The Ph.D. student-chairperson relationship during the dissertation process: Implications for research education.

This study: (1) described the extent to which the relationships formed between Ph.D. students and their dissertation chairpersons possessed the qualities of a master-apprentice relationship; (2) examined the extent to which the student's research, academic area, stage of the dissertation, and gender composition of the relationship influenced the level of apprenticeship; and (3) examined the influence of the level of apprenticeship on the student's research education. Structured, in-depth, face-to-face interviews were conducted with 62 Ph.D. students from Psychology and Higher Education. The interview measured the extent to which students felt that their chairpersons performed the teaching, sponsorship, personal support, and dissertation management functions, and the extent to which their relationships were characterized by the qualities of emotional bonding, comprehensiveness, and collegiality. An overall measure of apprenticeship was formed from these seven measures. Analyses of the apprenticeship index revealed that the majority of the relationships were characterized by moderate to high levels of apprenticeship, and there was a strong positive association between the level of apprenticeship and students' satisfaction with their relationships. Students indicated that their chairpersons performed the dissertation management, teaching, and personal support functions to a moderate to high extent, but performed the sponsorship function to only a slight extent. This study also found that 21.8% of the variance in the apprenticeship index was explained by the research program, academic area, stage of the dissertation, and gender composition factors. Of these four factors, the research program factor had the strongest association with the apprenticeship index. Ph.D. students who worked within their chairperson's research program had relationships characterized by higher levels of apprenticeship. The results of this study also showed that there were moderate positive associations between the degree of apprenticeship and the amount of learning reported by the students. In contrast, there was little association between the level of apprenticeship and the strength of the students' research orientation, interest in the dissertation, and confidence in research ability. These results provide insights into the social processes that play a role in the student's socialization to the research community, and provide a basis for making recommendations for improving the quality of research education.PhDHigher educationUniversity of Michiganhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/161789/1/8812881.pd