Recruiting Doctoral Students: Getting It Right for All Involved

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Peer Reviewed

This is a peer-reviewed entry published in Encyclopedia Journal, full entry can be found at 10.3390/encyclopedia3040091

This entry explores the different ways in which students are accepted onto doctoral degrees such as PhDs and professional doctorates. The processes involved are referred to in this entry, and in much of the policy-related and research-informed literature, as “recruitment and selection”. These processes are worthy of attention given that they are high stakes for students themselves, those who guide and advise them, known as academic “supervisors”, and for academic communities more broadly. The entry acknowledges that recruitment and selection processes differ between institutions and across geographical contexts. The entry draws upon research studies and policy documents which relate to recruitment and selection practices from local, national and international contexts.

recruitment selection doctoral student postgraduate access

In the research literature on doctoral education, the issues surrounding student recruitment and selection tend to receive less attention than areas such as concerns about lower-than-ideal completion rates and student–supervisor relationships ^[1]^[2]. Local, national and international policy documents address recruitment and selection in terms of quality assurance, specifying target numbers and access and equality issues ^[3]^[4]^[5]. This entry provides a discussion of the challenges raised in a sample of these two types of sources (research-informed and policy-related) and considers the needs of students, academic staff and wider academic communities in getting the processes of recruitment and selection right, a key component of providing an effective doctoral experience for students, staff and academic communities ^[6].

The sources cited are taken from contexts around the world and so the distinctive priorities and issues are available for consideration. There is no suggestion, however, that local contexts prioritise the same issues as needing attention, or that the issues manifest themselves in the same ways. The globalisation of higher education ^[7] is recognised, and the aspiration of initiatives such as the Hannover Recommendations for Doctoral Education ^[5] to have a global reach is acknowledged.

Pathways towards a doctorate differ both within the same institution but also from context to context ^[8], and it is important to recognise that recruitment and selection processes and challenges may diverge according to the needs of the pathway. Professional doctorate, traditional PhD and PhD by publication are the most common pathways ^[8], while differing modes of supervision such as collaborative supervision from both experts in universities and those in industry are on offer in some institutions and contexts. These diverse pathways and the associated implications for recruitment and selection of doctoral applicants are included within the focus of this entry.

With these informing sources, the entry explores the following areas: (i) institutional expectations of doctoral applicants and critiques of their recruitment and selection processes; (ii) access issues including disability, race, gender, social class and recommendations for action; (iii) student mobilities and cultural and linguistic diversity; (iv) a concluding summary of current issues and future areas for exploration and development. By exploring research and policy into doctoral recruitment and selection in terms of areas (i) to (iii) above, it is intended that the entry will generate areas for future innovative practice and research which may serve to inform our understanding of wider issues affecting doctoral education such as low completion rates ^[1].

References

Wollast, R.; Boudrenghien, G.; Van der Linden, N.; Galand, B.; Roland, N.; Devos, C.; De Clercq, M.; Klein, O.; Azzi, A.; Frenay, A. Who Are the Doctoral Students Who Drop Out? Factors Associated with the Rate of Doctoral Degree Completion in Universities. Int. J. High. Educ. 2018, 7, 143–156.
Wisker, G. The Good Supervisor: Supervising Postgraduate and Undergraduate Research for Doctoral Theses and Dissertations; Red Globe Press: London, UK, 2012.
UWE. Transforming Futures Research Strategy. Available online: https://www.uwe.ac.uk/research/our-research-strategy (accessed on 22 August 2023).
Understanding the Recruitment and Selection of Postgraduate Researchers by English Higher Education Institutions. Available online: https://ukcge.ac.uk/assets/pdfs/2014-09-_pgrrecruitment.pdf (accessed on 22 August 2023).
Forces and Forms of Doctoral Education Hannover Recommendations 2019. Available online: https://doctoral-education.info/dl/Hannover-Recommendations-DocEd-2019.pdf (accessed on 22 August 2023).
Polkinghorne, M.; Taylor, J.; Knight, F.; Stewart, N. Doctoral Supervision: A Best Practice Review. Encyclopedia 2023, 3, 46–59.
Arkoudis, S.; Dollinger, M.; Baik, C.; Patience, A. International students’ experience in Australian higher education: Can we do better? High. Educ. 2019, 77, 799–813.
Jones, M. Contemporary trends in professional doctorates. Stud. High. Educ. 2018, 43, 814–825.

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Subjects: Education & Educational Research

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Jane Andrews

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Entry Collection: Doctoral Supervision

Online Date: 11 Oct 2023

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