Social Work Dissertation Committee Chairs’ Perceptions of Their Role

Doctoral students’ experiences of nondisclosure with their dissertation chair

“…These findings suggest that counselor education doctoral students view their dissertation chairs as central figures in their professional development and in accessing professional opportunities. This perspective aligns more closely with that of dissertation chairs serving as professional mentors as compared to someone who strictly guides the research process (Flynn et al, 2012;Mirick et al, 2020).…”

“…Further, doctoral students in counselor education ideally perceive their dissertation chairs as mentors (Flynn et al, 2012;Protivnak & Foss, 2009). Mirick et al (2020) described that dissertation chairs in a mentorship role offer three types of support to their doctoral students: (a) instrumental help (i.e., the support given by chairs on the research-related activities), (b) professional networking assistance, and (c) psychosocial support.…”

“…We must acknowledge that mentorship reflects an idealistic view of a relationship between a student and faculty member (Inman et al, 2011), and not all doctoral students will experience their dissertation chairs as mentors or perceive their chairs as fulfilling the functions of a mentor, as described by Mirick et al (2020). Further, not all faculty members perceive that their role as dissertation chair is to attend to students' non-professional issues (Mirick et al, 2020). Nonetheless, doctoral students perceiving a quality relationship, if not a mentorship-like relationship, proves meaningful to their satisfaction in the dissertation process and completion of their dissertation (Neale-McFall & Ward, 2015).…”

“…In doctoral level programs accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Education Programs (CACREP, 2015), the dissertation is a seminal and self-directed assessment activity in the counselor education doctoral process, during which students synthesize their academic knowledge to create new scholarly insights that will better the field of counseling (Association of Counselor Education and Supervision [ACES] Teaching Initiative Taskforce, 2016;Flynn et al, 2012). Successfully completing the dissertation has important professional ramifications for doctoral students, such as demonstrating preparedness for academic positions (ACES Teaching Imitative Taskforce, 2016; Mirick et al, 2020). However, across all fields, attrition from a doctoral program is common (Zhou & Gao, 2021), and some doctoral students express dissatisfaction with their dissertation process and their dissertation chairs (Protivnak & Foss, 2009).…”

Turning Doctoral Students into Faculty in Gerontological Social Work: The AGESWExperience

“…This highlights the need for the availability of outside support opportunities. More recently, Mirick, Davis, & Wladkowski (2019) examined the role of dissertation chairs in social work (n=150) and found chairs took on many roles outside the dissertation itself, including socialization to academia, motivation, and psychosocial and family support. However, there was wide variation in chairs' beliefs about the scope of their role.…”