Doctoral Degree Challenges
Personal or environmental influences ascertained
In order to successfully complete a dissertation, it is necessary to minimize the influence of factors in the surrounding environment, such as those pertaining to job management and one’s personal life (van Rooij et al., 2019). This should be remembered by practitioner-scholars who are active in both the professional and academic spheres. The obligations that come with caring for families frequently stand in the way of progress. Another key barrier that must be overcome to earn a PhD degree is the inability to secure adequate finance. During the stage of the doctoral process known as “completion,” dissertation doctoral students may have diverse experiences concerning work and financial issues (Marshall et al., 2017). Therefore, for them to complete their education, Aid in the form of scholarships and fellowships is required for doctoral students. In this context, a fellowship refers to a scholarship awarded based on merit and intended for graduate-level study in a certain field of study.
Writing Nerves
The fact that “explicit training in areas such as ‘thesis writing” and “drafting for publication’ seems not to be a standard practice in doctoral education” was one of the factors that Doctoral students expressed feeling concerned about according to research (Marshall et al., 2017). Because they had yet to gain experience with academic writing before beginning the program, students sometimes feel overawed by the suggestions for improvement, regardless of how many there are. When given a chance to modify their work in response to feedback from professors or peers, students who lack strong research abilities are more likely to focus on improving their grammar rather than strengthening their broader thesis.
Writing itself can be viewed as a reflective process, and receiving feedback on one’s work necessitates being open to criticism and accepting it. We must realize that the capacity for scholarly writing is a skill that only sometimes comes after admission to a graduate program, as stated by Ondrusek (2019). “In the process of negotiating with the dissertation, there is a dissatisfaction in the limitations we meet in ourselves, the lack of flexibility in communication, and the sometimes-torturous gap between what we seek to convey and what we effectively express,” the author O’Connor (2017) points out. It is a requirement for admission to PhD schools to have professional writing abilities that improve critical thinking, interpreting, and linguistic clarity since they are seen to be essential for the best possible doctoral performance.
Implications
The study has several ramifications for doctorate students, the faculty, the chairperson, and the doctorate program directors. According to Crossley (2021), It is not intended as one of the implications for dissertation conclusions to act as a generalized template. The study’s results also support that students’ drive, focus, and confidence decide when they finish their doctoral program. While reflecting on their dissertation completion, doctorate students emphasized the significance of their requirements even though the common approach to the dissertation transcends fields and institutions. For doctorate students, self-awareness, conveying their preferred learning and writing styles, and assistance needs were crucial.
Doctoral Program Directors, Professors, and Chairs
Doctoral program directors, faculty, and chairpersons are crucial to dissertation completion. Brown et al. (2020) urge that “Planning, interpersonal disposition, and communication” can help students graduate. Doctoral students must overcome imposter syndrome. According to research (Haleem et al., 2022) the faculty’s role is crucial because it may help students improve their dissertation skills and confidence by consistently inspiring them, providing useful feedback, and assigning relevant activities. These projects include research studies, literature reviews, and dissertation reviews. Early dissertation subject pickers can use course assignments to demonstrate their knowledge.
References
Crossley, J. (2021, September 7). Dissertation Conclusion Chapter 101 (Including Examples). Grad Coach. https://gradcoach.com/dissertation-conclusion-chapter/
Haleem, Prof. A., Javaid, D. M., Qadri, P. M. A., & Suman, D. R. (2022). Understanding the role of digital technologies in education: A review. Sustainable Operations and Computers, 3, 275–285. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.susoc.2022.05.004
Marshall, S. M., Klocko, B., & Davidson, J. (2017). Dissertation Completion: Higher Education’s Invisible Problem. Journal of Educational Research and Practice, 7(1). https://doi.org/10.5590/jerap.2017.07.1.06
O’Connor, A. (2017). Understanding Transitions in the Early Years. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315559100
Ondrusek, A. L. (2019). What the Research Reveals about Graduate Students’ Writing Skills: A Literature Review. Journal of Education for Library and Information Science, 53(3), 176–188. https://www.jstor.org/stable/23249110
van Rooij, E., Fokkens-Bruinsma, M., & Jansen, E. (2019). Factors that influence PhD candidates’ success: the importance of PhD project characteristics. Studies in Continuing Education, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/0158037x.2019.1652158
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Question
Review the Marshall et. al. (2017) Reading Excerpt linked above.
What challenges to completion do you anticipate you will encounter in your doctoral program? What strategies for successful completion do you anticipate will be the most useful for you, and how will you work toward implementing these strategies to meet your goals?