Doctoral supervision has been deemed as a site of power, knowledge production, and an effort in career progression, mediated by doctoral students and their supervisors. Extensive studies have looked at these interactions from multiple angles. Although research into doctoral supervision has been extensively documented, there lies a paucity of…

This study challenges the long-standing deficit discourse of international students. Applying agency theories, it explores six Vietnamese doctoral students' narratives of their candidature in an Australian research-intensive university using data drawn from semi-structured interviews. The findings confirm the high level of agency that…

Purpose: Although the international education sector is one of the significant contributors to the Australian economy, international students continue to experience various forms of social inequalities. This paper aims to focus on overseas doctoral researchers (ODRs) -- candidates and graduates -- and capture their experiences.…

This study examines the language, academic, and socio-cultural concerns of 24 Vietnamese international students (PhD, master's and undergraduate) studying in universities in Sydney, Australia. Alongside the obvious linguistic concerns, the salient issues that emerge from this study draw attention to the struggles these students face to adapt to…

In this article, we introduce a time mapping methodology to chart the impact of transcultural and First Nations' histories, geographies and cultural knowledges on doctoral education. Drawing upon a 'Southern', postcolonial-decolonial theoretical framing and extending textual life history methodologies, we argue that time mapping is a visual…

This article draws from a mixed-method study of 111 Indonesian doctoral students' experiences in Australia during the COVID-19 pandemic. Qualitative data from follow-up interviews conducted throughout 2020 offer insights into doctoral students' enforced online supervision experiences. Beyond the inevitable challenges, in-depth interviews reveal…

The article examines the experiences of Chinese PhD students doing research in China Studies as well as the experiences of their supervisors who supervise their research in Australian universities. By conducting semi-structured interviews with both PhD students and their supervisors, we aim to understand the expectations, concerns and challenges…

Writing for publication in English-medium refereed academic journals can be a challenging task for doctoral students who use English as an Additional Language (EAL). Limited research, however, has been conducted in the Australian context to explore this practice among EAL doctoral students. Adopting a qualitative research approach with…

This study addresses the issue of international education through a human development lens. Using a group of Chinese doctoral students in Australia as a case study, it adopts volunteer-employed photography (VEP) to tease out the negative and positive forces that influence students' developmental trajectories during their doctoral education.…

To gain an in-depth understanding of the causes of the often implicit misunderstandings between Western supervisors and their Chinese doctoral students, we examined my lived experiences as a Chinese international doctoral student under the supervision of my Australian supervisors. Our data revealed how misunderstandings arose and evolved from…

This paper addresses work-integrated learning program issues from the perspective of work supervisors of interns from a foreign university in an offshore market environment--Vietnam. Universities expanding their markets overseas must research all relevant aspects of the local environment when making operational expansion decisions, and continue…

Identity lies at the heart of doctoral study--a mysterious learning process which culminates in Ph.D. students' metamorphosis into doctors. This paper explores the identity-related experiences of six international Ph.D. students enrolled at an Australian university by examining how different individuals, events and interactions contributed to (or…

Completing a PhD on time is a complex process, influenced by many interacting factors. In this paper we take a Bayesian Network approach to analyzing the factors perceived to be important in achieving this aim. Focusing on a single research group in Mathematical Sciences, we develop a conceptual model to describe the factors considered to be…

For the last few decades, Australia has played a pivotal role in the supply of quality education to international students and other educational industries associated with them. In the higher education sector, in particular, international PhD student numbers continue to increase. However, the limited availability of resources for the students and…

The internet has led to an increasing number of international students enrolling for postgraduate degrees. The literature confirms that there have been problems such as attrition, motivation, supervision and others. Professors struggle to appease international student learning styles, while simultaneously international students strain to…