What works and what doesn’t: Gerontology focused PhD/ DSW graduates speak out

Lin et al. (2015) projected there would be a shortage of approximately 195,000 social workers in the United States by 2030. In the next twenty years, it is estimated that Americans over the age of 65 will actually outnumber children under the age of 18 (US Census, 2018). With a longstanding reputation for being less “glamorous”, social work with older adults will continue to experience deficits in the amount of those who commit to this field of practice unless more lasting change occurs (Cummings et al., p. 645, 2005). We must take a closer look at what takes place in the classroom at schools of social work to understand why social workers are not interested in working with older adults (Scharlach et al., 2000). Berkman et al. (2016) described in their work that a critical shortage of gerontology-focused social work faculty exists in schools of social work. Thus, we cannot expect more social workers to work with older adults unless they are exposed to this work in their educational programs. The purpose of this study is to report on the academic experience, research agenda, professional experiences (practice and teaching), and future goals of social work PhD/ DSW graduates. Ten social work doctoral graduates were interviewed in order to understand the impact their academic programs had on their commitment to older adults in their field and to learn their recommendations for schools of social work in an effort to sustain and grow the gerontological workforce.

Penyuluhan Machine Learning dan Quantum Artificial Intelligence di Era Industri 4.0

The Digital Era 4.0 has started since 2016 and two Southeast Asia countries such as Malaysia and Singapore have already adapted to the era; unfortunately, Indonesia has been struggling to adapt the era and, therefore, needs to catch up the digital competitiveness of its neighbouring countries. According to IMD World Digital Competitiveness 2020, Indonesia placed 56th of 63 countries in the digital competitiveness measurement. Despite its poor performance, Indonesia can catch up with other countries by starting from universities’ environment where Indonesia’s next generations study. Universities are prominent education institutions which prepare next generations for world digital competitiveness. According to BPS Indonesia, the unemployment of bachelor, master, and doctoral graduates reach a total number of 737.000, or 5,67% of 13 millions work force. One of the causes is the lack of technological knowledge, specifically, Artificial Intelligence (AI), from the graduates. Particularly, when they become business leaders, they are not fully prepared to create new job openings because mostly their mindsets are to find suitable jobs after study. The two webinars are results of collaboration between several universities which form NUNI (Jejaring Universitas Nusantara) whose purpose is to equip students with the knowledge of AI. Our method of counselling whose format is two webinars with both titles are Interpretable Machine Learning and Quantum Artificial Intelligence has gained appreciation in the form of average participation score which approaches excellent score (4,60 of 5,00). Additionally, these two webinars are publicly available in web blogs and Youtube videos.

Evaluating the Impact of the Accounting Doctoral Scholars Program on Academic Accounting in the US

The accounting establishment and AICPA Foundation responded to an inadequate supply of new accounting faculty by creating the Accounting Doctoral Scholars (ADS) program. Between 2009–2018, the $17 million program enabled 105 practitioners to become audit and tax faculty. Based on market data and an ADS participant survey, we find an increase in doctoral graduates at ADS and non-ADS schools relative to pre-ADS years, and unmet demand for audit has decreased after ADS, whereas tax remains in need. Compared to the market, ADS graduates experienced somewhat better placements by moving up to more prestigious strata and were more likely to place at schools with a doctoral program. Additionally, we present results for ADS students’ motivations, degree completion time, and differences between audit and tax participants. Our findings have important implications for academic accounting, business schools, regulators, and policymakers. We also provide important context for changes in market trends preceding COVID 19.

Doctoral programmes in the nursing discipline: a scoping review

Background This study aimed to map and summarise the state of the research regarding doctoral programs in nursing, as well as the issues debated in the context of nursing doctoral education. A Scoping Review in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analysis extension scoping reviews statement (PRISMA-ScR) was conducted. Three electronic bibliographic data bases were searched: Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature Complete, Medline (on EBSCO Host) and SCOPUS to identify empirical studies published between January 2009 and December 2019. The review process was based on framework identified by Arksey and O’Malley and further revised by Levac and colleagues. Analysis was performed with the use of the Donabedian framework regarding the structure of the doctorate programmes, the process, and the outcomes. Results The review included 41 articles, mostly originating in the United States (n=26) and Europe (n=8), mainly by collecting the perceptions of students and faculty members with descriptive studies. The following issues were investigated at the (a) structure level: Prerequisite for doctoral candidates, Qualifications of faculty members, Mission of doctoral programs; (b) process level: Doctoral programs contents, Doctoral programs resources and quality, Mentoring and supervision, Doing doctorate abroad; and (c) outcome level: Academic performance outcomes in doctoral programs, Doctoral graduates’ competences, Doctoral students/graduates’ satisfaction, Doctoral graduates’ challenges. Conclusions Doctoral programs have mainly been investigated to date with descriptive studies, suggesting more robust research investigating the effectiveness of strategies to prepare future scientists in the nursing discipline. Doctorates are different across countries, and there is no visible cooperation of scholars internationally; their structure and processes have been reported to be stable over the years, thus not following the research development in nursing, discipline and practice expectations. Moreover, no clear framework of outcomes in the short- and long-term have been established to date to measure the quality and effectiveness of doctorate education. National and global strategies might establish common structure, process and outcome frameworks, as well as promote robust studies that are capable of assessing the effectiveness of this field of education.

A cross-sectional study of the scientific production of doctoral graduates in Peru

Objective To determine the scientific production of doctoral graduates in Peru. Methods We made a descriptive cross-sectional study with a quantitative analysis approach of the scientific production of doctoral graduates in all areas of science registered in the National Council of Science, Technology and Technological Innovation of Peru. Results We analyzed the scientific production of 942 doctoral graduates with a median time since the graduation of 84 months (interquartile range: 36 to 132). In total, 532 (56.48%) had published an article in their lifetime. The median of published articles was four (interquartile range: 2 to 12), and the median H-index of the doctoral graduates who had published was two (interquartile range: 1 to 5). We found that the number of publications and H-index was statistically different according to the doctorate area of science (p < 0.05 for both). Natural Sciences (69.13%), Engineering (67.47%), and Health Sciences (67.08%) had the highest proportion of doctoral graduates with at least one publication. Regarding gender and university of origin (foreign or Peruvian), it was found a difference concerning the number of articles published and the H-index (p < 0.05 for both) being that male and doctoral graduates with a foreign doctoral degree had higher scientific production. Conclusions Only six out of 10 Peruvian doctoral graduates have published at some point in their life. The areas of science with the highest production by doctoral graduates were Natural Sciences, Engineering, and Health Sciences. There is higher scientific production in males and graduates from a foreign university.

Promoting psychological well-being in doctoral students: a qualitative study adopting a positive psychology perspective

Purpose Concerns about psychological well-being (PWB) in doctoral students have grown in recent years. The purpose of this study was to explore qualitatively doctoral students’ perceptions of factors that promoted their PWB during the doctoral journey. Design/methodology/approach Nine recent doctoral graduates at an English university participated in the study. Participants recalled their experience and PWB during the doctoral journey via a life grid and semi-structured interview. The life grids were visually inspected to identify high points in PWB whilst the interview data were analysed thematically. Findings The analysis produced the following seven themes representing factors that participants described during periods of better PWB: accomplishments; intrinsic rewards; self-efficacy; comprehension and understanding; supervisor support; wider support network; and self-care and lifestyle. Originality/value By adopting a positive psychology approach and exploring qualitatively factors that promoted PWB in doctoral students, this study offers an alternative perspective to research on doctoral student well-being, which has largely adopted a pathological focus. As such, the study demonstrates the utility of approaching research on doctoral students’ PWB from a positive psychology perspective. Findings are discussed in relation to the extant literature, and future directions for research are outlined.

Career Types and Career Satisfaction Among Sociology Doctoral Graduates of Corvinus University

The academic profession has significantly transformed in the past few decades due to the industrialization of higher education and research. Based on sixteen career path interviews, the study investigates how the career paths of sociology doctoral graduates who obtained their master’s or PhD degree at Corvinus University of Budapest have been formed within this changing environment of the academic profession. The study distinguishes four researcher career path types and describes attached job characteristics and career satisfaction. Hungarian and international academic researchers have spent most of their careers at Hungarian or renowned foreign universities. Hungarian academic researchers performed a high volume of teaching, while international academic researchers primarily focused on research. The career paths of market researchers were formed by their positions at research firms, where they were involved in applied research projects. Researchers of the mixed career type alternated between the different sectors throughout their career paths that led to dissatisfaction with their careers. Interviewees of the other three types were generally satisfied with their careers, however, the reconciliation of teaching, research and organizational tasks in the case of Hungarian academic researchers, the measurement of publication performance against Western scholars regarding international academic researchers, and the choice between academic and market activities among market researchers all emerged as sources of frustration in the narratives.

Resonant voices: The poetic register in exegetical writing for creative practice

Quality, exegetical writing can be constrained when students marginalize poetic ways of thinking and replace them with carefully edited accounts that reshape the role and nature of emotional response. In the pursuit of rational, theoretically groomed accounts of practice, they can sometimes end up misrepresenting the embodied nature of their inquiries. Considering burgeoning research into poetic inquiry (PI) in the social sciences, this article employs a case study of five doctoral graduates in art and design who have articulated the role of poetic thinking in their creative practice theses. In addition to offering illustrations of how practice-led researchers use PI, the examples demonstrate ways in which poetic approaches can be employed to enhance communicative clarity beyond the constraints of conventional academic writing. Specifically, the examples demonstrate how poetic writing is used to process and articulate indigenous knowledge, enhance embodied thinking and inquiry and deepen levels of reflection and understanding. Such uses can cause a researcher to view the world differently and by extension, expand the nature of what it means to conduct research. In discussing the nature of poetic writing, the article considers three distinct profiles: exegetical writing employed when the nature of the practice is poetic; poetic writing that draws on indigenous approaches to scholarship and poetic writing used as a method for reflection.

Benefits and Challenges of ODeL in Postgraduate Education: The Case of Unisa–Ethiopia

The focus of this paper is on identifying the benefits and the challenges of the open distance e-learning mode of education and their relationship with learners’ satisfaction. A total of 78 master’s and doctoral graduates responded to a 35-item 7-dimensional Likert-scale questionnaire that consisted of 2 open-ended items that allowed respondents to write their reflections. Means, standard deviations, Pearson’s correlation and stepwise regression were used to analyse the quantitative data, whereas the data from the open-ended items were analysed thematically. The results showed that studying in the open distance e-learning system assists learners to develop professional competence, personality skills and computer skills. It has given them access to postgraduate education, accomplishment of problem-solving research, studying from the comfort of home while earning a living, access to rich library resources, and increased life skills such as research language and independent learning. Although the benefits outweighed the challenges, the main challenge that stood out in this paper was the lack of supervision support. Other challenges were loss of motivation, procrastination, poor internet connections, lack of human touch, and lack of support from employers. The paper recommends that open distance e-learning institutions improve their supervision systems and ensure that their student support systems contribute to curbing students’ challenges including feelings of isolation.

The invisible support networks of doctoral candidates: What acknowledgement sections of doctoral theses reveal

Although some argue that acknowledgement sections should not form part of doctoral theses, others welcome such sections and are of the opinion that they reflect original and personal contributions, constituting a neglected genre. Previous research on acknowledgement texts have focused more on their linguistic characteristics as related to the academic writing of theses. The present study, however, inquired into acknowledgement sections from a social support perspective. The aim of the study was to bring to light the dimension of the social milieu and its importance in supporting doctoral students in successfully achieving their doctorate. More specifically, the study sought to investigate the role of “significant others” in the academic success of doctoral students as reflected in the genres of acknowledgement in doctoral theses by analysing such texts from 30 completed doctoral theses in South Africa and Israel. Follow-up interviews with graduates assisted to probe deeper into the meaning of the texts. Although limited in nature, the study found that, based on who doctoral graduates acknowledge, several role-players and supporters seem to contribute to doctoral success. This includes family members, friends, colleagues, study supervisors, funders and university administrators. What also became clear was that doctoral candidates rely mainly on psycho-social forms of support and that particular kinds of such support are crucial at different stages of the doctoral journey. Acknowledgement studies confirm the doctoral research process as an activity stream that integrates the personal, the interpersonal and the institutional to reveal the mostly hidden, but very important, influences on the doctorate.