Characteristics of Ph.D. students: a systematic review based on Kitchinham and Charter's model.

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

• Mahdi Mohammadi ¹
• Mohammad Reza Nasiri ²
• Raheleh Karimian ³
• Bentol-Hoda Khabazan ⁴

¹ Knowledge and Information Department, University of Qom, Qom, Iran.

² Ph. D student in Knowledge and Information Science. University of Qom, Qom, Iran.

³ PhD student, Knowledge and Information Science, Qom University, Qom, Iran.

⁴ Ph. D student in Knowledge and Information Science, University of Qom, Qom. Iran.

10.22067/infosci.2024.86520.1194

Abstract

Purpose: Human capital is recognized as the most important asset of any organization, and employee training is crucial for improving their productivity. Doctoral programs play a pivotal role in training skilled and specialized manpower by providing specialized training in various fields. PhD students can play a role as skilled manpower in organizations by acquiring certain characteristics and help to increase their productivity. The purpose of the present study is to systematically review the research which was conducted on the characteristics of Ph.D. students to identify these characteristics and determine the status of the research as well as their research gap.

Methods: A systematic method was used to conduct this research. First, after searching from reliable databases, 1045 studies were identified. During the three stages of monitoring (monitoring based on the title, abstract and full text), duplicate articles without the necessary criteria were removed, and finally, 135 research (92 foreign research titles and 43 domestic titles), including articles published in journals, articles presented in Conferences and theses were identified.

Findings: After studying the research line by line, the characteristics were classified into 4 categories: "personal characteristics", "research characteristics", "educational characteristics" and "professional characteristics". "Personal characteristics" were divided into three subcategories: "behavioral characteristics", "psychological characteristics" and "morality". "Research characteristics" were divided into two subcategories: "research ethics" and "focusing on a specific research area". "Educational characteristics" were divided into two subcategories: "teaching" and "learning". And "Professional characteristics" were also categorized into two subcategories "Professional skills" and "Professional interactions". In each of the categories, their important features are introduced by mentioning their related document.

Conclusion: The findings showed that educational characteristics, despite their importance in the Ph.D. course, have received less attention from researchers and there is a need for more research. Research gaps are also visible in all main categories and some subcategories of research.

Keywords

• Ph.D. students"
• Systematic study"
• Personal characteristics"
• Research characteristics"
• Educational characteristics"
• Professional characteristics"
• "
• Human resources"
• Postgraduate education"
• . "
• Ph.D. courses"
• &emsp

Main Subjects

• Information Ethics

---

©2024 The author(s). This is an open access article distributed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0)

References

Andriole, D. A., Whelan, A. J., & Jeffe, D. B. (2008). Characteristics and Career Intentions of the Emerging MD/PhD Workforce. JAMA, 300(10), 1165-1173. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.300.10.1165

Barani, S., Salehi Omran, E., & Einkhah, F. (2021). Analysis of the dispersion of fields and admission conditions of those admitted to the doctoral program in higher education in Iran. Iranian Higher Education, 13(3), 24-43. http://ihej.ir/article-1-1760-en.html

Booth, A. L., & Satchell, S. E. (1995). The Hazards of Doing a PhD: An Analysis of Completion and Withdrawal Rates of British PhD Students in the 1980s. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society. Series A (Statistics in Society), 158(2), 297. https://doi.org/10.2307/2983293

Bozionelos, N., Kostopoulos, K., Van der Heijden, B., Rousseau, D. M., Bozionelos, G., Hoyland, T., Miao, R., Marzec, I., Jędrzejowicz, P., & Epitropaki, O. (2016). Employability and job performance as links in the relationship between mentoring receipt and career success: A study in SMEs. Group & organization management, 41(2), 135-171.

Champiri, Z. D., Shahamiri, S. R., & Salim, S. S. B. (2015). A systematic review of scholar context-aware recommender systems. Expert Systems with Applications, 42(3), 1743-1758. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eswa.2014.09.017

Connor, H., & Brown, R. (2009). The value of graduates and postgraduates. Council for Industry and Higher Education, London.

Doctoral course regulations approved (2010). https://www.ui.ac.ir/Dorsapax/userfiles/Sub16/Amoozeshi/Aeinnameh/PhD_1389.pdf

Ehsanian, F., Faghih Aram, B., & Sosahabi, P. (2020). Identification and Prioritization of Effective Factors and Indices of Manpower Quality in University. Teaching and Learning Research, 13(2), 87-107. https://tlr.shahed.ac.ir/article_2492_04350d32b9daadfd12884c026232e331.pdf

Fattahi, r. (2001). PhD degree in librarianship and information: considerations about the conditions, characteristics

and theoretical and practical requirements of this course and the qualifications of its graduates. Librarianship and information, 4. (26)

Haji Heydari, F. (2015). Comparison of missions and goals of Ph. D. courses in Iran and some countries of the world. Quarterly Journal of the Iranian Higher Education Association, 107-140. https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.18869/acadpub.ijrr.14.4.305

Hawasi, F., Rostami, S., Cheraghi, S., & Jabri, S. (2017). The role of universities and educational centers in the training of human resources the second national conference of new approaches in education and research, Mahmoud Abad. https://civilica.com/doc/702062

Hejazi, S., Pardakhtchi, M., & Shahpasand, M. (2009). The professional development approaches of the teachers. Tehran: University of Tehran publications. http://opac.nlai.ir/opac-prod/bibliographic/1899275

Jafarinia, S., Hassanpour, A., & Vakili, Y. (2022). A Systematic Review on Successful Implementation of Strategic Human Resource Management in Organizations. Journal of Urban Economics and Management, 10(37), 141-160.

Jodaki, M., & Hasanpour, H. (2021). Analysis and evaluation of effective indicators on promotion and improvement of manpower productivity (Case study: National Iranian Standards Organization) [Applicable]. Journal title, 3(10), 154-184. http://jde.khu.ac.ir/article-1-101-fa.html

Kitchenham, B., & Charters, S. (2007). Guidelines for performing systematic literature reviews in software engineering. In: UK.

Lee, H.-f., Miozzo, M., & Laredo, P. (2010). Career patterns and competences of PhDs in science and engineering in the knowledge economy: The case of graduates from a UK research-based university. Research Policy, 39(7), 869-881. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2010.05.001

Mangematin, V., & Robin, S. (2003). The two faces of PhD students: Management of early careers of French PhDs in life sciences. Science and Public Policy, 30(6), 405-414. https://doi.org/10.3152/147154303781780209

Nafari, N., & Omidfar, G. (2010). Evaluating the Impact of Organizational Structure (Structural Dimensions) on Employees’ Empowerment: Case Study of Finance Deputy in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs. Management and Development Process, 23(1), 63-82. https://doi.org/http://dorl.net/dor/20.1001.1.17350719.1389.23.1.5.0

Nakoui Moghadam, M., & Molai Fard , A. (2009). Empowerment of human resources. Asr Management Quarterly, 4, 84-87. https://journals.atu.ac.ir/article_3663.html

Rubel, M., & Rahman, M. H. A. (2018). Effect of training and development on organizational citizenship behavior (OCB): An evidence from private commercial banks in Bangladesh. Global Journal of Management and Business Research, 18(8), 70-80.

Santos, P., Veloso, L., & Urze, P. (2021). Students matter: The role of doctoral students in university–industry collaborations. Higher Education Research & Development, 40(7), 1530-1545. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2020.1814702

Schmidt, M., & Hansson, E. (2018). Doctoral students’ well-being: a literature review. International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-being, 13(1), 1508171. https://doi.org/10.1080/17482631.2018.1508171

Seeber, M., & Horta, H. (2021). No road is long with good company. What factors affect Ph. D. student’s satisfaction with their supervisor? Higher Education Evaluation and Development, 15(1), 2-18. https://hdl.handle.net/11250/2731976

Smith, A., Bradshaw, T., Burnett, K., Docherty, D., Purcell, W., & Worthington, S. (2010). One step beyond: Making the most of postgraduate education. London: BIS.

Stewart, A., Bray, M., Macneil, J., & Oxenbridge, S. (2014). 'Promoting cooperative and productive workplace relations': exploring the Fair Work Commission's new role. Australian Journal of Labour Law, 27(3), 258-280. http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1294948

Tabatabayirad, S., & Darabi, H. (2021). Educational approaches in organizations and the effect of knowledge management on human resource productivity the fifth international management conference. Humanities and Behavioral Sciences in Iran and the Islamic World, Tehran, Iran. https://civilica.com/doc/1597722

Thome, M. J., & Greenwald, J. M. (2020). Job and community embeddedness on voluntary turnover. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 35(10), 1573-1580. https://doi.org/10.1108/JBIM-01-2019-0021

Thune, T. (2009). Doctoral students on the university–industry interface: a review of the literature. Higher Education, 58(5), 637-651. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-009-9214-0

Torabi, M., & Mirzabeigi, M. (2021). Information avoidance: A systematic review. Iranian Journal of Information Processing and Management, 37(2), 387-410.

Wang, F., Lee, J., Zheng, P.-Z., & Zheng. (2016). Relationship between empowerment of university staff through in-service training and its effects on educational quality. 3, 32-59.