Doctoral student wellbeing refers to the perceived state of psychological, physical, and social health experienced by a person during the process of completing a doctoral thesis. From a eudaimonic and salutogenic perspective, this construct goes beyond the mere absence of distress and incorporates dimensions such as meaning and purpose in life, personal growth, autonomy, feelings of mattering, and the quality of academic and personal relationships. It is a multidimensional construct shaped by the interaction between personal variables, including prior psychological history, personality traits, and task motivation, among others, and contextual variables, such as funding conditions, quality of supervision, departmental culture, family and personal circumstances, and social and institutional support networks. Doctoral wellbeing is therefore dynamic: it evolves throughout the different phases of the doctoral process and is influenced by conditions specific to this population that distinguish it from other groups of students or workers. It has emerged as a critical concern in higher education research, driven by evidence of high rates of psychological difficulties among this population. This entry paper offers a narrative and conceptual review of the current state of knowledge on doctoral student wellbeing, identifying the main challenges facing this group, the factors that influence their wellbeing, and the pathways forward in terms of intervention and future research.
Doctoral candidates represent the pinnacle of academic training and the entry point into a research career. In recent decades, a growing concern has emerged in the literature regarding the impact of this process on the mental health and wellbeing of those who undertake it. This concern is not merely clinical: doctoral training is characterised by a singular combination of factors, including prolonged uncertainty, high demands, isolation, and dependence on the supervisory relationship, that make it a period of particular vulnerability. Available studies document high rates of stress, anxiety, burnout, and depression in this population, far exceeding those observed in other university groups or in the general population
[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][1,2,3,4,5,6,7].
Despite this reality, the field of doctoral student wellbeing still faces significant limitations and considerable work remains to be done. This situation has driven growing interest in understanding what factors explain wellbeing or distress during doctoral study, with the aim of designing effective interventions at both individual and institutional levels. One of the most significant limitations is the lack of consensus on how to define wellbeing specifically for this population. Most available studies rely on symptoms or indicators of distress as a way to identify the absence of wellbeing, without offering a conceptual framework that accounts for the particular features of the doctoral process
[8][9][8,9] or the characteristics of the individuals involved. This limits not only the understanding of the phenomenon but also the capacity to design specific and effective interventions. Furthermore, the literature is dominated by quantitative and cross-sectional studies from Anglo-Saxon contexts, with limited representation from continental Europe, Latin America, or Africa
[8][10][8,10], and an insufficient presence of qualitative, longitudinal, and studies incorporating the perspectives of other key actors such as thesis supervisors, research groups, or the institution itself. The present work addresses these gaps through a narrative and conceptual review of the available literature, without following a systematic search protocol.
In response to this state of the field, the present work synthesises and reflects on doctoral student wellbeing around three axes: the conceptualisation of the construct, the factors that influence wellbeing, the supervisory relationship, the influence of the institutional context, the main challenges and demands of the doctoral experience, suggestions of interventions and good practices and future directions. The work is grounded in a eudaimonic and salutogenic perspective on wellbeing, understood not as the mere absence of distress but as a state of positive functioning across psychological, social, and physical dimensions. This article is addressed to doctoral students seeking to understand their own reality, researchers interested in the topic, and supervisors and academic or institutional leaders interested in designing support policies for doctoral candidates and improving their quality of life during this formative period.
