This article explores the features and potential of an embodied, rather than merely skills-based, approach to doctoral writing. The authors' conceptual framework is derived from the phenomenological literature, particularly Heidegger's critique of modern life as permeated by a quest for mastery and control. They address two key questions…

While much research focuses on factors contributing to doctoral completion, few studies explore the role of the doctorate in forming active researchers with the skills, know-how and appetite to pursue research post-completion. This article investigates 15 existing studies for evidence of what factors in the doctoral experience may contribute to…

There is an increasing trend within higher education and, more specifically, in higher degrees by research, to treat a professional skills set as a desirable graduate outcome. The increasing value that is being placed on a professional skills set in large part reflects growing interest around the world in the role of research degrees in labour…

Scholars such as Kamler and Thompson argue that identity formation has a key role to play in doctoral learning, particularly the process of thesis writing. This article builds on these insights to address other sites in which scholarly identity is performed within doctoral candidature. Drawing on actor-network theory, the authors examine the role…

In this article, the implications of foregrounding ontology for teaching and learning in higher education are explored. In conventional approaches to higher education programmes, ontology has tended to be subordinated to epistemological concerns. This has meant the flourishing of notions such as the transfer and acquisition of knowledge and…