Jenna Vekkaila

Exploring the Fit between Doctoral Students' and Supervisors' Perceptions of Resources and Challenges vis-à-vis the Doctoral Journey

This study explores the fit between doctoral students and their working environment by analyzing students’ and supervisors’ perceptions of resources and challenges involved in the doctoral process. The data were collected using online surveys. Altogether 1184 doctoral students and 431 supervisors completed the survey. The results suggest that the fit between the doctoral students’ and supervisors’ perceptions of resources and challenges is linked to the doctoral students’ satisfaction with their studies and the supervisory relationship. In faculties where the students’ and the supervisors’ perceptions of resources and challenges were similar, the students reported being more satisfied with their overall study process and supervisory support. The findings indicate that the fit between students and their working environment is related to how the students’ experience their doctoral process.

Fit Matters in the Supervisory Relationship: Doctoral Students and Supervisors Perceptions about the Supervisory Activities.

Although supervision has been identified as one of the central determinants of the doctoral experience, there is still an insufficient understanding of the ways in which supervisors and doctoral students perceive supervisory activities. The study focuses on exploring the fit between doctoral students’ and supervisors’ perceptions of who are involved in supervision, the frequency of supervision and the main task of the supervisor, and further, how the perceived fit contributes to students’ satisfaction and resilience in studies. Altogether, 1184 students and 431 supervisors from all the 11 faculties at the University of Helsinki completed the survey. The results suggest that the fit between the students’ and supervisors’ perceptions of the supervisory activities in different faculties was related to the students’ satisfaction with their studies and the supervisory relationship.

More or less engaged in doctoral studies? Domestic and international students’ satisfaction and motivation for doctoral studies in Finland:

This study examines whether students who started their doctoral degree with different motivation profiles differ in their emotional engagement in their studies, and how this pattern differs between domestic and international students in Finland. This study used survey data collected from 1064 domestic and 120 international students. The results showed that students who started their degree with a low motivation to extend their career prospects were significantly less satisfied with their studies. Interestingly, the students in the group with the lowest level of interest in their research work were nonetheless fairly satisfied in their studies if their motivation to develop their career prospects was at a moderate level. The international students embarked upon their doctoral programmes with a greater wish to develop their career prospects and were more satisfied with their doctoral studies. The discussion emphasises that students, specifically domestic students, become more aware of the meaningfulness of doctoral studies for their career opportunities, which helped them to engage more positively with their doctoral studies.

The function of social support in engaging and disengaging experiences among post PhD researchers in STEM disciplines

ABSTRACT The post-doctoral phase is characterized by a high level of competition and even a risk of unemployment due to the increasing number of PhDs. This study explores the function of social support or lack of it in post PhD researchers’ engaging and disengaging experiences from the beginning of their careers as researchers. The data were collected from 40 post PhD researchers from STEM disciplines through semi-structured interviews and qualitatively content analysed. Receiving socio-emotional and informational support was perceived as highly significant for experienced engagement and disengagement, while instrumental support was rarely reported. Also a fourth form of social support, that is,. co-constructional support was identified. The results indicate that various forms of social support provide a significant mechanism that mediates post PhD researchers’ engagement and disengagement in their early careers.