Nothing but publishing: The overriding goal of PhD students in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau

Nothing but publishing: The overriding goal of PhD students in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau

• Horta, Hugo The University of Hong Kong
• Li, Huan The University of Hong Kong

Studies in Higher Education, 48(2), 263-282, 2023

Taylor & Francis

2023

• N Students & Student Services
  • NC Charactieristics & Conditions of Students; Opinion & Attitudes of Students, Problems of Adjustment
• P Social Context of Education
  • PB Comparative Education

Publishing during the PhD Publication Pressure Identity Trajectory Doctoral Education Academic Career

• China
• Hong Kong
• Macau

• 1997.7 onwards

• Post-Secondary Education

Publication pressure is perceived to be filtering down into doctoral education worldwide. We explore the causes and effects of the perceived centrality of publishing among doctoral students, emphasising the impact of publication pressure on students’ identity trajectories. We draw on a qualitative analysis of 90 mainland Chinese doctoral students at universities in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau. We find that the credentialisation of publications in the increasingly competitive and publication-dominant academic labour market results in publishing-centred doctoral journeys. Our key finding is that the centrality of publishing affects every aspect of identity trajectory development: it causes doctoral students to commodify knowledge production, devalues coursework, conference participation, and teaching assistantships, encourages students to regard their supervisors as publishing facilitators and their peers as rivals rather than collaborators, and marginalises engagement with external stakeholders. In discussing these dimensions, we emphasise the need for a more comprehensive evaluation of candidates’ abilities and honours in academic recruitment and call for policies to curtail the overemphasis on research output in academic evaluations. © 2022 Society for Research into Higher Education.

• English

Journal Articles

• 03075079

• 10.1080/03075079.2022.2131764

https://bibliography.lib.eduhk.hk/en/bibs/1ca4e1f4

2024-07-11