Reflecting on a Personal Doctoral Study Experience: A Journey to Academic and Professional Maturity

Gilman Jackson Nyamubi

doi:doi:10.11648/j.her.20210603.13

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Reflecting on a Personal Doctoral Study Experience: A Journey to Academic and Professional Maturity

Gilman Jackson Nyamubi

Published in Higher Education Research (Volume 6, Issue 3)

Received: 23 April 2021 Accepted: 10 May 2021 Published: 26 May 2021

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Abstract

Doctoral students across African Universities encounter negative and positive experiences in their interaction with their supervisors during the whole doctoral learning process. The doctoral students’ well-being, competence attainment and studies timely completion depend on supervisors’ active engagement and students’ adaptability levels. This study explored the author’s experience during the proposal writing stage of his doctoral study at the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, drawing mainly on how the author was an active participant in doctoral learning. It addressed the question: how do doctoral students experience their supervisors’ involvement in supervision during the proposal stage of their doctoral programmes? Quantity and quality of supervision significantly impact the doctoral experience. Information that was used to discuss and draw conclusions about the studied issue came from the author’s recounting experience and from a critical review of various sources. It was found that supervisors were not involved in selecting students they supervised, which resulted to possibilities of a misfit between supervisors’ expertise in the students’ learning content area as well as methodology. It also led to supervisors’ power relation conflicts based on seniority and methodological mismatch, to the learner’s drawback and liminality. The learner’s negotiation of the supervisors’ relation led to a successful crossing of the threshold, contributing to the learner’s academic and professional maturity. An efficient communication between doctoral students and their supervisors form an important facet to the triumphant and well-timed completion ofa doctoral journey.

Published in	Higher Education Research (Volume 6, Issue 3)
DOI	10.11648/j.her.20210603.13
Page(s)	72-77
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Doctoral Study, Academic Maturity, Professional Maturity, Learning Experience, Doctoral Supervision

References

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APA Style

Gilman Jackson Nyamubi. (2021). Reflecting on a Personal Doctoral Study Experience: A Journey to Academic and Professional Maturity. Higher Education Research, 6(3), 72-77. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.her.20210603.13

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ACS Style

Gilman Jackson Nyamubi. Reflecting on a Personal Doctoral Study Experience: A Journey to Academic and Professional Maturity. High. Educ. Res. 2021, 6(3), 72-77. doi: 10.11648/j.her.20210603.13

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AMA Style

Gilman Jackson Nyamubi. Reflecting on a Personal Doctoral Study Experience: A Journey to Academic and Professional Maturity. High Educ Res. 2021;6(3):72-77. doi: 10.11648/j.her.20210603.13

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@article{10.11648/j.her.20210603.13,
  author = {Gilman Jackson Nyamubi},
  title = {Reflecting on a Personal Doctoral Study Experience: A Journey to Academic and Professional Maturity},
  journal = {Higher Education Research},
  volume = {6},
  number = {3},
  pages = {72-77},
  doi = {10.11648/j.her.20210603.13},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.her.20210603.13},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.her.20210603.13},
  abstract = {Doctoral students across African Universities encounter negative and positive experiences in their interaction with their supervisors during the whole doctoral learning process. The doctoral students’ well-being, competence attainment and studies timely completion depend on supervisors’ active engagement and students’ adaptability levels. This study explored the author’s experience during the proposal writing stage of his doctoral study at the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, drawing mainly on how the author was an active participant in doctoral learning. It addressed the question: how do doctoral students experience their supervisors’ involvement in supervision during the proposal stage of their doctoral programmes? Quantity and quality of supervision significantly impact the doctoral experience. Information that was used to discuss and draw conclusions about the studied issue came from the author’s recounting experience and from a critical review of various sources. It was found that supervisors were not involved in selecting students they supervised, which resulted to possibilities of a misfit between supervisors’ expertise in the students’ learning content area as well as methodology. It also led to supervisors’ power relation conflicts based on seniority and methodological mismatch, to the learner’s drawback and liminality. The learner’s negotiation of the supervisors’ relation led to a successful crossing of the threshold, contributing to the learner’s academic and professional maturity. An efficient communication between doctoral students and their supervisors form an important facet to the triumphant and well-timed completion ofa doctoral journey.},
 year = {2021}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Reflecting on a Personal Doctoral Study Experience: A Journey to Academic and Professional Maturity
AU  - Gilman Jackson Nyamubi
Y1  - 2021/05/26
PY  - 2021
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.her.20210603.13
DO  - 10.11648/j.her.20210603.13
T2  - Higher Education Research
JF  - Higher Education Research
JO  - Higher Education Research
SP  - 72
EP  - 77
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2578-935X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.her.20210603.13
AB  - Doctoral students across African Universities encounter negative and positive experiences in their interaction with their supervisors during the whole doctoral learning process. The doctoral students’ well-being, competence attainment and studies timely completion depend on supervisors’ active engagement and students’ adaptability levels. This study explored the author’s experience during the proposal writing stage of his doctoral study at the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, drawing mainly on how the author was an active participant in doctoral learning. It addressed the question: how do doctoral students experience their supervisors’ involvement in supervision during the proposal stage of their doctoral programmes? Quantity and quality of supervision significantly impact the doctoral experience. Information that was used to discuss and draw conclusions about the studied issue came from the author’s recounting experience and from a critical review of various sources. It was found that supervisors were not involved in selecting students they supervised, which resulted to possibilities of a misfit between supervisors’ expertise in the students’ learning content area as well as methodology. It also led to supervisors’ power relation conflicts based on seniority and methodological mismatch, to the learner’s drawback and liminality. The learner’s negotiation of the supervisors’ relation led to a successful crossing of the threshold, contributing to the learner’s academic and professional maturity. An efficient communication between doctoral students and their supervisors form an important facet to the triumphant and well-timed completion ofa doctoral journey.
VL  - 6
IS  - 3
ER  -

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Author Information

Gilman Jackson Nyamubi

Department of Education, University of Iringa, Iringa, Tanzania

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Plain Text BibTeX RIS

APA Style

Gilman Jackson Nyamubi. (2021). Reflecting on a Personal Doctoral Study Experience: A Journey to Academic and Professional Maturity. Higher Education Research, 6(3), 72-77. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.her.20210603.13

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ACS Style

Gilman Jackson Nyamubi. Reflecting on a Personal Doctoral Study Experience: A Journey to Academic and Professional Maturity. High. Educ. Res. 2021, 6(3), 72-77. doi: 10.11648/j.her.20210603.13

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AMA Style

Gilman Jackson Nyamubi. Reflecting on a Personal Doctoral Study Experience: A Journey to Academic and Professional Maturity. High Educ Res. 2021;6(3):72-77. doi: 10.11648/j.her.20210603.13

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@article{10.11648/j.her.20210603.13,
  author = {Gilman Jackson Nyamubi},
  title = {Reflecting on a Personal Doctoral Study Experience: A Journey to Academic and Professional Maturity},
  journal = {Higher Education Research},
  volume = {6},
  number = {3},
  pages = {72-77},
  doi = {10.11648/j.her.20210603.13},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.her.20210603.13},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.her.20210603.13},
  abstract = {Doctoral students across African Universities encounter negative and positive experiences in their interaction with their supervisors during the whole doctoral learning process. The doctoral students’ well-being, competence attainment and studies timely completion depend on supervisors’ active engagement and students’ adaptability levels. This study explored the author’s experience during the proposal writing stage of his doctoral study at the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, drawing mainly on how the author was an active participant in doctoral learning. It addressed the question: how do doctoral students experience their supervisors’ involvement in supervision during the proposal stage of their doctoral programmes? Quantity and quality of supervision significantly impact the doctoral experience. Information that was used to discuss and draw conclusions about the studied issue came from the author’s recounting experience and from a critical review of various sources. It was found that supervisors were not involved in selecting students they supervised, which resulted to possibilities of a misfit between supervisors’ expertise in the students’ learning content area as well as methodology. It also led to supervisors’ power relation conflicts based on seniority and methodological mismatch, to the learner’s drawback and liminality. The learner’s negotiation of the supervisors’ relation led to a successful crossing of the threshold, contributing to the learner’s academic and professional maturity. An efficient communication between doctoral students and their supervisors form an important facet to the triumphant and well-timed completion ofa doctoral journey.},
 year = {2021}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Reflecting on a Personal Doctoral Study Experience: A Journey to Academic and Professional Maturity
AU  - Gilman Jackson Nyamubi
Y1  - 2021/05/26
PY  - 2021
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.her.20210603.13
DO  - 10.11648/j.her.20210603.13
T2  - Higher Education Research
JF  - Higher Education Research
JO  - Higher Education Research
SP  - 72
EP  - 77
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2578-935X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.her.20210603.13
AB  - Doctoral students across African Universities encounter negative and positive experiences in their interaction with their supervisors during the whole doctoral learning process. The doctoral students’ well-being, competence attainment and studies timely completion depend on supervisors’ active engagement and students’ adaptability levels. This study explored the author’s experience during the proposal writing stage of his doctoral study at the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, drawing mainly on how the author was an active participant in doctoral learning. It addressed the question: how do doctoral students experience their supervisors’ involvement in supervision during the proposal stage of their doctoral programmes? Quantity and quality of supervision significantly impact the doctoral experience. Information that was used to discuss and draw conclusions about the studied issue came from the author’s recounting experience and from a critical review of various sources. It was found that supervisors were not involved in selecting students they supervised, which resulted to possibilities of a misfit between supervisors’ expertise in the students’ learning content area as well as methodology. It also led to supervisors’ power relation conflicts based on seniority and methodological mismatch, to the learner’s drawback and liminality. The learner’s negotiation of the supervisors’ relation led to a successful crossing of the threshold, contributing to the learner’s academic and professional maturity. An efficient communication between doctoral students and their supervisors form an important facet to the triumphant and well-timed completion ofa doctoral journey.
VL  - 6
IS  - 3
ER  -

Copy | Download