Content area
Full text
Introduction
The main purpose of doctoral programs is to prepare future scholars to work in academic and nonacademic research positions. If one views research career as a profession, the success of doctoral student preparation depends on the amount and quality of professional socialization experiences, which lead to students’ transition from being passive actors to being active agents in research by producing their own research project (Delamont et al., 2000). These experiences vary from formal activities (such as engagement in issues-, theories- and methodology-related coursework; work on a dissertation, as well as participation in credit-bearing or mandatory internships, assistantships and clinical practices) provided in the course of doctoral study by the training institution to the informal ones, which a student may experience outside the provisions of the academic program. Many existing doctoral programs encourage their students to participate in informal activities to supplement the formal training provided by the program in a more structured way.
Conference attendance and presentation of scholarly papers at annual meetings of professional societies is largely viewed as one of the important informal professional socialization activities, which are frequently not only incentivized but also financially supported by the schools offering doctoral training programs. While conference attendance is believed to contribute to the professional socialization of future scholars, it remains unclear how exactly the process of socialization occurs as a result of conference participation by doctoral students, as well as which activities, strategies and players increase the impact of socialization.
This study contributes to the existing knowledge on doctoral student socialization into the academic profession by exploring the role of conference participation on the induction of students into the role of academic researcher. For the purposes of the study, socialization is understood as the process through which individuals acquire knowledge, skills and values necessary for successful entry into a professional research field, as well as “internalize behavioral norms and standards and form a sense of identity and commitment to a professional field” (Weidman et al., 2001, p. 6). Conference participation is viewed as a kind of experience which may affect the process of socialization by providing opportunities for a student to gain necessary knowledge, skills, and values via contextualized professional interaction with peers and senior colleagues in the field. Understanding the...