Conversation with PhD holders: The notion of doctorateness

Synopsis: “Conversation with PhD holders: The notion of doctorateness?”

According to Veron Trafford and Shosh Leshem (2009) “evidence shows that candidates who do not know what is expected of them may not have had the implications and technicalities of doctoral study adequately explained to them”. To succeed in the PhD studies (terminal qualification whether general PhD or Professional PhD) and Post Doctorates demands certain standards and expectations. The Council on Higher education (CHE) report (2022: 22) categories graduate attributes in a doctoral level in South Africa into two, namely knowledge attributes (original contribution of a PhD research project) and skills attributes (application of relevant research methods and procedures to solve research problem). In this context, we invited PhD holders to share their insights on their completed PhD research projects, knowledge contribution, challenges, tips/motivation in terms of identifying a project, proposal development and the possible opportunities post PhD.