A Monash University team surveyed 350 doctoral students on what kept them going or motivated them to give it away – and 40% in Australia do (want to give it away).
Jae Y Han and colleagues found two core drivers that go in both directions;
- upside/downside of a research community: they can “promote scholarly identity, motivation and belonging” unless they create, “competitive norms, heightened expectations, emotional labour and implicit pressure to match peers’ productivity”
- simultaneous engagement and burnout: “in demanding research settings, engagement may reflect personal investment rather than protection from strain”
Their takeouts include;
- the quality and culture of supervision and community support matters
- “clarifying” workload expectations and flexible research arrangements, “may reduce burnout and indirectly lower dropout intention”
- “meaningful scholarly involvement” academic peer networks, research seminars, writings groups, pastoral-care workshops help with retention