2. Jonathan Neves Claire Slight surveys@heacademy.ac.uk
Part-time Postgraduate Researcher trends from 2015: The student journey
Jonathan Neves
Claire Slight

3. The part-time postgraduate researcher journey
Considering the student journey in terms of:
Student demographics
Journey into studying
Motivations and career plans
Experiences of studying
Overall satisfaction and confidence
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4. Postgraduate Research Experience Survey
Aims to gain feedback on the programme experience of PGR level students
Aims to enable the use of feedback to enhance that experience
Implemented locally – institutions decide how to administer the survey
Runs every two years to allow time for enhancement by institutions, and to avoid over-surveying PGR students
Includes ‘traditional’ doctorates, professional doctorates, Mphil (with and without a transfer to PhD) and Masters by research
Includes both part time and full time students
Confidential results
All collected using BOS online survey tool
PRES designed for enhancement, to be used alongside other more detailed (often qualitative) information from students and staff. The results are confidential therefore enables freedom to inform decisions relating to enhancement, without informing league tables which can be potentially damaging to the institutions who would most benefit from using the surveys as an enhancement tool.
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5. PRES redesigned in 2013 Now shorter, more focused
in line with Vitae’s Researcher Development Framework and QAA descriptors of PGR study
developed in response to sector feedback, streamlined and standardised
Seven core areas:
Supervision
Responsibilities
Resources
Research skills
Research culture
Professional development
Progress and assessment
Relationship with supervisor and perception of support
Connectedness to the wider research culture
Provision of resources e.g. working space, library
Awareness of responsibilities
Development as a researcher and academic
Experience of delivering teaching
NOT currently focused on:
Extent student engaging with their research programme
Experience of structured teaching and assessment
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6. A steady increase in participation in PRES
2015
Population studying at PGR level in the UK 113,000
53,348 respondents to PRES 41% of sample…
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All Students

7. Developing the HEA surveys offer
Consultation for PRES 2017 and beyond launched in March
Concern to preserve trends where possible
Wider review looking to improve reporting of results across HEA Surveys
Consultation download:
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8. The part time picture What are the demographics of part-time students?
What does the transition into PGR programmes look like for part-time students?
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9. Large increase in PT responses since 2011
2015
Population studying at PGR level in the UK 29,555*
9,513 respondents to PRES 32% of sample…
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Part Time Students

10. A spread of part time students’ ages
Overall the majority of students were between 26 and 31 years old (32%)
Impacts upon life experience, work experience, motivation etc
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Part Time/ Full Time Comparison

11. Higher numbers of female part-time participants
The full time participants showed a relatively even spread between males and females
The part time participants were more likely to be female
Males are typically less likely to respond to online surveys
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Part Time/ Full Time Comparison 2015

12. Majority of part-time students worked before studying
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Part Time/ Full Time Comparison 2015

13. Part-time students’ programmes fit alongside other priorities
Part time students more likely to be in paid employment and studying as distance learners.
Studying takes place alongside other roles and life priorities
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Part Time/ Full Time Comparison 2015

14. Part time motivations and plans
What are part-time students’ motivations to study?
What are the career plans of part-time students?
How do motivations and career plans relate?
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15. Part-time students more motivated by interest
After logistical regression models to see what factors affect main motivations: tested discipline, age, gender, mode of study, English language proficiency and year of study. All had relatively low influence on motivations. Combined, they only explain between 2.2% and 3.1% of the total variability of the ‘interest in the subject’ motivation and between 4.9% and 7% of the total variability of the ‘career prospects improvement’ motivation.
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Part Time/ Full Time Comparison 2015

16. Students’ motivations differed by age
Main motivation to pursue a research degree, by age
Interest in the subject is the most important motivation for younger and older students. Middle-aged students were motivated by improvement of career prospects, this trend reflects the full time students’ trends also
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Part Time Students 2015

17. Motivations were nuanced, focused on development and opportunities
Personal development and challenge
“Improving my skills and knowledge”
“This is something I wanted to do for myself and my own personal development”
“I always wanted the challenge of doing a PhD”
“It was simply a personal aspiration to achieve a doctoral award”
“I wanted a challenge after a personal tragedy”
Career development
“Improve my career prospects”
“Have to as part of my job”
“Expectation from work”
“To improve the service provision for disabled patients I work with”
Taking opportunities
“Funding was available”
“The opportunity arose from the work I was already doing”
“The opportunity arose which saved me looking elsewhere for a job
Proving self
“To prove to myself I was capable”
“For myself to see if I could achieve”
“Personal motivation to show I can do it
Many of the comments related to development within current role were based within healthcare and clinical practice
Many of the comments relating to having to do it as part of the job were based within academia: had to keep up with university practices relating to holding PhDs
The slide highlights the range of motivations for studying a part time research degree – no one size fits all. May also reflect those studying professional doctorates
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Part Time Students’ comments 2015

18. Envisaged careers and motivations were strongly related for part-time students
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Part Time Students 2015

19. Part-time students pictured transitions into current and professional careers
High percentage of part-time students chose other: showing nuanced nature of their career plans
While around 45% of part-time students wish to pursue a career in academia in year one, only 36% are interested in that career path by year seven, and even fewer after that. The year of study explains around 8% of the variability of the career choice variable – a substantial effect.
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Part Time/ Full Time Comparison 2015

20. Career plans were nuanced and uncertain
Portfolio careers/mixture of roles
“I want to mix clinical, research and teaching”
“A portfolio career developing what I am doing now, teaching, doing therapy, performing, researching”
Uncertain
“I am not sure what my next step will be on completion of my research degree”
“I will think about this when I have completed my studies”
Remaining within current role
“I already have a career. I will wait to see where this research takes me…”
“Already a senior lecturer but would hope to engage in more research in the future”
Retirement/ending career
“My career is coming to an end and so a doctorate will be the pinnacle of my achievements”
“Dissemination of findings and retirement”
Whilst the part time students on the previous graph did show higher numbers within ‘other’ and lower numbers within jobs within higher education and professional careers, some chose ‘other’ whereby they were already working within higher education, or returning to the role within which they had worked in during/before their PhD
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Part Time Students’ comments 2015

21. Students’ envisaged careers differed within different mission groups
Those studying in Universities Alliance institutions were most likely to envisage an academic career in HE
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Part Time Students 2015

22. The research experience
What are part-time students’ experiences during their research degrees?
How do part-time students’ experiences compare to that of the full-time cohorts?
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23. Part time students scored lower across many of the scales
Supervision scales, along with research skills development were the highest rated scales
Overall satisfaction and confidence to finish on time were relatively similar for PT and FT
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Part Time/Full Time Comparison 2015

24. However, the scores on these scales have all improved since 2013
The part-time trend mirrors that for all students, as all experience scale mean scores improved slightly from 2013 (Supervision to professional development).
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Part Time Students

25. Part time students scored lower across the majority of resource scales
Lower scores here may relate to being less likely to be based within the institution itself
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Part Time/ Full Time Comparison 2015

26. Part-time students scored lower across research culture scales
Part-time students had less access to opportunities, and a positive research atmosphere
Opportunities to engage with peers and staff can positively impact upon student engagement and development of skills: as highlighted by UKES
Research culture was rated the lowest within the survey
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Part Time/ Full Time Comparison 2015

27. Part-time students scored their professional development lower across all scales
Lower scores may relate to skills being developed before starting the degrees (during previous work and studying experiences)
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Part Time/ Full Time Comparison 2015

28. Part time students less likely to have taken part in conferences or placements/internships
Communicating research to non academic audiences is important for dissemination and impact, and part-time students were more likely to have done so
Research conferences are often seen as typical research programme opportunities, but part-time students were less involved in these than the full-time cohort
Just over 3% of all students (1,600) stated they have not experienced any of the suggested opportunities. They are more likely to be part-time, self-funded and from outside the UK suggesting these are the more vulnerable groups when it comes to making the most of their studies;
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Part Time/ Full Time Comparison 2015

29. Students took part in different opportunities at different stages of their research programme
survey results show a reassuring pattern that students experience various opportunities when they should experience them. That is, they tend to receive various training towards the beginning of their course, while they attend conferences, submit to a journal or receive career advice later in their studies. The pattern is the same for full-time and part-time students;
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Part Time Students 2015

30. Generally, upwards trends seen across comparable scales
From 2013 the scales were: definitely disagree, mostly disagree, neither agree or disagree, mostly agree, definitely agree 2011 and 2009 scales were strongly disagree, disagree, neither agree nor disagree, agree, strongly agree
As mentioned in section 2 it is inadvisable to make comparisons at scale level between PRES 2013 and PRES 2011 because of the extent of the changes to the questionnaire. Nonetheless there are some items which have remained the same, or which have received minor modifications, where comparisons may be more legitimate.
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Part Time Students

31. Overall satisfaction and confidence
How satisfied are part-time students with their research programmes?
How confident are part-time students that they will finish on time?
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32. Satisfaction differed across types of institution
Those in Pre-92, Guild HE, Russell Group institutions average satisfaction was higher than the overall average
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Part Time Students 2015

33. Confidence to finish on time showed a similar pattern amongst institutions
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Part Time Students 2015

34. Those with a disability were on average less satisfied with their degree…
Around 7% of all respondents (full time and part time) stated they have a disability- this negative impact on satisfaction and confidence is a challenge
The impact of disability has also been highlighted in an upcoming HEA report by authors at the University of Southampton in which they found that being disabled had a significant impact on student experience and student engagement across the HEA surveys portfolio
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Part Time Students 2015

35. …and less confident that they would complete on time
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Part Time Students 2015

36. Having taken part in any of the opportunities related to increased levels of satisfaction…
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Part Time Students 2015

37. …and increased levels of confidence
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Part Time Students 2015

38. Students’ satisfaction and confidence decreased by year of study
This pattern is similar to drop in levels of satisfaction and confidence for full-time students
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39. The part time experience
Part time and full time students had broadly similar experiences: mostly satisfied
Part-time students:
had motivations which were nuanced, complex and changed over time, alongside career plans.
spanned a broad range of ages and more likely to be distance learners
were more likely to have been in work before and during their programme
tended to score slightly lower across the areas covered within the survey, but scores have improved since 2013
tended to experience different opportunities depending upon year of study, in an expected pattern
experienced a pattern of decreasing confidence over time
experiences differed within different types of institutions
with a disability faced challenges regarding satisfaction and confidence to finish on time
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40. Supporting part time postgraduate researchers
Highlights importance of recognising the diversity of part-time students’ experiences, motivations and career plans
Highlights importance of flexibility within institutions in ensuring students have access to resources and support needed to complete their research degree
Highlights need for supporting those with disabilities in order to ensure they are satisfied and confident within their research
Highlights need for support and encouragement to maintain confidence, particularly during fifth year of programme
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41. PRES
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