Faculty Perspectives on Strategies for Successful Navigation of the Dissertation Process in Counselor Education

Abstract

This research was conducted as part of a larger qualitative study that involved the collection and analysis of in-depth interviews with 15 counselor educators at counselor education and supervision doctoral programs accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP). The participants were asked to identify strategies used to help students navigate the dissertation process and if the strategies were successful. Structural and relational strategies were identified as significant to the successful completion of the dissertation process. Although additional research is necessary to determine if the strategies are successful for faculty and students in other counselor education and supervision doctoral programs, we identified five themes that support the completion of the dissertation process: (a) mechanics of the program, (b) supportive environment, (c) selecting and working with committee members, (d) intentionality in developing a scholar identity, and (e) accountability.

Counselor educators’ gatekeeping experiences during dissertation

“…Scholars have called upon counselor educators to better understand their gatekeeping practices and further their gatekeeper identity development across all levels of training (DeCino et al., 2022). More insight into how counselor educators experience gatekeeping during dissertations may illuminate areas for growth in improving gatekeeping practices for dissertation chairpeople, doctoral training programs, and students (Gholston et al., 2020).…”

“…Relatedly, Gholston and colleagues (2020) asserted that chairpeople should carefully monitor doctoral students during dissertations to verify they are conducting ethical research in line with the requirements of their Institutional Review Board (IRB) to avoid gatekeeping issues around research ethics. Some scholars (see Jorgensen & Wester, 2020; Waalkes et al., 2022) have suggested the fluid and non‐compartmentalized nature of chairperson and doctoral student relationships during dissertations may require more intentional and ongoing discussions about boundaries and roles of faculty and doctoral students.…”

Experiences and viewpoints of PhD students completing their dissertations during crises

“…This self-doubt can lead to perfectionism, depression, and burnout (Sherman, 2013). Further, many students experience writing anxiety, feeling overwhelmed by required revisions, particularly if they were not sufficiently exposed to academic writing before beginning their graduate program (Thomas et al, 2014).Problems with the dissertation process can be exacerbated by a lack of institutional support (Hwang et al, 2015;Marshall et al, 2017), such as responsive committee members, healthy committee dynamics, a differentiated approach depending on the need of the student, defined communication expectations and timelines, and helpful feedback throughout the dissertation process (Ghoston et al, 2020). Faculty support of the student in the dissertation process correlates highly with doctoral student completion rates andThis is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.…”

“…Problems with the dissertation process can be exacerbated by a lack of institutional support (Hwang et al., 2015; Marshall et al., 2017), such as responsive committee members, healthy committee dynamics, a differentiated approach depending on the need of the student, defined communication expectations and timelines, and helpful feedback throughout the dissertation process (Ghoston et al., 2020). Faculty support of the student in the dissertation process correlates highly with doctoral student completion rates and positive student experiences (Mauch & Park, 2003; Spillett & Mosiewicz, 2004).…”