between resources required in the doctoral student's program.

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Section: Implications For Policy and Practice At The Different Levels...mentioning

confidence: 99%

A holistic model of resources to enhance the doctoral student's well-being

Acharya,

Rajendran

2023

IJEM

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“…Similarly, other scholars (e.g. McCray and Joseph-Richard, 2021; Smith and Ulus, 2020) have discussed the violent effects of pressures created by target-oriented academic work. Prasad (2013) suggested business schools should reflect upon the hierarchical, orthodox, and political nature of journals in mainstream management, and he recommended reimagining the idea of success, to move beyond a singular focus on research output; however, a decade has since passed, and the pressure to “produce” is still sharply felt by early career researchers.…”

Section: What Does It Mean To Be “Human” In the Business School?mentioning

confidence: 99%

(De)humanization in the business school: Critical reflection on doctoral experiences

Cooper,

Majumdar

2023

Management Learning

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Recently in academia, and particularly in management and organization studies, there is more attention being paid to unpacking our own oppressive systems and practices. In this article, we join the conversation examining the pressures of academia by exploring how reflexivity can be elicited through engaging with theory. We draw on the theories and concepts of Paulo Freire to (re-)interpret how PhD students experience the material practices and symbolic systems of the business school. We use autoethnographic vignettes to engage with our personal experiences and stories as field-based researchers and PhD scholars in UK business schools. Through critical reflection and cooperation-based dialogue, we analyzed these experiences using Freire’s concepts of banking education and (de)humanization. This can be considered conscientização (conscientization), raising critical consciousness of our own experiences. We find that doctoral students suffer from processes of dehumanization in the business school, but they also reinforce these processes through social reproduction. We reflect on the need for solidarity and how an awareness of the role we play within the system can shift our thinking toward constructive social change.

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“…For example, doctoral students may develop depression symptoms due to the lack of a sense of direction, as the purpose and direction of their work and study is limited to productivity and performative intents. Also, in the view of a competitive environment characterized by customization and privatization of research (Van Houtum & Van Uden, 2022), doctoral students' distress may arise due to high levels of performance expectations and competition, pressures which can lead to anxious states (Lei, 2021;McCray & Joseph-Richard, 2021;Oleksiyenko, 2018). Due these contextual orientations, doctoral students may feel a lack of coherence with their values or alienation from the organization.…”

Section: Meaningless Work Mental Illness Symptoms and Intention To Quitmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The empirical literature on doctoral students' mental health and achievement has focused on external factors (i.e., organizational support such as supervision, socialization, and financial support) and internal factors (i.e., motivation drivers' differences), yet our understanding of the academic environment in the context of neoliberalism remains limited. Specifically, there is a gap of empirical literature on the organizational factors impacted by the neoliberal academic environment which can affect doctoral students' meaningful experience and lead them to the risk of mental illness symptoms and intention to quit (Lei, 2021;McCray & Joseph-Richard, 2021;Oleksiyenko, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Meaningful or Meaningless? Organizational Conditions Influencing Doctoral Students’ Mental Health and Achievement

Tommasi

Toscano

Giusino

et al. 2022

IJDS

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Aim/Purpose: This paper presents a quantitative investigation of the organizational factors predicting the attrition of doctoral students’ experience of meaning and how meaningful experience and meaningless work affect doctoral students’ mental health and achievements. Background: Today’s academic environment subsumes neoliberal principles of individualism, instrumentality, and competition. Such an environment can harm doctoral students’ meaningful experience. Universities’ market-driven practices, indeed, can lower doctoral students’ motivation and affect their mental health. Methodology: In this paper, we referred to empirical knowledge to identify the ways through which today’s academia erodes doctoral students’ meaningful experiences. We hypothesized that environmental sources of meaning (e.g., coherence, significance, purpose, and belonging) become subsumed under neoliberal principles of individualism, instrumentality, and competition. Lower levels of sources of meaning directly predict the experience of meaningless work, which is linked to higher levels of anxiety, depression, and intention to quit among doctoral students. We conducted a cross-sectional study on a sample of N = 204 doctoral students who volunteered to participate by completing a survey with self-reported measures. We analyzed data collected via structural equation modelling to test the associations among the variables. Contribution: The present paper represents one an attempt attempts to investigate doctoral students’ experience as subsumed to market-driven principles of the neoliberal ideology. Findings: Results of structural equation modelling show that higher levels of anxiety and depression symptoms and intention to quit are associated with the lack of external supporting factors (i.e., PhD support), the perception of broad-based managerial practices as meaningless and instrumental, and a general sense of emptiness at work (i.e., meaningless work). Ultimately, doctoral students may strive to have a meaningful experience in today’s academic environment. The experience of meaningless work leads to the risk of mental illness symptoms and quitting intention. Recommendations for Practitioners: This study suggests to practitioners to improve doctoral students’ well-being with multilevel interventions approach as well as including academic stakeholders to have broader practical implications. Recommendation for Researchers: For researchers, it is suggested to focus on the managerial and organizational conditions of the academic environment that influence the basis of doctoral students’ experience of doing a PhD. Impact on Society: This study affords society the importance of prioritizing the academic environment by looking at the meaning in work through the intersection of meaningful experience and meaningless work for doctoral students’ mental health and achievement. Future Research: Future research can consider the role of factors contributing to doctoral students’ meaningful experience by probing doctoral programs to understand students’ mental health and achievement.

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Doctoral students’ well-being in United Kingdom business schools: A survey of personal experience and support mechanisms

Cited by 14 publications

References 52 publications

A holistic model of resources to enhance the doctoral student's well-being

A holistic model of resources to enhance the doctoral student's well-being

(De)humanization in the business school: Critical reflection on doctoral experiences

Meaningful or Meaningless? Organizational Conditions Influencing Doctoral Students’ Mental Health and Achievement

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