Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Surviving and Thriving: Navigating the Doctoral Trajectory

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Book cover The Eastern Train on the Western Track

  • 264 Accesses

Abstract

As indicated in Chap. 3, this study develops its analysis around the planning, implementing, and reflecting phases of the Chinese doctoral students’ (CDS) study experience. Having shed light on the CDS’ motives, decision-making, and preparation in the planning phase in Chap. 4, this chapter is devoted to reporting findings from the implementing phase, focusing on how they navigate their cross-cultural adaptation (CCA) within the “ABC” model. Conflating critical incident technique (CIT) and visual graphics, this chapter delineates the CCA under three interlocked themes, viz. emotional wellbeing, behavioural coping, and researcher identification, respectively corresponding to affective, behavioural, and cognitive categories. The analysis supported that the CDS’ CCA was experienced as a cyclical and recurring process of stress-coping circumscribed by individual and situational variables that gave rise to a fluctuation of emotional wellbeing along their doctoral trajectory. Further, the CDS adopted varied coping strategies in order not only to be functional participants with adequate operational skills in the alien academic nexus, but also to be proactive agents optimising the host environment to hone their intercultural competence. Last, while the CDS affirmed doctoral study as an essentially independent enterprise, they kept cultivating membership in the research community via social identification with a researcher. An elaborated illumination of each part is detailed in the following sections.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 109.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    This is a prestigious and competitive funding in Australia.

  2. 2.

    This is a globally top university located in America.

References

  • Aitchison, C., & Guerin, C. (2014). Writing groups, pedagogy, theory and practice: An introduction. In C. Aitchison & C. Guerin (Eds.), Writing groups for doctoral education and beyond: innovations in practice and theory (pp. 3–17). New York, NY: Routledge.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Aitchison, C., & Lee, A. (2006). Research writing: Problems and pedagogies. Teaching in Higher Education, 1, 265–278. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562510600680574

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aldwin, C. M., Sutton, K. J., Chiara, G., & Spiro, A. (1996). Age differences in stress, coping, and appraisal: Findings from the normative aging study. Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 51(4), 179–188.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, B., Cutright, M., & Anderson, S. (2013). Academic involvement in doctoral education: Predictive value of faculty mentorship and intellectual community on doctoral education outcomes. International Journal of Doctoral Studies, 8, 195–215.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, L. E. (1994). A new look at an old construct: Cross-cultural adaptation. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 18(3), 293–328. https://doi.org/10.1016/0147-1767(94)90035-3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Auger, W. F., & Rich, S. J. (with Langford, H.). (2007). Curriculum theory and methods: Perspectives on learning and teaching. Mississauga, ON: John Wiley & Sons Canada.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boud, D. (2001). Introduction: Making the move to peer learning. In D. Boud, R. Cohen, & J. Sampson (Eds.), Peer learning in higher education: Learning from and with each other (pp. 1–20). London, UK: Kogan Page.

    Google Scholar 

  • Caffarella, R. S., & Barnett, B. G. (2000). Teaching doctoral students to become scholarly writers: The importance of giving and receiving critiques. Studies in Higher Education, 25(1), 39–52.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cahusac de Caux, B. K. C. D., Lam, C. K. C., Lau, R., Hoang, C. H., & Pretorius, L. (2017). Reflection for learning in doctoral training: Writing groups, academic writing proficiency and reflective practice. Reflective Practice, 18(4), 463–473. https://doi.org/10.1080/14623943.2017.1307725

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carroll, J. (2015). Tools for teaching in an educationally mobile world. Abingdon: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chatterjee-Padmanabhan, M., & Nielsen, W. (2016). Preparing to cross the research proposal threshold: A case study of two international doctoral students. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1080/14703297.2016.1251331.

  • Cotterall, S. (2013). More than just a brain: Emotions and the doctoral experience. Higher Education Research & Development, 32(2), 174–187.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dinham, S., & Scott, C. (1999). The doctorate talking about the degree. Sydney: University of Western Sydney.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duangpracha, K. (2012). The accommodation challenges of international students. Doctoral thesis. Melbourne, VIC: RMIT University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Elliot, D. L., & Kobayashi, S. (2018). How can PhD supervisors play a role in bridging academic cultures? Teaching in Higher Education, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2018.1517305.

  • Falchikov, N. (2001). Learning together: Peer tutoring in higher education. London: Routledge Falmer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Flores, E. & Nerad, M. (2012). Peers in doctoral education: Unrecognized partners. New Directions for Higher Education, 157, Spring, 73–83.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fotovatian, S. (2012). Three constructs of institutional identity among international doctoral students in Australia. Teaching in Higher Education, 17(5), 577–588. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2012.658557

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Giddens, A. (1979). Central problems in social theory: Action, structure, and contradiction in social analysis. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Giddens, A. (1991). Modernity and self-identity: Self and society in the late modern age. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grant, B. M. (2008). Agonistic struggle: Master slave dialogues in humanities supervision. Arts and Humanities in Higher Education, 7(1), 9–27. https://doi.org/10.1177/1474022207084880

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gurevitch, Z. (2001). Dialectical dialogue: The struggle for speech, repressive silence, and the shift to multiplicity. British Journal of Sociology, 52(1), 87–104.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hays, S. (1994). Structure and agency and the sticky problem of culture. Sociological Theory, 12(1), 57–72.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holliday, A., & Amadasi, S. (2020). Making sense of the intercultural: Finding decentred threads (1st ed.). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Inouye, K. S., & McAlpine, L. (2017). Developing scholarly identity: Variation in agentive responses to supervisor feedback. Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice, 14(2). https://ro.uow.edu.au/jutlp/vol14/iss2/3.

  • Kim, Y. Y. (2001). Becoming intercultural: An integrative theory of communication and cross-cultural adaptation. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kim, Y. Y. (2012). Beyond cultural categories: Communication, adaptation and transformation. In J. Jackson (Ed.), The Routledge handbook of language and intercultural communication (pp. 229–243). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Krishnan, A. (2009). What are academic disciplines? Some observations on the disciplinarity vs. interdisciplinarity debate. NCRM Working Paper No. 03/09. Southampton, England: National Centre for Research Methods.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lahenius, K. (2012). Communities of practice supporting doctoral studies. International Journal of Management Education, 10, 29–38. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijme.2012.02.003

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lapum, J. L. (2008). The performative manifestation of a research identity: Storying the Journey through poetry. Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 9(2), art. 39. https://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs0802392.

  • Lee, J., Koeske, G. F., & Sales, E. (2004). Social support buffering of acculturative stress: A study of mental health symptoms among Korean international students. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 28, 399–414. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2004.08.005

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lovitts, B. E. (2005). Being a good course-taker is not enough: A theoretical perspective on the transition to independent research. Studies in Higher Education, 30(2), 137–154.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marginson, S. (2014). Student self-formation in international education. Journal of Studies in International Education, 18(1), 6–22. https://doi.org/10.1177/1028315313513036

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mason, S. (2018). Publications in the doctoral thesis: Challenges for doctoral candidates, supervisors, examiners and administrators. Higher Education Research & Development, 37(6), 1231–1244.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mazurek Melnyk, B., Slevin, C., Militello, L., Hoying, J., Teall, A., & McGovern, C. (2016). Physical health, lifestyle beliefs and behaviors, and mental health of entering graduate health professional students: Evidence to support screening and early intervention. Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, 28(4), 204–211. https://doi.org/10.1002/2327-6924.12350

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCallin, A., & Nayar, S. (2012). Postgraduate research supervision: A critical review of current practice. Teaching in Higher Education, 17(1), 63–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Merga, M. K. (2015). Thesis by publication in education: An autoethnographic perspective for educational researchers. Issues in Educational Research, 25(2), 291–308.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mewburn, I., & Thomson, P. (2017). Towards an academic self? Blogging during the doctorate. In D. Lupton, I. Mewburn, & P. Thomson (Eds.), The digital academic. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mok, K. H. (2016). Massifying and internationalising higher education, changing labour markets and social mobility: Challenges for education and urban governance. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 38(3), 233–241. https://doi.org/10.1080/1360080x.2016.1174402

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Monaghan, C. H. (2011). Communities of practice: A learning strategy for professional development. Journal of Management Education, 35, 428–453.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Muhammad, M., Wallerstein, N., Sussman, A. L., Avila, M., Belone, L., & Duran, B. (2015). Reflections on researcher identity and power: The impact of positionality on community based participatory research (CBPR) processes and outcomes. Critical Sociology (Eugene), 41(7–8), 1045–1063. https://doi.org/10.1177/0896920513516025

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • National Liaison Committee for International Students in Australia. (2008). Accommodation article, NLC. Retrieved June 10, 2008, from https://www.nlc.edu.au/main/news/accommodation_articles.html.

  • Naylor, R., Chakravarti, S., & Baik, C. (2016). Differing motivations and requirements in PhD student cohorts: A case study. Issues in Educational Research, 26(2), 351–367.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nelson, M. L., & Friedlander, M. L. (2001). A close look at conflictual supervisory relationships: The trainee’s perspective. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 48(4), 384–395. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0167.48.4.384

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nerad, M. (2012). Conceptual approaches to doctoral education: A community of practice. Alternation, 19(2), 57–72.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nettles, M. T. (1990). Success in doctoral programs: Experiences of minority and White students. American Journal of Education, 98(4), 494–522.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Orellana, M. L., Darder, A., Pérez, A., & Salinas, J. (2016). Improving doctoral success by matching PhD students with supervisors. International Journal of Doctoral Studies, 11, 87–103.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Page, A., & Petray, T. (2016). Agency and structural constraints: Indigenous peoples and the Australian settler-state in North Queensland. Settler Colonial Studies, 6(1), 88–98. https://doi.org/10.1080/2201473x.2014.993057

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pilbeam, C., & Denyer, D. (2009). Lone scholar or community member? The role of student networks in doctoral education in a UK management school. Studies in Higher Education, 34(3), 301–318. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075070802597077

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pryor, J., & Croussard, B. (2008). A socio-cultural theorisation of formative assessment. Oxford Review of Education, 34(1), 1–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pyhältö, K., & Keskinen, J. (2012). Doctoral students’ sense of relational agency in their scholarly communities. International Journal of Higher Education, 1(2), 136–149.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reeve, J. (2009). Why teachers adopt a controlling motivating style toward students and how they can become more autonomy supportive. Educational Psychologist, 44(3), 159–175. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520903028990

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rhoads, R. A., Zheng, M., & Sun, X. (2016). The methodological socialisation of social science doctoral students in China and the USA. Higher Education, 73(2), 335–351. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-016-0023-y

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robertson, M., Line, M., Jones, S., & Thomas, S. (2000). International students, learning environments and perceptions: A case study using the Delphi technique. Higher Education Research & Development, 19, 89–102.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robinson, S. (2008). To be or not to be: Doctoral science students’ early experiences. Paper presented at the 2nd International Conference on Preparing for Academic Practice: Disciplinary Perspectives, University of Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rockinson-Szpakiw, A. J., Spaulding, L. S., & Knight, A. (2015). Protecting the marriage relationship during the doctoral journey. The Family Journal, 23(2), 141–146. https://doi.org/10.1177/1066480714565106

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sala-Bubaré, A., & Castelló, M. (2017). Exploring the relationship between doctoral students’ experiences and research community positioning. Studies in Continuing Education, 39(1), 16–34. https://doi.org/10.1080/0158037x.2016.1216832

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sapranaviciute, L., Padaiga, Z., & Pauzienė, N. (2013). The stress coping strategies and depressive symptoms in international students. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 84, 827–831. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.06.655

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Skinner, E. A., & Belmont, M. J. (1993). Motivation in the classroom: Reciprocal effects of teacher behavior and student engagement across the school year. Journal of Educational Psychology, 85, 571–581.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Silva, P., Woodman, K., Taji, A., Travelyan, J., Samani, S., Sharda, H., … Yarlagadda, P. K. D. V. (2015). Support services for higher degree research students: A survey of three Australian universities. European Journal of Engineering Education, 41(5), 469–481. https://doi.org/10.1080/03043797.2015.1095160.

  • Son, J. B., & Park, S. S. (2014). Academic experiences of international PhD students in Australian higher education: From an EAP program to a PhD program. International Journal of Pedagogies and Learning, 9(1), 26–37. https://doi.org/10.1080/18334105.2014.11082017

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tesch, J., Baptista, A., Frick, L., Holley, K. A., Remmik, M., & Åkerlind, G. (2015). The doctorate as an original contribution to knowledge: Considering relationships between originality, creativity, and innovation. Frontline Learning Research, 3(3), 55–67. https://dx.doi.org/10.14786/flr.v3i3.147.

  • Tian, M., & Lowe, J. (2013). The role of feedback in cross-cultural learning: A case study of Chinese taught postgraduate students in a UK university. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 38(5), 580–598. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2012.670196

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tinto, V. (1993). Leaving college: Rethinking causes and cures of student attrition (2nd ed.). Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trafford, V., & Leshem, S. (2009). Doctorateness as a threshold concept. Innovations in Education & Teaching International, 46(3), 305–316.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tran, L. T., & Vu, T. T. P. (2018). “Agency in mobility”: Towards a conceptualisation of international student agency in transnational mobility. Educational Review, 70(2), 167–187. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131911.2017.1293615

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Turner, C. S. V., Wood, J. L., Montoya, Y. J., Essien-Wood, I. R., Neal, R., Escontrias, G., Jr., & Coe, A. (2012). Advancing the next generation of higher education scholars: An examination of one doctoral classroom. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 24(1), 103–112.

    Google Scholar 

  • Varga, M. A. (2015). A quantitative study of graduate student grief experiences. Illness, Crisis & Loss, 24(3), 170–186. https://doi.org/10.1177/1054137315589700

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ward, C., Bochner, S., & Furnham, A. (2001). Psychology of culture shock (2nd ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Watkins, D. A., & Biggs, J. B. (1996). The Chinese learner: Cultural, psychological, and contextual influences. Hong Kong: Comparative Education Research Centre/Australian Council for Educational Research.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wellington, J. (2010). Making supervision work for you. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Woolderink, M., Putnik, K., van der Boom, H., & Klabbers, G. (2015). The voice of PhD candidates and PhD supervisors. A qualitative exploratory study amongst PhD candidates and supervisors to evaluate the relational aspects of PhD supervision in the Netherlands. International Journal of Doctoral Studies, 10, 217–235.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ye, L. (2018). Intercultural experience and identity: Narratives of Chinese doctoral students in the UK. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of International Relations, Sichuan International Studies University, Chongqing, China

    Xing Xu

  2. School of Education, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, Australia

    Helena Hing Wa Sit

  3. School of Education, The University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW, Australia

    Shen Chen

Authors
  1. Xing Xu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Helena Hing Wa Sit
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Shen Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Xing Xu .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Xu, X., Sit, H.H.W., Chen, S. (2020). Surviving and Thriving: Navigating the Doctoral Trajectory. In: The Eastern Train on the Western Track. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-4265-7_5

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-4265-7_5

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-15-4264-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-15-4265-7

  • eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation