Why Is There a Need For a ‘Doctoral Compass’? A Metacognitive Scaffolding for Navigating Doctoral Progression

This presentation will consider the complex doctoral landscape, with a view to offering a holistic conceptualisation of the ‘twin’ elements in each doctoral journey. Such a journey equally entails both: a) doctoral level research; and b) doctoral scholars’ development. Within this distinct doctoral landscape, I will discuss the different key milestones and argue for the connection among threshold concepts, stages of competence development, Imposter Syndrome, the Dunning-Kruger Effect, and the formal and hidden curricula. By connecting and synthesising these well-known doctoral concepts, I will endeavour not only to offer a new conceptual framework, likened to ‘a compass’ when navigating this potentially complex journey, but I will also elucidate how this framework can be harnessed better particularly post-pandemic. Arguably, having a compass offers doctoral scholars both the flexibility and a strong sense of direction as they reconnect and rebuild their doctoral learning practices during these challenging and transformative times