Can low-cost support programmes with coaching accelerate doctoral completion in Health Science Faculty academics?
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Date
2012-09
Authors
Geber, Hilary
Bentley, Alison
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Faculty of Education, University of the Free State
Abstract
Career development for full-time Health Sciences academics through to doctoral studies is a monumental
task. Many academics have difficulty completing their studies in the minimum time as well as publishing
after obtaining their degree. As this problem is particularly acute in the Health Sciences, the PhD
Acceleration Programme in Health Sciences was piloted in 2009 by the Faculty of Health Science
Research Office at the University of the Witwatersrand to provide deliberate support to staff members
registered for a PhD to attain their goals. There is little research on such interventions using coaching and
coaching-learning. This article discusses the programme structure, participants’ evaluation of the yearlong
intervention and some longitudinal data, using semi-structured interviews in a qualitative paradigm.
The findings indicate that staff found the research writing course the most valuable of the skills courses
and noted that the individual, goal-directed coaching helped them in many different ways in completing
the thesis and managing their professional lives simultaneously. This structured support programme with
coaching provides a low-cost, sustainable innovation for full-time academics during doctoral studies.
Description
Keywords
Full-time academics, Innovative support, Research publications, Postgraduate degrees, Accelerated completion, Individual coaching, Goal-directed coaching, Coaching-learning
Citation
Geber, H., & Bentley, A. (2012). Can low-cost support programmes with coaching accelerate doctoral completion in Health Science Faculty academics?. Perspectives in Education, 30(3), 30-38.