Navigating Stress, Support and Supervision: A Qualitative Study of Doctoral Student Wellbeing in Norwegian Academia

Aim/Purpose This study addresses the need to understand the wellbeing of doctoral students and the factors influencing their academic trajectory. Background Doctoral students’ wellbeing is crucial for their academic success and overall quality of life. This study explores the antecedent variables in...

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Autores: Martínez García, Inmaculada, García Martínez, Jesús, Cano García, Francisco Javier, De Witte, Hans
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2025
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Sevilla (US)
Repositorio:idUS. Depósito de Investigación de la Universidad de Sevilla
OAI Identifier:oai:idus.us.es:11441/173831
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/11441/173831
https://doi.org/10.28945/5413
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Wellbeing
PhD students
Supervisors
Qualitative case study
Academic stress
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spelling Navigating Stress, Support and Supervision: A Qualitative Study of Doctoral Student Wellbeing in Norwegian AcademiaMartínez García, InmaculadaGarcía Martínez, JesúsCano García, Francisco JavierDe Witte, HansWellbeingPhD studentsSupervisorsQualitative case studyAcademic stressAim/Purpose This study addresses the need to understand the wellbeing of doctoral students and the factors influencing their academic trajectory. Background Doctoral students’ wellbeing is crucial for their academic success and overall quality of life. This study explores the antecedent variables influencing doctoral students’ wellbeing, complementing the Integrative Model on well-being in doctoral students. Methodology A qualitative case study approach was employed, involving in-depth interviews with 10 PhD students at a Norwegian university. Following the Integrative Model on doctoral students’ wellbeing, the study combined thematic and discourse analysis to examine students’ experiences and perceptions. Contribution This research provides insights into doctoral students’ experiences, feelings, and perceptions during their thesis process, contributing to a more nuanced understanding of factors influencing their well-being. Findings The results reveal that working conditions, particularly remunerated positions, significantly impact students’ experiences. Common feelings include uncertainty, fear of failure, and stress, especially during writing. Stress and anxiety are prevalent, though often normalized. While loneliness is common, students generally report support from supervisors, peers, and family. Supervisors emerge as the primary source of support, with their relationship style greatly influencing student wellbeing. Recommendations for Practitioners Based on these findings and existing literature, the study proposes measures to enhance doctoral student well-being, including creating spaces for student interaction, implementing funding policies, offering mental health support, designing skill-building workshops, establishing mentoring programs, and providing supervisor training. Recommendation for Researchers Explore supervisory styles and their impact on student well-being in diverse academic contexts. Investigate the impact of supervisors’ availability, time dedication, and communication patterns on doctoral supervision. Future research should examine supervisors’ perspectives and investigate these relationships across different international settings using quantitative methodologies with larger samples to enhance generalizability. Impact on Society This research contributes to a deeper understanding of doctoral student experiences and offers a foundation for developing targeted interventions to support this population. Improving doctoral student well-being can lead to higher quality research outputs and more successful completion rates, benefiting academia and society. Future Research Quantitative studies with larger, more diverse samples from international contexts could further validate and expand upon these findings. Additional research could focus on the effectiveness of different supervisory styles and examine how institutional structures influence doctoral student wellbeing across various academic contexts.çInforming Science InstitutePersonalidad, Evaluación y Tratamiento Psicológicos2025info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionapplication/pdfapplication/pdfhttps://hdl.handle.net/11441/173831https://doi.org/10.28945/5413reponame:idUS. Depósito de Investigación de la Universidad de Sevillainstname:Universidad de Sevilla (US)InglésInternational Journal of Doctoral Studies, 20, 001.https://doi.org/10.28945/5413info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:idus.us.es:11441/1738312026-06-17T12:51:07Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Navigating Stress, Support and Supervision: A Qualitative Study of Doctoral Student Wellbeing in Norwegian Academia
title Navigating Stress, Support and Supervision: A Qualitative Study of Doctoral Student Wellbeing in Norwegian Academia
spellingShingle Navigating Stress, Support and Supervision: A Qualitative Study of Doctoral Student Wellbeing in Norwegian Academia
Martínez García, Inmaculada
Wellbeing
PhD students
Supervisors
Qualitative case study
Academic stress
title_short Navigating Stress, Support and Supervision: A Qualitative Study of Doctoral Student Wellbeing in Norwegian Academia
title_full Navigating Stress, Support and Supervision: A Qualitative Study of Doctoral Student Wellbeing in Norwegian Academia
title_fullStr Navigating Stress, Support and Supervision: A Qualitative Study of Doctoral Student Wellbeing in Norwegian Academia
title_full_unstemmed Navigating Stress, Support and Supervision: A Qualitative Study of Doctoral Student Wellbeing in Norwegian Academia
title_sort Navigating Stress, Support and Supervision: A Qualitative Study of Doctoral Student Wellbeing in Norwegian Academia
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Martínez García, Inmaculada
García Martínez, Jesús
Cano García, Francisco Javier
De Witte, Hans
author Martínez García, Inmaculada
author_facet Martínez García, Inmaculada
García Martínez, Jesús
Cano García, Francisco Javier
De Witte, Hans
author_role author
author2 García Martínez, Jesús
Cano García, Francisco Javier
De Witte, Hans
author2_role author
author
author
dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv Personalidad, Evaluación y Tratamiento Psicológicos
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Wellbeing
PhD students
Supervisors
Qualitative case study
Academic stress
topic Wellbeing
PhD students
Supervisors
Qualitative case study
Academic stress
description Aim/Purpose This study addresses the need to understand the wellbeing of doctoral students and the factors influencing their academic trajectory. Background Doctoral students’ wellbeing is crucial for their academic success and overall quality of life. This study explores the antecedent variables influencing doctoral students’ wellbeing, complementing the Integrative Model on well-being in doctoral students. Methodology A qualitative case study approach was employed, involving in-depth interviews with 10 PhD students at a Norwegian university. Following the Integrative Model on doctoral students’ wellbeing, the study combined thematic and discourse analysis to examine students’ experiences and perceptions. Contribution This research provides insights into doctoral students’ experiences, feelings, and perceptions during their thesis process, contributing to a more nuanced understanding of factors influencing their well-being. Findings The results reveal that working conditions, particularly remunerated positions, significantly impact students’ experiences. Common feelings include uncertainty, fear of failure, and stress, especially during writing. Stress and anxiety are prevalent, though often normalized. While loneliness is common, students generally report support from supervisors, peers, and family. Supervisors emerge as the primary source of support, with their relationship style greatly influencing student wellbeing. Recommendations for Practitioners Based on these findings and existing literature, the study proposes measures to enhance doctoral student well-being, including creating spaces for student interaction, implementing funding policies, offering mental health support, designing skill-building workshops, establishing mentoring programs, and providing supervisor training. Recommendation for Researchers Explore supervisory styles and their impact on student well-being in diverse academic contexts. Investigate the impact of supervisors’ availability, time dedication, and communication patterns on doctoral supervision. Future research should examine supervisors’ perspectives and investigate these relationships across different international settings using quantitative methodologies with larger samples to enhance generalizability. Impact on Society This research contributes to a deeper understanding of doctoral student experiences and offers a foundation for developing targeted interventions to support this population. Improving doctoral student well-being can lead to higher quality research outputs and more successful completion rates, benefiting academia and society. Future Research Quantitative studies with larger, more diverse samples from international contexts could further validate and expand upon these findings. Additional research could focus on the effectiveness of different supervisory styles and examine how institutional structures influence doctoral student wellbeing across various academic contexts.ç
publishDate 2025
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2025
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv https://hdl.handle.net/11441/173831
https://doi.org/10.28945/5413
url https://hdl.handle.net/11441/173831
https://doi.org/10.28945/5413
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv International Journal of Doctoral Studies, 20, 001.
https://doi.org/10.28945/5413
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Informing Science Institute
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Informing Science Institute
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:idUS. Depósito de Investigación de la Universidad de Sevilla
instname:Universidad de Sevilla (US)
instname_str Universidad de Sevilla (US)
reponame_str idUS. Depósito de Investigación de la Universidad de Sevilla
collection idUS. Depósito de Investigación de la Universidad de Sevilla
repository.name.fl_str_mv
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