Building communities and professionalism through student-organised conferences Opportunities and reflections for doctoral education
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
Doctoral training operates under the backdrop of a neocolonial relationship in higher education governing universities and their students, as reflected in academic regulations and supervision. When professional and academic standards governing doctoral students dominate academia, this article mediates the affordances institutions can provide and the capabilities students can deliver by organising their learning activities such as doctoral conferences. In the first section, this article frames the contextual and professional imperatives around doctoral students’ organisation of their conference. Secondly, the article outlines a range of interdependent activities that have allowed students to facilitate and develop their networks and capabilities in organising doctoral conferences. Preliminary findings from this case study were drawn to understand how student-organised conferences might catalyse the development of communities and solidarities needed to thrive in their studies. Finally, the authors provide reflections on the impact of the neoliberal and multidisciplinary nature of the research that doctoral students encounter during their PhD and the possibilities of a transformative learning experience.
Downloads
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Authors retain copyright, without restrictions, in their articles and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike Licence 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA). Readers are free to copy, display, distribute, and adapt an article, as long as the work is attributed to the author(s) and ESC, the changes are identified, and the same license applies to the derivative work. Only non-commercial uses of the work are permitted.
How to Cite
References
Akala, B. U., & Akala, Beatrice M. (2023). How can doctoral supervision be improved? Views from doctoral students in two faculties of education at South African universities. South African Journal of Higher Education, 37(6), 217–238. https://doi.org/10.20853/37-6-5290
Arend, Marc-Eric, & Bruijns, Stevan R. (2019). Disparity in conference registration cost for delegates from low- and middle-income backgrounds. African Journal of Emergency Medicine / Revue Africaine de La Medecine d’Urgence, 9(3), 156–161. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.afjem.2019.01.016
Bacigalupo, Margherita, Kampylis, Panagiotis, Punie, Yves, & Van den Brande, Godelieve (2016). EntreComp: The entrepreneurship competence framework. Publication Office of the European Union. https://doi.org/10.2791/593884
Blaj-Ward, Lia (2011). Skills versus pedagogy? Doctoral research training in the UK arts and humanities. Higher Education Research & Development, 30(6), 697–708. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2010.535507
Bourdieu, Pierre (1986). The forms of capital. In John G. Richardson (Ed.), Handbook of theory and research for the sociology of education (pp. 241–258). Greenwood Press.
Coleman, James S. (1988). Social capital in the creation of human capital. American Journal of Sociology, 94, S95–S120.
Cottle, Michael L. (2014). Teacher professionalism: A study of professionalism for religious educators in the seminary and institutes department of the church educational system [Doctoral dissertation, Utah State University]. USU’s Institutional Repository. https://doi.org/10.26076/975b-8e0e
Falk, Martin T., & Hagsten, Eva (2022). The uneven distribution of fees for virtual academic conferences. Journal of Convention & Event Tourism, 23(3), 189–208. https://doi.org/10.1080/15470148.2021.1975593
Forde, Christine, & McMahon, Margery (2019). Teacher quality and evaluation and the development of accomplished practice. In C. Forde & M. McMahon (Eds.), Teacher quality, professional learning and policy: Recognising, rewarding and developing teacher expertise (pp. 111–138). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-53654-9_5
Goebel, Janna, Manion, Caroline, Millei, Zsuzsa, Read, Robyn, & Silova, Iveta (2020). Academic conferencing in the age of COVID-19 and climate crisis: The case of the Comparative and International Education Society (CIES). International Review of Education, 66(5), 797–816. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11159-020-09873-8
Hackmann, Donald, Kenworthy, James, & Nibbelink, Sharon (1998). Student empowerment through student-led conferences. Middle School Journal, 30(1), 35–39. https://doi.org/10.1080/00940771.1998.11494561
Hauss, Kalle (2020). What are the social and scientific benefits of participating in academic conferences? Insights from a survey among doctoral students and postdocs in Germany. Research Evaluation, 30(1). https://doi.org/10.1093/reseval/rvaa018
Hawthorne, Timothy L., & Fyfe, David (2015). The importance of student-led initiatives in rethinking the Ph.D. GeoJournal, 80(2), 175–179. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-014-9584-4
Heggie, Claudia, McKernon, Sarah L., & Gartshore, Laura (2021). Speaking up for balance: Analysis of the gender of invited speakers at UK dental conferences. British Dental Journal. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41415-021-3072-2
Henderson, Emily F., & Burford, James (2020). Thoughtful gatherings: Gendering conferences as spaces of learning, knowledge production and community. Gender and Education, 32(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540253.2019.1691718
Kim, Bun H., Kim, Sam, & Oh, Moon (2020). Determinants of convention attendees’ willingness to pay for additional programs. Journal of Convention & Event Tourism, 21(2), 155–176. https://doi.org/10.1080/15470148.2020.1731727
Lans, Thomas, Blok, Vincent, & Wesselink, Renate (2014). Learning apart and together: Towards an integrated competence framework for sustainable entrepreneurship in higher education. Journal of Cleaner Production, 62, 37–47. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2013.03.036
Lee, Mo Y., Eads, Ray, Lightfoot, Elizabeth, LaSala, Michael C., & Franklin, Cynthia (2023). Current landscape of doctoral education in social work: A look at the PhD and DSW programs. Journal of Social Work Education, 59(3), 727–743. https://doi.org/10.1080/10437797.2023.2203195
Lightfoot, Elizabeth, Franklin, Cynthia, & Beltran, Raiza (2021). Preparing for the academic job market: A guide for social work doctoral students and their mentors. Journal of Social Work Education, 57(1), 153–164. https://doi.org/10.1080/10437797.2019.1671263
McGloin, Rebekah S., & Wynne, Carolyn (2015). Structural changes in doctoral education in the UK: A review of graduate schools and the development of doctoral colleges. UK Council for Graduate Education. https://ukcge.ac.uk/resources/resource-library/structural-changes-in-doctoral-education-in-the-uk
Ngai, Shirley, Cheung, Raymond, Ng, Shamay, Woo, Alexander, Chik, Pakey, & Tsang, Hector (2022). Swift preparation for online teaching during the pandemic: Experience sharing from healthcare teaching in Hong Kong. In Dianne Forbes & Richard Walker (Eds.), Developing online teaching in higher education: Global perspectives on continuing professional learning and development (pp. 111–129). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-5587-7_9
Pilbeam, Colin, Lloyd-Jones, Gaynor, & Denyer, David (2013). Leveraging value in doctoral student networks through social capital. Studies in Higher Education, 38(10), 1472–1489. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2011.636800
Plagens, Gregory K., & Stapleton, Keneth C. (2011). Social capital theory and the metropolitan university: Reframing ideas about neighborhood interactions. Metropolitan Universities, 21(3), 118–138. https://journals.iupui.edu/index.php/muj/article/view/20459
Putnam, Robert D. (1995). Bowling alone: America’s declining social capital. Journal of Democracy, 6(1), 65–78. https://doi.org/10.1353/jod.1995.0002
Ralston, Shane J. (2021). Higher education’s microcredentialing craze: A postdigital-deweyan critique. Postdigital Science and Education, 3(1), 83–101. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42438-020-00121-8
Rowe, Nicholas (2019). The economic cost of attending educational conferences. International Journal on Social and Education Sciences, 1(1), 30–42. https://www.ijonses.net/index.php/ijonses/article/view/3
Sachs, Judyth (2003a). Teacher professional standards: Controlling or developing teaching? Teachers and Teaching, 9(2), 175–186. https://doi.org/10.1080/13540600309373
Sachs, Judyth (2003b). The activist teaching profession. Open University Press; McGraw-Hill Education.
Strathclyde Archives. (2014, October 28). Week 42 - Plans of the Barony Church by Burnet, Son & Campbell, architects, c 1887. Archives & Special Collections, Strathclyde. https://stratharchives.tumblr.com/post/101172021706/week-42-plans-of-the-barony-church-by-burnet
Time Scavengers. (n.d.). Impact of attending conferences. Time Scavengers: Scavenging the Fossil Record for Clues to Earth’s Climate and Life. https://timescavengers.blog/tilly-edinger-travel-grant/impact-of-attending-conferences/
Tyndall, Deborah E., Forbes III, Thompson H., Avery, Jeanette J., & Powell, Shannon B. (2019). Fostering scholarship in doctoral education: Using a social capital framework to support PhD student writing groups. Journal of Professional Nursing, 35(4), 300–304. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.profnurs.2019.02.002
VITAE. (n.d.). The vitae researcher development framework. https://www.vitae.ac.uk/researchers-professional-development/about-the-vitae-researcher-development-framework/developing-the-vitae-researcher-development-framework/
Yin, Robert K. (2018). Case study research and applications: Design and methods (6th ed.). SAGE.