Doctoral Education Trends and Challenges

Dr Margaret Kiley, will speak on "Should we be worried about the PhD?", at the Australian National University in Canberra, 4pm, 17 March 2014. This is the first of a four part series on 'Engaging in doctoral education developments and challenges'. Participants will discuss trends and challenges in doctoral education.

Should we be worried about the PhD?
'Should we be worried about the PhD?', is part one of a four-part series titled 'Engaging in doctoral education developments and challenges'. These presentations aim to provide participants with an opportunity to discuss international, national and local trends and challenges in doctoral education and what they mean for ANU staff and candidates.

Specific aims of 'Should we be worried about the PhD?' include:

1) A brief background to the doctorate in Australia and current data
2) Perceived changes in the purpose of research education, including the increasing attention being given to employment outside the academy
3) The impact of globalisation and internationalisation on research education, and
4) Increases in accountability and quality assurance in doctoral education.


Following the presentation, light refreshments will be served, and there will be opportunities to engage in discussion with one another, and the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research and Research Training), Professor Jenny Corbett, regarding ANU’s responses to these trends and challenges.


Part two of the series, to be held in June, will focus on alternative approaches to doctoral education, including coursework and structuring the curriculum. Part three, earmarked for July, will examine the variation in candidates and supervisors e.g. age, gender, motivation ethic and language background and what this means for practice. Part four, the final session in November, will look at alternatives in supervisory practice.


The presentations will be given by Dr Margaret Kiley, a Visiting Fellow in the ANU Research School of Humanities and the Arts. Margaret’s research and teaching interests have been in the area of research education including: the examination of doctoral theses; candidates' and supervisors' conceptions of research; and the introduction of coursework into the Australian PhD. Margaret has worked in Further/Higher Education in Australia, Indonesia and the UK and has presented workshops on research supervision in Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Malaysia, Canada and the USA. She has a conjoint position at Newcastle University, Australia, and is a Visiting Professor at Universiti Putra Malaysia.