Supporting Doctoral Students in Crisis: History
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Jennie Golding

A doctoral student is one undertaking the highest level of university study, leading to a doctoral qualification (of which the traditional and most common form is the PhD), that typically requires they demonstrate a significant contribution to knowledge and their own preparedness to undertake independent research. Crisis in this entry is taken to be a time of great difficulty or a time when a difficult or important decision must be made. In the context of doctoral students, a crisis often brings a threat to the completion of the doctorate.

  • doctoral student wellbeing
  • doctoral student mental health
  • supervisory relationship
  • doctoral completion
  • supervision boundaries
An academic doctoral journey is a long one, typically lasting a minimum of three years if study is fulltime, and often much longer. The pathway is overseen by one or more academics, known in the UK as ‘supervisors’ (and elsewhere as advisors, mentors, directors, promotors…). Despite considerable attention in recent years, global completion rates remain stubbornly low; recent evidence showed that in many jurisdictions, approximately 50% of students who begin a doctoral programme do not successfully complete their degree, and a further significant proportion fail to do so in a timely manner [1][2]. Attrition rates for students studying doctoral programmes online are even higher than students who attend on-campus courses [1][3]. This situation is clearly one of considerable concern to the students involved, as well as to institutions and supervisors. For many students, withdrawal from a doctoral programme is preceded by a period of crisis; the objective of this entry is to review what is known about the circumstances in which such crises arise, and how such crises may be either pre-empted or addressed. ‘Student in crisis’ here is contrasted with student wellbeing, defined as a state of being comfortable, healthy, or happy—a much broader concept than in-the-moment happiness. While much of the materials is necessarily addressed and interpreted with a UK lens, the literature drawn on is international.
Globally, there has recently been a proliferation of doctoral routes to include more occupation- and professional-focusingdoctorates, an expansion in the modes of study, widening the natures of doctoral cohorts to include more non-traditional doctoral students, widening purposes for doctoral study as many Higher Education doctoral systems move away from traditional preparation for academic careers towards multiple purposes that also meet the demands of new industry/university partnerships and by governments perceiving a need to develop specialist knowledge to build advanced knowledge economies [4]; there is an associated expansion of likely destinations for doctoral graduates, with a small proportion only eventually graduating from doctoral study into tenured academic posts [5]. Each of these changes brings with it an expansion of the range and nature of challenges that students might face in their pursuit of successful doctoral completion—and they also bring a broadening of the responsibilities typically expected of supervision teams [1].
All doctoral students invest considerable time, energy and money in their study, so that non-completion, or even the risk of it, at whatever stage, is likely to be a major outcome for them—and delayed completion also often brings financial or professional stress. Researchers review the variety of adverse personal, professional or academic circumstances that can develop during doctoral study and eventually threaten the successful and timely completion of a doctorate. Researchers analyse the evidence around constructive responses to such challenges, ways in which supervisors and others involved in doctoral student support might respond so as to pre-empt a full-blown crisis, and discuss the literature focused on valid responses to a crisis stage if that does eventually materialise. Researchers point to evidence of a critical role for the monitoring of student progress and wellbeing well before crisis is reached. In any such crisis, or even potential crisis situation, and in contrast to much of the influential literature [6], the role of the supervisor typically extends well beyond the academic and into a pastoral responsibility [7][8].
Whatever the source, a crisis often has the potential to impact students’ mental, emotional and physical wellbeing, as well as on their academic progress, and vice versa, in a vicious circle [9][10][11]. Interviews reported by UKCGE [12] suggest that not all supervisors have a natural aptitude for, let alone are equipped for, offering pastoral support. However, their respondents widely supported ‘at least some expectation’ that supervisors should persistently be aware of, and if necessary, sensitively probe the pastoral needs and the mental health and wellbeing of the doctoral student, with a consensus that supervisors need to supervise ‘the person as well as a project’. While this is consistent with earlier findings from Gower and Owen [1][13], one participant in [12] made the helpful distinction between ‘pastoral care’, which might exceed reasonable expectations of a supervisor, and a ‘pastoral approach’ to supervision: ‘Supervisors are not trained to provide mental health support but being able to deal compassionately with students and being approachable and supportive is often important. Supervisors are a key point of contact often viewed as a mentor. Supervisors should then be able to direct students to appropriate support—so need to be aware of this’ (p. 11). That report also cites evidence that mental health training for supervisors was, in 2022 in the UK, widely accepted as an increasingly important aspect of supervisor education: all participants agreed that supervisors have a ‘monitoring and signposting’ role, and researchers show below that those two roles of monitoring and signposting underpin much of the literature around supporting students in or near crisis.
In the UK and elsewhere, a large number of Higher Education staff, in a variety of academic, administrative and support roles, already provide support for psychological distress as part of their role, though most have not been trained to do so [14]. Universities should ensure that all staff have access to appropriate mental health awareness training, and should encourage staff to complete that once it is available [14][15]. Within the literature in recent years and in the above context of expanding the nature, structures, modes and purposes of doctoral study, there has been a range of evidence that the role of the doctoral supervisor in the twenty-first century is multifaceted as supervisors face the imperative to be mentors, trainers, supporters, critics and fellow researchers [8][16] There is also a highlighted need for supervisors to develop capacity to handle students’ personal issues and problems that often adversely affect the pursuit of research studies [17].
Throughout the discussion, it is important to remember that while many doctoral practices are becoming global in nature [1], doctoral experiences are always contextualised and enculturated, reflecting national systems, institutional practices, and students’ and supervisors’ personal and academic backgrounds [9][18]. Inclusion and equity issues relating to national, cultural and other diversity add further complexity and richness to the picture in any one location, and can themselves be sources of considerable stress [9].

This entry is adapted from the peer-reviewed paper 10.3390/encyclopedia3040087

References

  1. Taylor, S.; Kiley, M.; Holley, K.A. The Making of Doctoral Supervisors: International Case Studies of Practice; Routledge: London, UK, 2020; ISBN 1000281116.
  2. Sverdlik, A.; Hall, N.C.; McAlpine, L.; Hubbard, K. The PhD Experience: A Review of the Factors Influencing Doctoral Students’ Completion, Achievement, and Well-Being. Int. J. Dr. Stud. 2018, 13, 361–388.
  3. Studebaker, B.; Curtis, H. Building Community in an Online Doctoral Program. Christ. High. Educ. 2021, 20, 15–27.
  4. Halse, C.; Mowbray, S. The Impact of the Doctorate. Stud. High. Educ. 2011, 36, 513–525.
  5. Loxley, A.; Kearns, M. Finding a Purpose for the Doctorate? A View from the Supervisors. Stud. High. Educ. 2018, 43, 826–840.
  6. Halse, C.; Malfroy, J. Retheorizing Doctoral Supervision as Professional Work. Stud. High. Educ. 2010, 35, 79–92.
  7. Benmore, A. Boundary Management in Doctoral Supervision: How Supervisors Negotiate Roles and Role Transitions throughout the Supervisory Journey. Stud. High. Educ. 2016, 41, 1251–1264.
  8. Manathunga, C.; Goozée, J. Challenging the Dual Assumption of the ‘Always/Already’Autonomous Student and Effective Supervisor. Teach. High. Educ. 2007, 12, 309–322.
  9. Hopwood, N.; Alexander, P.; Harris-Huemmert, S.; McAlpine, L.; Wagstaff, S. The Hidden Realities of Life as a Doctoral Student. In Doctoral Education in International Context: Connecting Local, Regional and Global Perspectives; Kumar, V., Lee, A., Eds.; Universiti Putra Malaysia Press: Serdang, Malaysia, 2011; pp. 212–231.
  10. McAlpine, L.; Amundsen, C. Challenging the Taken-for-Granted: How Research Analysis Might Inform Pedagogical Practices and Institutional Policies Related to Doctoral Education. Stud. High. Educ. 2012, 37, 683–694.
  11. Mcalpine, L. La Supervisión Doctoral: Una Responsabilidad No Individual, Sino Institucional y Colectiva. Infanc. Aprendiz. 2013, 36, 259–280.
  12. Gower, O. Supporting Excellent Supervisory Practice across UKRI Doctoral Training Investments; UKCGE: Lichfield, UK, 2022.
  13. Gower, O.; Clegg, K. UK Research Supervision Survey 2021 Report; UKCGE: Lichfield, UK, 2021.
  14. Margrove, K.L.; Gustowska, M.; Grove, L.S. Provision of Support for Psychological Distress by University Staff, and Receptiveness to Mental Health Training. J. Furth. High. Educ. 2014, 38, 90–106.
  15. Moss, R.A.; Gorczynski, P.; Sims-Schouten, W.; Heard-Laureote, K.; Creaton, J. Mental Health and Wellbeing of Postgraduate Researchers: Exploring the Relationship between Mental Health Literacy, Help-Seeking Behaviour, Psychological Distress, and Wellbeing. High. Educ. Res. Dev. 2022, 41, 1168–1183.
  16. Fragouli, E. Postgraduate Supervision: A Practical Reflection on How to Support Students’ Engagement. Int. J. High. Educ. Manag. 2021, 7, 1–11.
  17. McAlpine, L.; Emmioğlu, E. Navigating Careers: Perceptions of Sciences Doctoral Students, Post-PhD Researchers and Pre-Tenure Academics. Stud. High. Educ. 2015, 40, 1770–1785.
  18. Durette, B.; Fournier, M.; Lafon, M. The Core Competencies of PhDs. Stud. High. Educ. 2016, 41, 1355–1370.
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