Abstract
This chapter explores a mentoring intervention for a group of higher degree research students at an Australian university designed to develop their academic and reflective writing through skills-based instruction and the development of a student-driven community of practice. To analyse and evaluate this initiative, the chapter provides a detailed description and unpacking of the program's motivations, objectives, and outcomes using 16 mentoring design elements. The program is also evaluated using an extended application of the 3P presage, process, product model. Three data sets were used to evaluate the success of the program: doctoral participants' evaluations at the time of the workshops and 12 months after the workshop and the reflections of the mentor and educator expert response for the program. The chapter concludes by identifying key learnings and potential for further application of a revised model for delivering holistic and co-designed learning experiences for future leaders such as doctoral students.
TopIntroduction
Doctoral students inhabit a sometimes uncomfortable liminal space (Keefer, 2015). For many, the transition from being a disciplinary professional to becoming a professional researcher (Lindqvist 2018) and reoccupying the role of student is “characterized by uncertainty and chaos…[and] an ambiguous position, betwixt and between socially prescribed roles” (Adorno, Cronley & Scott Smith, 2015, p632). This can result in some doctoral students experiencing “a sense of isolation, lack of confidence and impostor syndrome, and research misalignment” (Keefer, 2015, p17). To facilitate the process of becoming and to minimize negative experiences doctoral students need “anticipatory guidance and structured, sustained support” provided through enhanced cohort/peer relationships and mentoring (Adorno et al. 2015, p632). As is the case with students at other levels of study this process of becoming can also be fostered through opportunities for engagement created by “participation in challenging academic activities, formative communication with academic staff, involvement in enriching educational experiences, and feeling legitimated and supported by university learning communities” (Coates, 2007, p122).
It has been suggested that student engagement is nurtured by those who seek to create active, collaborative, inclusive, and enriching learning experiences (Zepke & Leach, 2010). As such, mentoring can be a vehicle for achieving this. Following Mullen, Fish, and Hutinger (2010) we understand mentoring as a process of mutual learning and scholastic engagement and consider reciprocal and group learning to be vital components of scholarly and professional learning for doctoral candidates, who are the next generation of educational leaders. The practice of mentoring doctoral students in publishing can involve a combination of mutual engagement in collaborative research, conducting co-authored research, engaging in reciprocal review and evaluation, and facilitating networking opportunities (Thein & Beach, 2010). Research suggests that providing mentoring of this kind to doctoral students can have a positive influence on retention (Brill et al., 2014), degree transition (Young & Harris, 2012), productivity and self-efficacy (Bandura, 1977; Paglis, Green, & Bauer, 2006), and publishing outcomes (Thein & Beach, 2010). While much of the research focuses on the mentoring of staff (Ambler, Harvey, & Cahir, 2016; Lunsford, Baker, & Pifer, 2018) or the mentoring role of doctoral supervisors (Bommarito, 2015; Scott & Miller, 2017; West et al., 2018; Williams & Todd, 2016), like Devlin (2021) it is our belief that mentoring is a responsibility that is shared across the professoriate and broader community of academics, including doctoral peers.
Developing relationships between higher degree research students and faculty can also play an important role in successful degree completion (Davidson & Foster-Johnson, 2001). In addition to bringing together doctoral students and faculty mentors, outcomes can be strengthened through creating opportunities for the development of personal and supportive relationships with peer mentors where students can learn from and support the development of other doctoral students (Holley & Lee Caldwell, 2011). In this chapter, we conceive of mentoring as a nurturing process with the aim of supporting the professional or personal development of another (Anderson & Shannon, 1988) in a way that is intended to support them to flourish.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Doctoral Degree: Includes Doctoral of Philosophy (PhD) and professional doctorates (e.g., Doctor of Education).
Autoethnography: An approach to qualitative research that systematically uses self-reflection and personal experience to analyze and understand cultural, political, and social phenomena.
Mentoring: A process of mutual learning and scholastic engagement (see Mullen et al., 2010 ).
PhD: The Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree is usually the highest academic qualification in a field, usually achieved through extensive research on a specific topic.
Biggs 3P Model: A model to facilitate deep learning, whereby three elements of the learning process are considered: Presage (what comes before the learning), Process (what occurs during the learning experience), and Product (the outcome of the learning experience).
Reflective Writing: A process of writing which combines description and personal interpretation of the meaning and impact of what has been written about.
Academagogy: The scholarly leadership of learning, where the student’s prior knowledge is taken into account by the teacher in their facilitation of the learning that the student requires.
Community Of Practice: Group of people sharing a common interest and becoming better together.