What lies in store for the PhD student? PDP, Competencies, Attributes and Professionalism
Anne Lee, University of Surrey
Competencies have been widely used as a management tool in organisations, but as Boyatzis points out (2007) ‘academic and applied research has trailed application’ (p5).
Academics are wary of the use of the language that surrounds competencies, it is reductive, behavioural and prescriptive and thus not necessarily applicable to a creative enterprise. Academics are more comfortable with the notions of values and attributes (Barrie 2004, 2006). However most occupations are carried out within organisations. A recent survey of 663 public, private and voluntary organisations found that 60% of respondents used a competency framework and 48% of the rest intend to implement one. Smaller companies are more likely not to (Hogg 2008).
The Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD) defines competency as an outcome based approach to recognizing occupational standards. They are a signal from the organization to the individual of the expected areas and levels of performance. They include behavioural and technical attributes. Getting the balance between too much and too little description is difficult and important. The most popular names found in employer competency frameworks are:
· Communication skills,
· People management
· Team skills
· Customer service skills
· Results-orientation
· Problem solving
The argument for these schemes is that they are more fair, clear and open, the argument against is that they can create clones, become unwieldy and focused on the past.
This paper will look at the attributes and competencies that might be required of our doctoral research students. It argues that as creators of original knowledge they will have a special responsibility and opportunity to manage it. It draws upon the interviews with PhD supervisors both at the University of Surrey and at Harvard University to explore some of the roles that PhD students go on to inhabit and explores the skills and knowledge that they will need to fulfil them.
Key words: PDP, attributes, professionalism, graduate careers, competencies
References
Barrie, S. C. (2004) "A Research-Based Approach to Generic Graduate Attributes Policy", Higher Education Research and Development, vol. 23, no. 3, 261-275
Barrie, S. C. (2006) "Understanding What We Mean by the Generic Attributes of Graduates", Higher Education: The International Journal of Higher Education and Educational Planning, vol. 51,2, 215-241
Boyatzis R E (2008) Competencies in the 21st Century. Journal of Management Development Vol 27 No 1 pp 5-12.
Hogg C (2008) Competency and competency frameworks a factsheet. Wimbledon. Chartered Institute of Personnel Development. http://www.cipd.co.uk/subjects/perfmangmt/competnces/comptfrmwk?NRMODE=Published&NRNODEGUID=%7b0138D759-0AE6-4D2A-8C62-7DD66174B818%7d&NRCACHEHINT=Guest&IsSrchRes=1&cssversion=printable accessed 16.2.09 Survey details at ), Chartered Institute of Personnel Development Survey details at http://www.cipd.co.uk/NR/rdonlyres/EB18FA28-BD40-4D47-81B9-660034D280C1/0/learndevsr.pdf )
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