Tracking the doctoral student experience over time: Cultivating agency in diverse spaces

Abstract

This chapter outlines some of the broad results from a three-year longitudinal study examining day-to-day doctoral student experiences of over 40 students in two Faculties of Education in Canada. The resulting collection of responses from interviews and questionnaires that were administered monthly highlight the highly varied activities and interactions participants engaged in over time, as well as the difficulties they encountered and how these were addressed. Findings point to students actively negotiating their intentions in forms of negotiated agency negotiated agency that include: the active creation of networks both within and beyond their immediate academic context, negotiating a range of different supports from directive to supportive with a wide array of individuals beyond their primary supervisory relationship, and engaging in tasks beyond what many may assume to be the main activities of doctoral students. All are crucial activities for progress that often go unnoticed. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.