Jennifer M. Phelps, PhD
Assistant Dean
Faculty of Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies
University of British Columbia
November 4th, 2013
Canadian Association of Graduate Schools
Annual meeting – Montreal, QC
Research problem
We know little about how international doctoral
students make sense of their own educational
purposes, choices and experiences, and imagine
their future trajectories in the context of a rapidly
globalizing world.
Research questions
1.
What are international doctoral students’ purposes
in pursuing a PhD abroad?
2. Why and how did these students come to the
University of British Columbia, Canada? What do
they encounter? What future paths do they
imagine?
3. What do the answers to these questions tell us about
influences of globalization and how students are
interacting with them?
Global Higher Education Field
Network Society
Global Social Imaginary
(Castels, 1996)
Global ranking
schemes; vying
for global
prestige
Increased
Student/
Academic
Mobility
(Appadurai, 1996;
Taylor,2004)
Global Universities
Transnational
Space
(Glick Schiller & Fouron,
1999; Jackson, Crang &
Dwyer, 2004)
Research
globalization
Academic
capitalism/
market
imperatives
Neoliberalism
(Harvey, 2005)
Global Higher Education Field
National and Provincial
Policies and Discourses
University Policies and
Discourses
Doctoral education as
Doctoral education as
means to produce/retain Student developing “global citizens”,
capital (human, economic)purposes?“outstanding researchers” and
contributors to social good
Research design and method
 Qualitative methodology– in-depth interviews with
representative sample of international PhD students
at UBC who had advanced to candidacy
Sampling frame
Asia
SSH
M
F
Arvind
Maya
Middle East
M
F
Sheddy
USA
M
F
M
Jason
Mallory Carl
Ross
Suzanne Shane
Jun
Li
Farjad Hoda Christopher Jackie
Jaro
Quon
Tina
Ira
Jerry
Rico
Ravi
Central/South
America
European Union
Kim
F
M
F
Diego
Chela
Helena
Giulia
Esteban
Stefan
Reza
STEM Simon
Totals 6
3
3
1
4
4
SSH: 10 (32.3%) (UBC: 30.4%)
STEM: 21 (67.7%) (UBC: 69.6%)
5
2
2
1
Female: 11 (35.5%) (UBC: 37.9%)
Male: 20 (64.5%) (UBC: 62.1%)
Total: 31
Findings Map
CROSS-CUTTING
THEMES
STUDENT PATHWAY
Imagining and choosing
an educational path
Living and learning as
international doctoral
students
Imagined and planned
futures
Students’ purposes Influences of
for doctoral
globalization on
education
students’
imagination,
choices,
experiences
Student agency
and its bounds
Students’ purposes for doctoral education
1) Capital acquisition
-
Prestige/clout/credibility
-
Skills/knowledge/English proficiency
-
Access to influential social/professional networks
-
Mobility (Motility capital--Kaufmann, Bergman
& Joye, 2004) – ability to be mobile; to immigrate
-
Intercultural fluency (Transnational identity
capital--Kim, 2010) – ability to engage
competently with ‘otherness’
Students’ purposes for doctoral education
2) Academic
Produce and disseminate knowledge; teach new
learners; become members of an academic
community
“The most interesting, most exciting in doing research is I am the
first person to see this, to discover this. I think discovery, the
knowledge itself is very important because the application is
based on fundamental study…Maybe for 10 years nobody use
it, but discovery, the knowledge itself is interesting process for
me.” (Jun)
Students’ purposes for doctoral education
3) Positive social contribution
Effect positive social change; help others; benefit home
country
“I think I will be able to do much more back home than here.
Here you have already so many people with PhD and so many
intelligent people...I think we need more people willing to
work back home rather than run away after they get a PhD...
I learned a lot, but all of them would mean nothing if I don’t
know how to use them for the benefit of others.” (Sheddy)
Students’ purposes for doctoral education
4) Personal
Experience the world and find personal growth, enjoy life,
prove oneself, give family new opportunities.
“My decision doing a PhD was not based on I want to be a PhD. It
was based on I want to have more Canadian experience...So PhD
doesn't really mean that much to me. My experience, interacting
with the real Canadian environment, that means a lot to me.”(Li)
“I wanted to do it for personal reasons more so. I wasn’t thinking
about getting a job after, I just wanted to see if I could actually do
a PhD…Coming from a lower class background, I’m not somebody
who should be doing a PhD. I should be working as a mechanic or
in some sort of trade. I suppose it was kind of sticking two fingers
up to the world.” (Shane)
Influences of globalization across the
student pathway
1) Choosing
a path
 Global media influences students’ imaginations
 Mobility of others (family, other students, faculty
members) makes global pathways seem accessible
 Global educational rankings and scholarship schemes
simplify complex choices
“I was ten years old and there were Olympic games in Calgary (on
TV). And we were still behind the Iron Curtain and I had no idea
what it is…I knew that I wanted to go to at least see Canada. Canada,
in my child eyes, was something that perfectly fulfilled my wishes
which was lots of snow, freedom, maybe I don’t know, nice life.”
(Jaro)
Influences of globalization across the
student pathway
2) Being an
international
doctoral
student
 Significant engagement in global academic mobility
and research collaboration
 Enduring and shifting identities and senses of
“home” --Immigration to Canada is an evolving issue
for many
 Pervasive use of communication technologies allow
students to be both “here” and “there” simultaneously
“I had never imagined myself living anywhere else [but home
country]...but for my daughter, this is the only home she has
known. And that does cause some anxiety, because when I say
home, it’s always [home country], but she always refers to
Vancouver as home.” (Maya)
Influences of globalization across the
student pathway
3) Imagined  Global “canvas of the possible”, some expect to stay
and planned
mobile for a period after obtaining PhD
futures
 Some seek stability but expect ‘forced mobility’ due to
discouraging job market
 Some imagine new career forms, mixing sectors and
building on global networks
 Those returning to less developed countries want
to retain connections to academic mainstream
“I wish that UBC can do something where we can still be
connected to Canada. I mean you cannot expect for all the
people to just come and settle here. You still need that other
part of the world and you still need to have ties with it, but I’m
not sure what can be done so that we can.” (Hoda)
Findings – Agency and its bounds
Agency
Bounds
Choosing a
path
Students imagine and create
global educational pathways
Some pathways are blocked by
political, financial concerns,
informational deficits
Being an
international
doctoral
student
Imagined and
planned
futures
Students pursue and create a
wide variety of learning
opportunities
Funding constraints, exploitive
supervisors, inflexible degree
structures restrict personal
agency
Compressed job markets, family
obligations restrict agency for
many
For some, the world seems
open and a variety of
imagined careers are for the
making
Global Higher Education Field
National and Provincial
Policies and Discourses
“World-making agents”
University Policies and
Discourses
Rizvi & Lingard, 2009
International Doctoral Students
are deeply influenced by forces of globalization yet navigate them
with agency and strategy within their unique ranges of motion.
They offer a multiplicity of purposes and experiences that counter
any singular notion of the “international doctoral student”.
Implications for policy and practice
 Better alignment is needed between doctoral education and
diverse, global career paths
 Students seek a larger purpose to their doctoral education
and want to make a positive social contribution
 More can be done to bridge the distances between global
academic mainstream and periphery and extend the
benefits of doctoral education
 Universities can better support students by recognizing their
agency and the multiplicity of their purposes, experiences
and identities
Thank you. Merci.
jenny.phelps@ubc.ca