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Career professionals entering doctoral study: Advantages and challenges

Abstract In this paper, it is argued that some doctoral candidates with successful professional careers prior to enrolling in the PhD may face particular challenges with learning to be a researcher. The paper draws on data from a modest study involving interviews with supervisors who had worked with such doctoral candidates. The research aims to identify, from the supervisor’s perspective, any particular learning challenges that such candidates might face. The analysis identifies three specific issues of concern to the supervisors: candidates who commence candidature already ‘knowing the answer’; candidates who want to answer the question from personal experience rather than the analysis of their data; and candidates who lose interest when confronted by the need to address traditional protocols and approaches to research. Based on the findings links are made to particular Threshold Concepts and conceptions of research which supervisors might be helpful to consider when working with such candidates.