Doctoral final examinations: (Ir)relevance to new skills and future challenges

Denicolo, Pam, Duke, Dawn and Reeves, Julie (2022) Doctoral final examinations: (Ir)relevance to new skills and future challenges. In, Österlind, Marie-Louise, Denicolo, Pamela M. and Apelgren, Britt-Marie (eds.) Doctoral Education as if People Matter: Critical Issues for the Future. (Critical Issues in the Future of Learning and Teaching, 24) Brill, pp. 58-74. (doi:10.1163/9789004529304_005).

Record type: Book Section

Abstract

The contemporary rapid evolution of doctoral programmes with their emphasis shifting to the development of a skilled, versatile researcher from the production of an erudite thesis, has not been matched by parallel progression in the final examination. Those who supervise and examine doctoral candidates seem only to have custom and practice and their own limited experience to steer their decisions in a fast-changing environment. We raise challenging questions about how assessment could be adapted to maintain the benefits of doctoral diversity while providing transparent evidence to employers and the wider society of the specific valuable skills of successful doctoral candidates.

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