A Mixed Methods Exploration of Completion Expectations of Online Doctoral Students
Location
DeSantis Room 1047
Format Type
Plenary
Format Type
Paper
Start Date
17-1-2020 3:30 PM
End Date
17-1-2020 3:50 PM
Abstract
For students in the early to mid-stages of their non-academic careers, obtaining a doctoral degree is typically to enhance, improve, or transition along a career path. Increased demands on working students and increased accessibility to non-traditional degree programs has resulted in many of these students opting to pursue a doctoral degree online. Innovations in online learning have helped to increase the success/completion rate of online doctoral students. However, accessibility and innovation do not guarantee a student’s opportunity to realize their career or completion goals when earning a terminal degree. This exploratory sequential mixed methods study identifies the career expectations of online doctoral students and how these expectations were realized (or not) as reported by online doctoral alumni. Qualitative interviews were analyzed and survey data was collected to confirm the scope of presence of these narratives in the greater cohort. The researchers will also reflect and share their experience in conducting an exploratory mixed methods design, which places emphasis on the qualitative analysis. Insights gained from this study may help universities evaluate the efficacy of the career programs as offered to online doctoral students. The findings may have implications beyond academia as well – a better understanding of students with non-academic career intentions may serve as a benchmark for organizational strategists and talent managers.
Keywords
Doctoral students, online, career, mixed methods, post-doctoral, narrative inquiry, exploratory
A Mixed Methods Exploration of Completion Expectations of Online Doctoral Students
DeSantis Room 1047
For students in the early to mid-stages of their non-academic careers, obtaining a doctoral degree is typically to enhance, improve, or transition along a career path. Increased demands on working students and increased accessibility to non-traditional degree programs has resulted in many of these students opting to pursue a doctoral degree online. Innovations in online learning have helped to increase the success/completion rate of online doctoral students. However, accessibility and innovation do not guarantee a student’s opportunity to realize their career or completion goals when earning a terminal degree. This exploratory sequential mixed methods study identifies the career expectations of online doctoral students and how these expectations were realized (or not) as reported by online doctoral alumni. Qualitative interviews were analyzed and survey data was collected to confirm the scope of presence of these narratives in the greater cohort. The researchers will also reflect and share their experience in conducting an exploratory mixed methods design, which places emphasis on the qualitative analysis. Insights gained from this study may help universities evaluate the efficacy of the career programs as offered to online doctoral students. The findings may have implications beyond academia as well – a better understanding of students with non-academic career intentions may serve as a benchmark for organizational strategists and talent managers.