The doctoral experience: consequences on skills awareness, professional aspirations, and reactions to work demands – PhDEXP

This interdisciplinary project combines expertise from social psychology, cognitive science, sociology, and education science. Its aims are to study the influence of the doctoral experience on PhD graduates and PhD students’ skills awareness, and the influence of this awareness on their professional experiences. The state of the art currently shows that PhD gradutates and PhD students have low awareness of some of their core skills, which may have multiple consequences on their professional experiences. Adopting an interdisciplinary framework, this project aims (a) to study the influence of the doctoral experience on skills awareness, and (b) to study the consequences of this awareness on PhD graduates and PhD students’ professional aspirations and reactions to work demands. In the first half of the project, we will conduct a longitudinal follow-up of doctoral students. Its aims will be to assess variations in their skill awareness, to identify the determinants of these variations, and to identify the consequences for their work aspirations. In addition, two studies will examine the impact of specific internventions (i.e., mentoring program, training courses). The second half of the project will focus on recently graduated PhD and on the links between their skills awareness and their professional experiences. More specifically, we will assess how their skills awareness relates to and influences their work aspirations and reactions to work demands. This second half will use correlational measures, semi-structured interviews, and one experimental study. All studies will be designed and conducted by combining the expertise and methodologies of the two partners. As a whole, this project will produce insights that will aim at informing and advising doctoral program skateholders.