New Forms of Doctoral Education:European-Asian Connections

Conference University of Hull,

18 March 2015

Barbara.Kehm@glasgow.ac.uk

Structure

1. Doctoral Education in the Context of the European Bologna Process

2. Doctorasl Education in the Framework of Chinese Higher Education Reforms

3. The Extended Policy Field

4. Multiplication of Purposes and Models of Doctoral Education

5. Conclusion

1. Doctoral Education in the Context of the European Bologna Process• Doctoral education no longer a purely academic affair but

an object of institutional management and national/supra-national policy making

• Growing international competition for best talent but also growing criticism of traditional forms of doctoral education (e.g. Master-apprentice model)

• Emphasis on structured programmes and the process of getting the degree rather than on dissertation as the end product

• Emphasis on skills acquisition for non-academic labour markets

• Attention to quality of supervision• Achieving „critical mass“ (concentration processes)

2. Doctoral Education in the Chinese Context

• Massive and rapid expansion of higher education• Number of doctoral students in 2013 almost 300,000 (600

percent increase compared to 1999)• Concerns about quality, structure and internationalisation,

preparation for non-academic labour markets• Centralised system: government sets down rules and

regulations for reform • Self-understanding as emerging knowledge economy

Ongoing reforms of doctoral education based on two principles:

• Promoting innovation in graduate education• Establishing mechanisms for assessment and evaluation

3. The Extended Policy Field

1. The supra-national level: doctoral education as the third cycle of studies in the framework of the Bologna Process and creation of the European Research Area

2. The national level: increasing numbers of doctoral degree holders as performance indicator (for universities as well as for national economy)

3. The institutional level: increasing numbers of doctoral degrees awarded as indicator for research performance and for performance related allocation of budgets

4. Multiplication of Purposes and Models of Doctoral Education

• Altogether nine different models identified

1. The (traditional) research doctorate

2. The taught doctorate

3. The PhD by published work (cumulative dissertation)

4. The (increasingly popular) professional doctorate

5. The practice-based doctorate (in Arts and Design)

6. The „new route“ doctorate („fast track“)

7. The joint doctorate/European doctorate

8. The cooperative doctorate

9. The industrial doctorate

In China: Development of professional degrees with skills sets for non-academic labour markets and joint doctoral programmes in engineering (similar to the European ‚industrial doctorate‘

5. Conclusion

• Proliferation of types and models is an indicator for functional differentiation

• Doctoral education does no longer serves exclusively the reproduction of the academic profession

• However, other types than research doctorate have been criticised as lacking in rigour

• Question: What is a PhD?

Further observations/reflections:• Decision for an academic career has shifted to the

postdoc phase• Doctoral degree nowadays qualifies for a broad range of

jobs• Necessary set of competences and skills difficult to

acquire

Two questions need further debate and policy development:• Within universities who has the knowledge and skills to

convey the extended skills set to prepare doctoral candidates for non-academic labour markets?

• Do academic careers with their extended periods of uncertainty and even precarity remain sufficiently attratctive to attract the best and the brightest?

Thank you for your attention.