The doctorate education allows practitioners to pursue research and educational leadership roles. It involves an individual going through a professional scholarly identity development that includes a three-step process. Throughout the process, the student must learn the nature of various skills, including academic, research, language, career, and teaching skills. In the first step, students complete course work materials, including learning skills in formulating a topic and conducting research. Tin step two, students do exams based on their coursework and embark on developing their dissertation. The final stage involves completing and presenting the dissertations. After completing the process, students acquire new professional identities and transform from scholarly dependence to independence. Different studies have explored how students go through the stages of learning to become independent scholarly individuals. These articles include Baker and Pifer (2011), Gardener (2009), Smith & Hatmaker (2014), Baker and Lattuca (2010), and Foot et al . (2014).
All the articles describe the process that students undergo while establishing their career identities. Baker and Pifer (2011) describe the process an individual undergoes as a doctoral student to become independent scholars, including the identification of three main stages of transition. In Gardener (2009), the author explores the impact of disciplinary culture and the role it plays in measurement when faculty members define the success of students. In their article, Smith and Hatmaker (2014), explores the correlation that exists between professional identity and socializing among the students. Baker & Lattuca's (2010) article tries to explain the relationship between the developmental networks of students and how they develop professional identities. Lastly, Foot et al . (2014) discuss how doctoral students can use self-study as a positive and authentic experience to facilitate understanding of their scholarly identity development. A careful exploration of these articles reveals that they have three conventional themes, including academic success, relationships, and transition, as discusses in the sections below. All three themes contribute to the main subject of professional identity development.
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Theme One: Academic Success
All the articles emphasize academic success as the gateway to doctoral identity development. Baker and Pifer (2011) argue that academic success contributes heavily to professional identity development. According to the authors, apart from completing coursework and dissertation, candidacy examination demands that students show some level of content mastery to qualify as independent scholars. Also, the authors agree that graduate students see themselves as better faculty members in the future after completing their main examination, irrespective of whether they passed that examination. However, Gardner (2009) argues that apart from academic achievement, completion, graduation, and professional specialization, success in doctoral education also depends on retention. Students undergo a series of assessments according to several outcomes, beginning with their coursework. In Smith and Hatmaker (2014), the authors agree that academic success determines an individual's professional identity development through the acquisition of rare or unique skills in a particular field.
Besides, Baker and Lattuca (2010) and Foot et al . (2014) also ad-light into the role of academic success play towards professional identity development. Graduate education prepares students for academic careers, enabling them to develop academic identities. It leads to critical outcomes, including investment, involvement, and knowledge acquisition (Baker & Lattuca (2010). On their part, Foot et al . (2014), students who undertake their doctoral education must commit to 60 credit hours of learning, complete a dissertation, and do a comprehensive examination after completing coursework. The students must then proceed to defend their dissertation to the advisor and committee. All of these studies agree that for one to develop professional identity, they must succeed in their academics. It not only proofs that they qualify but also gives them confidence and boosts their self-esteem.
Theme Two: Relationships
Relationships serve a critical role in professional identity development. Doctoral students interact with fellow students and faculty members to learn and share expert knowledge to become confident in their fields. Baker and Pifer (2011) identified student-faculty relationships and student-student relationships. They argue that these relationships play three key roles. They include identity development as a scholar, as a student, and for general support and advice. Relationships, especially faculty-student relationships, play differ according to the area of specialization. According to Gardner (2009), better faculty-student relationships exist within psychology, communication, and oceanography students relative to mathematics students. Gardner goes on to argue that better relationships improve the possibility of a student completing a program successfully. Similar to Gardner, Smith, and Hatmaker (2014) also tress on the significance of the student-faculty relationship, stating that it enhances the student's productivity and commitment to the program.
In the same way, Baker and Lattuca (2010) and Foot et al . (2014) say that a relationship will impact a doctoral student's academic and professional outcomes. Graduate students develop a professional identity through socialization from their peers and professors. Socializing enables prospective faculty to think and reflect on the responsibilities and roles they will play in the future. Doctoral students develop their skills and knowledge needed in their fields through their participation in intellectual communities in their areas ( Baker & Lattuca, 2010). According to Foot et al . (2014), doctoral students develop some sense of agency and pressure when they participate in authentic scholarly activities. These activities include activities such as contributing to meetings, participating in research, or express how one intends to get more involved in academic roles in the future. Therefore, these articles demonstrate that doctorate identity development largely depends on relationships where individuals learn through socialization and get mentored.
Theme Three: Transition
Transition is also another common theme evident in all the articles discussed above. For doctorate students to quality in their fields, they must undergo some change. They undergo three transitions as they develop a doctorate identity. In each transition, students acquire a new experience, which adds to their development of independence that leads to identity development (Baker & Pifer's, 2011; Gardener, 2009). The transition depends on relationships and interaction, which enable the doctorate student to learn and acquire new skills from peers and professors and help them make a smooth transition from dependent to independent scholars. According to Smith and Hamtaker (2014), the transition process in doctoral identity development involves the acquisition of knowledge and skills that doctorate students can use to produce original and independent research.
Similarly, in their articles, Baker & Lattuca (2010) and Foot et al . (2014) agree that doctorate students must transform a successful doctorate identity development. However, Baker & Lattuca (2010) say that sometimes change does not involve ultimately abandoning and replacing one's norms and values, but developing an awareness of the content, standards, and values of their field and learn to work within those concepts. Also, from the investigation of the collected data and their own experiences, Foot et al . (2014) found out that although several doctoral students have several identities, some encounter difficulties in maintaining numerous identities as they struggle to let go of the old ones. Therefore, their finding coincides with that of Baker and Lattuca (2010) that transition does not involve altogether abandoning one's values and norms. Instead, it is these vital attributes that will set the ground for making desirable progress in the future.
Conclusion
Doctorate students who want to develop a doctoral identity successfully need to consider three things; academic success, relationships with others, and transition. Research has shown that engaging in scholarly activities facilitates successful identity development. Students who graduate see themselves as better faculty members in the future after completing their main examination, irrespective of whether they passed that examination. While pursuing a doctorate, individuals must ensure to develop useful and robust relationships that will facilitate learning through socialization, mentorship, and taking part in authentic academic activities. Lastly, individuals must demonstrate that they have undergone some changes and become knowledgeable in their field of specialization, thus, developing a new identity that may not necessarily mean abandoning one's ideas and values.
References
Baker, V., & Lattuca, L. R. (2010). Developmental networks and learning: toward an interdisciplinary perspective on identity development during doctoral study. Studies in Higher Education , 35 (7), 807-827.
Foot, R., Crowe, A., Tollafield, K., & Allan, C. (2014). Exploring doctoral student identity development using a self-study approach. Teaching & Learning Inquiry The ISSOTL Journal Teaching & Learning Inquiry, 2 (1), 103-118.
Baker, V. L., & Pifer, M. J. (2011). The role of relationships in the transition from doctor to independent scholar. Studies in Continuing Education , 33(1), 5-17. doi: 10.1080/0158037X.2010.515569.
Gardner, S. K. (2009). Conceptualizing success in doctoral education: Perspectives of faculty in seven disciplines. The Review of Higher Education , 32(3), 383-406. doi: 10.1353/rhe.0.0075.
Smith, A. E., & Hatmaker, D. M. (2014). Knowing, doing, and becoming: Professional identity construction among public affairs doctoral students. Journal of Public Affairs Education, 20(4), 545-564.
