Synthesis Paper: Doctoral Identity

Synthesis Paper Student’s Name Institutional Affiliation Course Name/Number Instructor’s Name Due Date Synthesis Paper For a doctoral education to be rendered successful, he or she must achieve three major aspects. As emphasized in Baker and Pifer’s 2011 study, collaborations and relationships have a significant role in the transition of doctoral students from dependency to independence. This study serves as an important reference point for matters concerning relational views concerning success in doctoral education since it mainly highlighted collaborations and relationships. Gardner’s 2009 study sought to clarify the concepts of success by considering the perspectives of various faculty members in seven academic fields. This study is an important reference point as it delves deeper into academic success. Smith and Hatmaker’s 2015 study highlighted the effects of associations between faculty members and scholars toward the advancement of doctoral students into independent professional researchers. This study focused particularly on public affairs doctoral students, with a large focus on the personal initiative of the students, which has an active role in turning the students into researchers. The three studies discussed above revealed three common aspects that render a doctoral student successful. These are academic success, relationships, and individual effort. This paper will discuss the aspect of relationships about how establishing proper relationships with the proper individuals help boost a student’s competencies and abilities which subsequently facilitates the student’s seamless transition from dependency on academic advisors to dependence on their skills and abilities. The aspect of academic success will be examined about the performance of doctoral students in tests that are purposed to determine a student’s academic capability as well as coursework. The element of individual effort will be discussed about additional efforts that are put in by students in polishing their research skills. This paper discusses the three themes that emerged from the three articles and draws a conclusion from taking the articles together as a single entity. Academic Success For doctoral students to be described as successful, they must thrive academically. Students need to become proficient in their area of study in order to transfer that knowledge to their research. It is impossible for doctoral students to learn new material if they have no solid background of the area under discussion. Academic success creates confidence in scholars. As asserted by one student in Baker and Pifer’s (2011) study, after passing eligibility exams and completing coursework, the realization of their goal came shortly after. This form of success increased their certitude in engaging in discussions with faculty members. According to Garner, a successful doctoral student is one who is described as sharp (2009). In his study, subjects in the psychology discipline thought that successful students are those who excelled in their coursework and were admitted with excellent GRE scores. Additionally, they insinuated that the students’ success in their research was due to their intelligence. One participant from the engineering discipline thought t...