Researcher Education and Development Scholarship Conference

Stella Alhassan, Associate Lecturer and Doctoral Candidate at the University of the West of Scotland, UK, Dr Maria Sapouna, Senior Lecturer at the University of the West of Scotland, UK, and Dr Rabia Arshad, DTA Programme Training Manager at University Alliance – Doctoral Training Alliance, UK

The PhD journey can be challenging but very interesting. It is a pivotal opportunity for postgraduate researchers (PGRs) to not only develop expertise in their research topic but also acquire and develop various skills that make them effective researchers and employable (Durette et al., 2014; Mitic and Okahana, 2021). 

In the last few decades, the structure of doctoral education where the supervisor is seen as the only source of learning and development for the PGR has evolved (Bogle, 2018), and now increased attention is being placed on the personal and professional skills development of postgraduate researchers (Martins et al, 2021; O’Connor et al., 2023).

In 2009, Vitae developed the expansive Researcher Development Framework (RDF) to guide the development of researchers to increase employability across a range of future careers. The RDF highlights the characteristics of excellent researchers expressed as ‘descriptors’. One of the 63 descriptors of excellent researchers contained within the RDF is ‘Influencing and Leadership’.

Whilst previously positioned as a ‘later career’ concern, in recent years leadership has been seen as a crucial skillset for PGRs. However, little research has been conducted on leadership and leadership skills development at the PGR stage. Hence, UWS funded an evaluation of PGR Connections, a PGR-led peer learning network, to investigate if and how the network helped develop the network leads’ leadership skills. The focus of this article is on evaluating the interpersonal and leadership skills development of the PGR Leaders of the network.

Leadership development through peer networks

PGR Connections, funded by UWS, was first introduced in 2020 during the peak of COVID-19 and the sudden shift to remote working. The aim of this initiative was to foster a sense of community among PGRs and provide them with academic and emotional support as well as the opportunity to interact with their fellow PGRs from different campuses and Schools at UWS. The network successfully demonstrated that peer learning could be a useful pedagogy to support doctoral researchers to develop a sense of community, enable honest conversations, boost motivation and provide a forum for reciprocal learning (Wilson et al., 2022).

The PGR Connections network was led by a small group of PGRs who offered hybrid sessions on various topics relevant to the PhD journey, such as referencing, research paradigms, sharing experience of the process of ‘transfer’ (also known as ‘upgrade’, first year viva), how to conduct research interviews, the supervisor-supervisee relationship, and expectations vs. reality in the PhD journey.

Therefore, by leading the activities of the network, the PGR Connections leads, acquired hands-on academic leadership experience. Leadership in this context is positioned in line with the Leadership Lens on the Vitae RDF, which uses the definition by Dr Steve Hutchinson: 

“Leadership is about challenge. The challenge of getting the best out of yourself and the people around you. The challenge of influencing when you have no power. The challenge of sharing your passion and values with other people and hoping they will follow.”

The definition is reflected in the role and persona of the PGR Leaders who are driven to inspire their peers, create a sense of community, and have an impact on the PGR community at UWS. Through their participation in the network, they were able to develop and demonstrate these shared characteristics. Taking part as a leader was a unique opportunity for leadership skills development and gaining valuable experience of leading in practice. The following benefits were acknowledged by the PGRs who took part in our research evaluating the benefits for leading network.

Personal and community impact

The PGR Connections network was evaluated utilising two focus groups with the participation of six PGR Connections leads. The first focus group was held before the launch of PGR Connections for the academic year 2023-24 to understand participants’ current skills level and their expectations from leading these sessions. The second focus group was held after the network ceased its activities for the 2023-24 academic year, to explore the  participants’ experience of leading the network.  Focus groups were appropriate for this research as an effective and well-established qualitative research method for gaining group insight (Breen, 2006; Bryman, 2016).

Analysis was carried out using Braun and Clarke’s six-step framework for thematic analysis (Braun and Clarke, 2006). This involved identifying common patterns and themes in the data set. These are presented below:

Leadership skills development: One of the key activities of the network was the delivery of presentations on various topics selected by the PGR leads. Many of the PGR network leads noted that presenting on these topics helped them refine their ability to speak confidently in front of an audience. Through leading the network activities, they gained valuable experience in managing the audience, chairing the sessions to time and managing the hybrid sessions effectively.

“But when I got there, I had the chance to improve my skills in terms of confidence, standing in front of a crowd, speaking to them and encouraging participation…… Another skill I gained was, I had to get acquainted with all this hybrid technology as well” (P5 FG2)

Learning from others through peer feedback: Another key benefit from leading the scheme was the opportunity to work collaboratively and learn from others. Working as a small group, the network leads learnt from each other through giving and receiving constructive feedback about each other’s presentations. This helped them to become more reflective and aided in their personal and professional growth.

“I think one of the most beneficial things I got out of it was the opportunity to do some peer review of my fellow group and their presentations and have the opportunity to also present myself” (P2 FG2)

“And then connecting with my peers.  Knowing what others are doing, their skills of presenting, and giving them the comments as well. I found that it was really good” (P6 FG2)

Impacting the PGR community: The network leads acknowledged that the network served as a valuable space to influence other PGRs and create value in bringing the community together . By sharing their experience, PGR leads felt they were able to impact on their peers’ learning.  Also fostering socialisation and helping to build a sense of community was achieved by enabling doctoral researchers to form connections which may not have happened otherwise.

“One thing I would say I’ve benefited from this whole session is actually I feel like it has given me the opportunity to create value because, after the presentation I still had people asking me to send the slides or asking me questions about the presentation, so I feel like leading this session gave me a platform to impact on others” (P5 FG2)

PGRs develop a range of leadership skills

There is some evidence that leading a peer learning and support network as part of a group helped PGRs to develop a range of skills commonly used in leadership roles such as audience management, chairing skills and public speaking. The process of giving and receiving feedback from co-leads was crucial to the development of those skills. Despite being PGRs themselves, with no higher authoritative power, the network leads had an influence on other PGRs in line with leadership frameworks, and their leadership contributed to closer connections among PGRs which added value to the PGR community. Therefore, they saw themselves as able to influence change. It can therefore be concluded that leading peer learning and support schemes in doctoral education can support the development of leadership skills in PGRs. However, further research is needed on what opportunities exist for PGRs to cultivate their leadership skills and what institutional support is required to achieve this apart from standard leadership training programmes.