The focus of this paper is on student learning pathways--with particular reference to the factors motivating coursework master's students to seek entry to a doctoral programme--along with the implications for higher education policy and practice. It is argued nationally and internationally that although a number of challenges continue to confront…

Just over a decade ago, the Australian Government introduced funding mechanisms which aimed at reducing doctoral candidates' attrition rate and completion times, and increasing reported student satisfaction. Publicly available documents from six universities of three different classifications of universities in five Australian states were analysed…

Within Australian universities the results of Honours have traditionally been used as the main entry requirement for a research degree and as a means of ranking for research scholarships. But despite the critical role of Honours, there has been little research about Honours. There is an untested assumption that universities offering Honours…