The purpose of this mixed methods study was to investigate the experiences of practitioner-scholars as they conducted their dissertations amidst the COVID-19 pandemic; the methodology utilized surveys at four time points across a 1-year span. Findings indicated increased impacts as the pandemic progressed, as well as both negative and positive pandemic impacts related to flow, as measured by the Work-Related Flow Inventory (WOLF). These impacts largely depended on the doctoral students’ personal and work life situations, indicating a need for doctoral programs to provide individualized support as students progress through their dissertation journeys, particularly during times of crisis.
AperribaiL.CortabarriaL.AguirreT.VercheE.BorgesÁ. (2020). Teacher’s physical activity and mental health during lockdown due to the COVID-2019 pandemic. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 577886.
2.
AristovnikA.KeržičD.RavšeljD.TomaževičN.UmekL. (2021). Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on life of higher education students: Global Survey dataset from the First Wave. Sustainability, 39, 107659–107734.
3.
AustinA. E.McDanielsM. (2006). Preparing the professoriate of the future: Graduate student socialization for faculty roles. In SmartJ. C. (Ed.), Higher education: Handbook of theory and research (Vol. 21, pp. 397–456). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4512-3_8
4.
BairC. R. (1999). Doctoral student attrition and persistence: A meta-synthesis. [Doctoral dissertation]. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.
5.
BakkerA. B. (2008). The work-related flow inventory: Construction and initial validation of the WOLF. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 72(3), 400–414.
6.
BalI. A.ArslanO.BudhraniK.MaoZ.NovakK.MuljanaP. S. (2020). The balance of roles: Graduate student perspectives during the COVID-19 pandemic. TechTrends, 64, 796–798.
7.
BarnettB. G.MuthR. (2008). Using action-research strategies and cohort structures to ensure research competence for practitioner-scholar leaders. Journal of Research on Leadership Education, 3(1), 1–42.
8.
BasyouniS. S.El KeshkyM. E. S. (2021). Job insecurity, work-related flow, and financial anxiety in the midst of COVID-19 pandemic and economic downturn. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 632265–632311.
9.
BirminghamW. C.WadsworthL. L.LassetterJ. H.GraffT. C.LaurenE.HungM. (2021). COVID-19 lockdown: Impact on college students’ lives. Journal of American College Health. https://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2021.1909041
10.
BowersA. J. (2017). Quantitative research methods training in education leadership and administration preparation programs as disciplined inquiry for building school improvement capacity. Journal of Research on Leadership Education, 12(1), 72–96.
11.
BurringtonD.MadisonR. D.SchmittA. (2020). Dissertation committee chairs’ current practices to support doctoral students in an online doctoral program. Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, 23(3), 1–13.
12.
BӑdoiuA.OpreaB. (2018). The work-related flow (WOLF) inventory: Romanian adaptation. Psihologia Resurselor Umane, 16, 94–106.
13.
CakmakE.OztekinO.IsciS.DanismanS.UsluF.KaradagE. (2015). Overview of the dissertation process within the framework of flow theory: A qualitative study. Educational Sciences: Theory & Practice, 15(3), 607–620.
CastellóM.PardoM.Sala-BubaréA.Suñe-SolerN. (2017). Why do students consider dropping out of doctoral degrees? Institutional and personal factors. Higher Education, 74(6), 1053–1068.
16.
ChoiB.JegatheeswaranL.MinochaA.AlhilaniM.NakhoulM.MutengesaE. (2020). The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on final year medical students in the United Kingdom: A national survey. BMC Medical Education, 20(1), 206. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-020-02117-1
17.
ÇiftçiS. K.KaradağE. (2020). Analysis of mathematics teachers’ beliefs on mathematics instruction and teaching self-efficiencies within the scope of flow theory. Annales Universitatis Paedagogicae Cracoviensis: Studia Ad Didacticam Mathematicae Pertinentia, 11, 73–87. https://doi.org/10.24917/20809751.11.5
18.
CsikszentmihalyiM. (1990). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. Harper Collins.
19.
CsikszentmihalyiM. (1997). Finding flow: The psychology of engagement with everyday life. Harper Collins.
20.
CsikszentmihalyiM. (2003). Good business. leadership, flow, and the making of meaning. Viking.
21.
DaileyA.HarrisM.PloughB.PorfilioB.WinkelmanP. (2016). Dissertation journeys of scholar-practitioners in an educational leadership for social justice program. Journal of Inquiry & Action in Education, 7(1), 36–49.
22.
de MouraP. J.Jr.Porto BelliniC. G. (2019). The measurement of flow and social flow at work: A 30-year systematic review of the literature. Personnel Review, 49(2), 537–570. https://doi.org/10.1108/pr-07-2018-0240
23.
DenmanP. M.CorralesJ. M.SmythS.CravenK. (2018). From ABD to PHD: A qualitative study examining the benefits of a support group during dissertation in an online doctoral program. The Journal of Continuing Higher Education, 66, 106–114.
24.
DillmanD. A.SmythJ. D.ChristianL. M. (2009). Internet, mail, and mixed-mode surveys:The tailored design method (3rd ed.). John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
25.
FirestoneW. A.PerryJ. A.LelandA. S.McKeonR. T. (2021). Teaching research and data use in the education doctorate. Journal of Research on Leadership Education, 16(1), 81–102.
26.
de FreitasC. P. P.DamásioB. F.HaddadE. J.KollerS. H. (2019). Work-related flow inventory: Evidence of validity of the Brazilian version. Psychological Evaluation, 29, 1–8.
27.
GeyserI.GeldenhuysM.CrousF. (2015). The dimensionality of the Work Related Flow Inventory (WOLF): A South African study. Journal of Psychology in Africa, 25(4), 282–287.
28.
GreeneJ. C. (2007). Mixed methods in social inquiry. Jossey-Bass.
29.
GuH.WenZ.FanX. (2020). Investigating the multidimensionality of the work-related flow inventory (WOLF): A bifactor exploratory structural equation modeling framework. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 740–810.
30.
GurelN. (2010). An examination of linguistic and sociocultural variables in writing a dissertation among Turkish doctoral students. State University of New York at Buffalo.
31.
HappellB.GaskinC. J.Platania-phungC. (2015). The construct validity of the work-related flow inventory in a sample of Australian workers. The Journal of Psychology, 149(1), 42–62.
32.
HwangE.SmithR. N.ByersV. T.DickersonS.McAlister-ShieldsL.OnwuegbuzieA. J.BengeC. (2015). Doctoral students’ perceived barriers that slow the progress toward completing a doctoral dissertation: A mixed analysis. Journal of Educational Issues, 1(1), 164–190.
33.
IsmailA.AbiddinN. Z.HassanA. (2011). Improving the development of postgraduates’ research and supervision. International Education Studies, 4(1), 78. https://doi.org/10.5539/ies.v4n1p78
34.
KaradağE.Sölpük TuranN. (2019). An exploratory work on the research approaches and PhD dissertation process of PhD students. International Journal of Contemporary Educational Research, 6(1), 1–10.
35.
KelleyM. J. M.Salisbury-GlennonJ. D. (2016). The role of self-regulation in doctoral students’ status of all but dissertation (ABD). Innovative Higher Education, 41, 87–100. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-015-9336-5
36.
KingM. M.FredericksonM. E. (2021). The pandemic penalty: The gendered effects of COVID-19 on scientific productivity. Socius, 7, 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1177/23780231211006977
37.
LabosierC.LabosierA. (2011). Who are you married to? Balancing graduate school and marriage. Geographical Bulletin, 52(2), 87–91.
38.
LimJ.CovrigD.FreedS.De OliveiraB.OngoM.NewmanI. (2019). Strategies to assist distance doctoral students in completing their dissertations. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 20(5), 193–210.
39.
LlorensS.SalanovaM.RodríguezA. M. (2013). How is flow experienced and by whom? Testing flow among occupations. Stress and Health, 29, 125–137.
40.
LovittsB. E. (2001). Leaving the ivory tower: The causes and consequences of departure from Doctoral study (1st ed.). Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
41.
MacfadyenA.EnglishC.KelleherM.CoatesM.CameronC.GibsonV. (2019). ‘Am I doing it right?’ Conceptualising the practice of supervising master’s dissertation students. Higher Education Research & Development, 38(5), 985–1000.
42.
MalenB. (2017). Enriching the preparation of education researchers and practitioner-scholars: Linking school district research priorities and university-based policy evaluation research courses. Journal of Research on Leadership Education, 12(1), 97–115.
43.
MansfieldK. C.StacyJ. (2017). Preparing practitioners to conduct educational research and evaluation: What the research says and what our experiences taught us. Journal of Research on Leadership Education, 12(3), 302–334.
44.
MilesM.HubermanA. (1994). Qualitative data analysis (2nd ed.). SAGE.
45.
OlčarD.RijavecM.Ljubin GolubT. (2019). Primary school teachers’ life satisfaction: The role of life goals, basic psychological needs and flow at work. Current Psychology, 38(2), 320–329.
46.
PokhrelS.ChhetriR. (2021). A literature review on impact of COVID-19 pandemic on teaching and learning. Higher Education for the Future, 8(1), 133–141.
47.
RademakerL. L.O’Connor DuffyJ.WetzlerE.Zaikina-MontgomeryH. (2016). Chair perceptions of trust between mentor and mentee in online doctoral dissertation mentoring. Online Learning, 20(1), 1–14.
48.
ReisT.GradyM. (2021). Doctoral advising in COVID-19: Opportunity for change. Multidisciplinary Perspectives in Higher Education, 5(1), 136–140.
49.
SaldañaJ. (2015). The coding manual for qualitative researchers. SAGE.
50.
SlaytonJ.SamkianA. (2017). Scaffolding learning for practitioner-scholars: The philosophy and design of a qualitative research methods course. Journal of Research on Leadership Education, 12(1), 51–71.
51.
SterneN. (2015). Challenges in writing your dissertation: Coping with the emotional, interpersonal, and spiritual struggles. Rowman & Littlefield.
52.
SverdlikA.C. HallN.McAlpineL.HubbardK. (2018). The PhD experience: A review of the factors influencing doctoral students’ completion, achievement, and well-being. International Journal of Doctoral Studies, 13(1), 361–388.
WangX.HegdeS.SonC.KellerB.SmithA.SasangoharF. (2020). Investigating mental health of US college students during the COVID-19 pandemic: Cross-sectional survey study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 22(9), e22817. https://doi.org/10.2196/22817
