TY - JOUR
T1 - Identifying story types of PhD candidates lecturing in higher professional education
T2 - “ups and downs”, “turnaround”, “continuous growth”, and “scholarly recognition”
AU - van Winkel, Monica
AU - van der Rijst, Roeland M.
AU - Kuijer-Siebelink, Wietske
AU - Basten, Floor
AU - Sools, Anneke M.
AU - Poell, Rob F.
AU - van Driel, Jan H.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024, Emerald Publishing Limited.
PY - 2025/1/13
Y1 - 2025/1/13
N2 - Purpose: Guided by the quest concept, this study aims to explore how profession-focused PhD candidates, who are concurrently lecturing at a Dutch University of Applied Sciences (UAS), make sense of change while pursuing doctoral objectives. The research question was: How do these PhD candidates navigate, experience and evaluate their enduring profession-focused doctoral quests across the nexus of research, education and professional fields, considering their aspirations? Design/methodology/approach: Eight PhD candidates shared one-year quest experiences, illustrating how interactions with ‘actors’, ‘settings’ and ‘events’ shape doctoral transitions. These narratological concepts guided within-case and cross-case analyses, while grounded theory methodologies served to explore candidates’ sense-making of change over time. Findings: Four story types of doctoral transitions emerged: “ups and downs”, “turnaround”, “continuous growth” and “scholarly recognition”. Candidates valued the Dutch UASs’ formal policy of supporting academic research with professional relevance. Across the story types, differences in aligning doctoral expectations among research and workplace supervisors and candidates affected knowledge exchange throughout the doctorate. When available, engagement in varied and comprehensive doctoral learning resources advanced candidates’ research competencies, including bridging diverse knowledge types. Autonomous candidate navigation was crucial for building partnerships, accessing dispersed learning resources and responding to uncertainties. Collaborative learning involving BSc-MSc students, colleagues and practitioners varied in strength across the story types, but enhanced the doctorate’s relevance, visible outcomes, feasibility and sustainability. The story types represent transition patterns that shaped how candidates developed new knowledge and contributed to their fields. While passion was a key motivator for candidates, it also heightened their vulnerability. Practical implications: Analysing patterns in doctoral transitions provided actionable insights for optimising conditions and candidate navigation within the science–profession nexus. Originality/value: The findings highlight that diverse actors can contribute to and benefit from profession-focused doctorates, driving momentum in integrating this research into education and innovation.
AB - Purpose: Guided by the quest concept, this study aims to explore how profession-focused PhD candidates, who are concurrently lecturing at a Dutch University of Applied Sciences (UAS), make sense of change while pursuing doctoral objectives. The research question was: How do these PhD candidates navigate, experience and evaluate their enduring profession-focused doctoral quests across the nexus of research, education and professional fields, considering their aspirations? Design/methodology/approach: Eight PhD candidates shared one-year quest experiences, illustrating how interactions with ‘actors’, ‘settings’ and ‘events’ shape doctoral transitions. These narratological concepts guided within-case and cross-case analyses, while grounded theory methodologies served to explore candidates’ sense-making of change over time. Findings: Four story types of doctoral transitions emerged: “ups and downs”, “turnaround”, “continuous growth” and “scholarly recognition”. Candidates valued the Dutch UASs’ formal policy of supporting academic research with professional relevance. Across the story types, differences in aligning doctoral expectations among research and workplace supervisors and candidates affected knowledge exchange throughout the doctorate. When available, engagement in varied and comprehensive doctoral learning resources advanced candidates’ research competencies, including bridging diverse knowledge types. Autonomous candidate navigation was crucial for building partnerships, accessing dispersed learning resources and responding to uncertainties. Collaborative learning involving BSc-MSc students, colleagues and practitioners varied in strength across the story types, but enhanced the doctorate’s relevance, visible outcomes, feasibility and sustainability. The story types represent transition patterns that shaped how candidates developed new knowledge and contributed to their fields. While passion was a key motivator for candidates, it also heightened their vulnerability. Practical implications: Analysing patterns in doctoral transitions provided actionable insights for optimising conditions and candidate navigation within the science–profession nexus. Originality/value: The findings highlight that diverse actors can contribute to and benefit from profession-focused doctorates, driving momentum in integrating this research into education and innovation.
KW - 2025 OA procedure
KW - Higher professional education
KW - Research-education-practice nexus
KW - Structuralist-literary narrative inquiry
KW - Transdisciplinary research
KW - Doctoral education
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85215105305&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1108/SGPE-02-2023-0015
DO - 10.1108/SGPE-02-2023-0015
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85215105305
SN - 2398-4686
JO - Studies in Graduate and Postdoctoral Education
JF - Studies in Graduate and Postdoctoral Education
ER -