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Pre-Final Version of manuscript submitted: Kumar, S. & Coe, C. (2017). Online mentoring and
student support in online doctoral programs. American Journal of Distance
Education, 31(2),128-142.
Online Mentoring and Student Support in Online Doctoral Programs
Abstract: The increase in online graduate programs and the online mentoring of student research
have led to the need to identify challenges faced by online mentees and successful strategies used
by online mentors during the dissertation process. Based on semi-structured interviews with ten
graduates, strategies for online mentoring and areas of support valued by online doctoral students
during the dissertation process are presented in this paper.
Introduction
In the United States, the number of graduate online programs has increased dramatically since
the turn of the century. Online graduate enrollments grew by 14% from fall 2012 to fall 2014,
with 733,152 students pursuing graduate education completely online (Allen et al. 2016).
Blended and online doctoral degrees are being offered due to an increasing number of
professionals pursuing terminal degrees and the increased mobility of students (Kung and Logan
2014). While online Masters programs are often similar and consist of coursework, internships or
projects, online doctoral programs can vary widely by discipline and institution. Some consist of
online coursework/seminars and individual research, others focus only on individual research
and occasional meetings, and yet others engage in collaborative dissertations. Some online
doctoral programs also require one or more face-to-face meetings either on-campus or at a
professional conference. Regardless of program structure, faculty mentoring of research plays an
important role in students’ completion of dissertations in doctoral programs (Erichsen, Bolliger,
and Halupa 2014; Lee 2008). More so in the online environment, where structure,
Pre-Final Version of manuscript submitted: Kumar, S. & Coe, C. (2017). Online mentoring and
student support in online doctoral programs. American Journal of Distance
Education, 31(2),128-142.
communication, and learner autonomy play a role in mentoring students at a distance (Moore
1973). However, research on the online mentoring of research or dissertations is scarce in the
literature on online education, where research on online courses abounds. The increased number
of online doctoral programs and mentoring of research at a distance make it important to identify
the challenges faced by online doctoral students working on dissertations, the strategies used by
research mentors that help them, and the strategies used by online students that contribute to
successful doctoral degree completion. Additionally, there might be other forms of support that
online doctoral students need in addition to online mentoring interactions with faculty members
or their research mentor. In this paper, we present interview data from ten students in an online
doctoral program to provide insight into these areas and into the role of the institution, mentors,
and mentees in online mentoring. Mentoring at a distance using online communication
technologies is also often the case in professional programs where graduate students work full-
time and pursue a graduate degree. Our research could therefore be useful not only to those
working and studying in online doctoral programs, but also in online professional programs that
involve online mentoring.
Literature Review
A review of the literature revealed a scarcity of research on online doctoral education,
although research on traditional doctoral education and doctoral supervision abounds.
Simultaneously, online mentoring or e-mentoring has been studied in medical education
(Schichtel 2010), corporate education (Ensher and Murphy 2007), and teacher education. The
goals of a doctoral program, the complexity of academic-, research- and professional
Pre-Final Version of manuscript submitted: Kumar, S. & Coe, C. (2017). Online mentoring and
student support in online doctoral programs. American Journal of Distance
Education, 31(2),128-142.
development in the mentor-mentee relationship, and the requirements of a doctoral dissertation,
however, make online mentoring in doctoral education very different from a corporate mentor-
mentee process, or a formalized novice teacher-teacher mentor process. In this section, we
briefly review pertinent literature on doctoral education, which is vast, and summarize relevant
research on e-mentoring or online mentoring that can apply to online doctoral environments.
The literature on doctoral education is rich and provides valuable insight into the crucial
supervisor-student relationship (Lee 2008), mentoring roles, activities, and styles (Boehe 2016;
Burnett 1999), student perceptions of ideal mentors (Rose 2003), and the challenges faced by
mentors and doctoral students. The relationship between a student and mentor or supervisor, as
they are often termed, is highlighted in the research as playing a key role in students’ successful
and timely degree completion (Lechuga 2011). Mentors adopt various roles at different stages of
the dissertation process and supervisory styles range from high support and direction to low
support and direction (Boehe 2016). Mentors also face several challenges with respect to
institutional recognition and resources, time management, and building relationships with
mentees (Nakamura, Shernoff, and Hooker 2009). The goal of doctoral education is for students
to become independent researchers, and mentors provide support in the areas of educational,
psychosocial, and professional development (Burnett 1999; Hayes and Koro-Ljungberg 2011) to
achieve this goal. The research on doctoral education is often situated within cognitive-
apprenticeship models in on-campus doctoral programs whereas online doctoral programs often
constitute research relation-oriented mentoring (Franke and Arvidsson 2011) where students do
not share a common research practice with the mentor. The mentor and student share common
research interests, the student implements the research at a site usually at a distance from the
Pre-Final Version of manuscript submitted: Kumar, S. & Coe, C. (2017). Online mentoring and
student support in online doctoral programs. American Journal of Distance
Education, 31(2),128-142.
university and the mentor guides the student through process. Franke and Arvidsson describe
mentoring in this context as “education involving research” (2011, 17). Mentors in this process
can act as dialogue partners, mediators of the knowledge and experience, and mentors, and
provide not only educational and professional mentoring but also “socio-emotional support”
(15). Other forms of support during doctoral education is the use of a cohort model that helps
students complete their dissertations, overcome research challenges more easily and form
relationships in diverse groups (Burnett 1999; Johnson and Huwe 2003).
Online mentoring differs from traditional mentoring because it is independent of time and
distance (Griffiths and Miller 2005). Online mentors have to manage “the interface between
people,” “their learning and developmental processes,” and the multiple communication
technologies used (Schlichtel 2010, 251). Additionally, they need online social competence and
online teaching competence in order to communicate effectively and achieve teaching and
learning outcomes in the online environment. Learner-centeredness and the provision of
“constructive, timely, clear, and comprehensive feedback” are crucial components of online
mentoring (Schichtel 2010, 254). In the online environment, doctoral mentoring includes all of
the above, and additionally involves teaching, advising, encouraging, promoting, modeling and
guiding students through academic and research procedures. Given that doctoral mentors have
been found to be influenced by their own experiences as doctoral students (Lee 2008), and that
most mentors’ doctoral experiences were probably not virtual, it can be difficult for them to
mentor dissertations online. Major challenges to online mentoring have been identified as
problems of miscommunication, technical problems, privacy problems, difficulties in developing
a relationship online compared to in person, the need for multiple competencies such as the
Pre-Final Version of manuscript submitted: Kumar, S. & Coe, C. (2017). Online mentoring and
student support in online doctoral programs. American Journal of Distance
Education, 31(2),128-142.
technical, communication (written and spoken in the virtual environment), and managerial skills
(Ensher, Heun, and Blanchard, 2003).
Bierema and Merriam (2002) suggest that regular times to communicate, frequent exchanges,
and a mix of communication mediums can help develop relationships and alleviate
miscommunication in e-mentoring. Proactive communication, clarity in the research process, and
timely feedback were highlighted as strategies perceived to be effective by students in a study
about graduate supervision in doctoral programs delivered at a distance (Erichsen et al., 2014).
The researchers reported that graduate students working on their dissertations knew very little
about their online advisors and struggled with feelings of isolation, although they had a positive
relationship with their advisor, acknowledged the critical role advisors played in the dissertation
process, and believed advisors were available to them when needed. The researchers concluded
that blended doctoral programs are more supportive than online doctoral programs, and that more
research is needed on the ways in which isolation in online doctoral programs can be reduced.
Research Questions
The purpose of this research was to identify how online doctoral students can be mentored
and supported during the dissertation stage of an online doctoral program. The research questions
were as follows:
• What strategies do online mentors use that online doctoral students find valuable during
the dissertation process?
• What challenges do online doctoral students face during the dissertation process?
Pre-Final Version of manuscript submitted: Kumar, S. & Coe, C. (2017). Online mentoring and
student support in online doctoral programs. American Journal of Distance
Education, 31(2),128-142.
• What forms of support do students find valuable during the dissertation process?
Context and Research Method
This study took place in a five-year old online doctoral program in curriculum and instruction
at an Association of American Universities (AAU) public research institution with a tradition of
on-campus PhD programs. The online doctorate for working professionals comprised two years
of online coursework as a cohort followed by qualifying exams and a dissertation. During the
second year, students were assigned to a full-time faculty member with similar research interests,
termed a “faculty mentor” to represent the person who “shepherds” a doctoral student “through
the doctoral process to completion” (Nettles and Millett 2006, 98). Following qualifying exams
at the end of the second year, mentors guided students in the conceptualizing and conducting of
research, analysis of data and the writing of their dissertations. At the time of research, the
program had enrolled three cohorts and 24 educators from various disciplines and professional
environments (higher education, K-12 on-campus and virtual schools, industry, and non-profit)
had graduated. Initial exploratory results of interviews with nine of the first twelve graduates
provided insight into the strategies used by online faculty mentors that they found valuable
(Authors, 2013). In this article, we present the results of semi-structured interviews conducted
with the second group of graduates about their experiences with dissertation mentoring in the
online program.
A phenomenological framework (Moustakas 1994) guided the research that focused on
capturing the lived experiences of the students being mentored in online environments when
working on their dissertations in the doctoral program. Ten of 12 students who graduated within
Pre-Final Version of manuscript submitted: Kumar, S. & Coe, C. (2017). Online mentoring and
student support in online doctoral programs. American Journal of Distance
Education, 31(2),128-142.
3-3.5 years of beginning the program volunteered to participate in phone or skype interviews
about their experiences with online mentoring during the dissertation process, challenges they
had faced, and strategies or resources that they had found valuable. Interviews lasted between 18
and 40 minutes, were recorded with student consent, and transcribed. Memoing during data
collection and bracketing during analysis accompanied the inductive analysis that was applied to
analyze what the students experienced and how the experience occurred (Moustakas, 1994),
moving from “specific to the general” (Hatch 2002, 161). Individual interview transcripts were
open coded by two researchers who discussed one transcript before independently coding the
others and writing short memos. Codes from both researchers were then compared to reach an
agreement. The main differences in the coding stemmed from one researcher being more specific
than the other in the assigned codes. For example, one researcher used the general code
“communication_technology” for e-mail or skype, while the other researcher used “e-mail
communication” or “skype.” Once the codes were finalized, commonalities across student
experiences were identified and larger categories were formed (Creswell 2013). The larger
categories were then consolidated into four themes to gain a comprehensive understanding of
online student experiences and the support they perceived as valuable during the online
mentoring of dissertations.
Results
The findings are presented here according to four themes that emerged in the data – the role
of the mentor, challenges faced by mentees, the role of the mentee, and the role of the program
during the dissertation process in the online environment. Students described the strategies that
mentors used (the mentor role) and they themselves used (mentee role) during the online
Pre-Final Version of manuscript submitted: Kumar, S. & Coe, C. (2017). Online mentoring and
student support in online doctoral programs. American Journal of Distance
Education, 31(2),128-142.
mentoring process. They additionally reflected on the types of support that they received within
the program (the program role) and how those contributed to their progress.
Mentor Role
Mentees in this research described the role of the mentor and the strategies used by the
mentor in the online environment to be extremely important for both dissertation progress and
completion. Mentor strategies fell in the following areas:
Choosing and using appropriate technologies: The mentors used multiple synchronous and
asynchronous online technologies for different purposes such as group meetings, research
discussions, feedback on writing, mock proposal presentations and peer discussions that,
according to mentees, were valuable and contributed to the process. Mentees appreciated
mentors’ use of a range of technologies such as e-mail, Skype, virtual classroom software or the
phone and that mentors chose asynchronous or synchronous communication based on the
purpose of the meeting. Email and phone were the most commonly referenced means of
communication, but eight students also mentioned frequently using synchronous tools with audio
and video such as Skype for individual meetings and virtual classroom software such as
Elluminate, Adobe Connect, or Big Blue Button for group meetings with the mentor. Mentees
greatly appreciated the fact that their mentors were comfortable working in the online
environment, and that they could use multiple means of communication.
Frequent communication: All ten mentees highlighted the need for frequent and timely
communication during the dissertation process. They described the various technologies that they
Pre-Final Version of manuscript submitted: Kumar, S. & Coe, C. (2017). Online mentoring and
student support in online doctoral programs. American Journal of Distance
Education, 31(2),128-142.
had used for different purposes during their interactions with their mentors and dissertation
committee. They greatly appreciated the organization of monthly or bi-monthly group meetings
by their mentors because they were able to share their progress, ask questions and discuss
common problems during the dissertation process with their mentors and peers. One student
stated, “having access to the virtual classroom where we could meet and throw our PowerPoint's
up and show each other and share with peers and faculty members was really valuable.” Another
student said,
They made it important for us to get together as a group and speak and not be
through only email…things like that are really important, I thought it was really
good that they did that, because it just allowed everybody to get together in one
place, ask all the questions, get all the same answers. I think that face time or that
voice time is really important when you're doing everything outside of that online
or virtually.
Timely Feedback: All the mentees valued timely feedback during the writing process, as they
relied on these interactions to maintain the momentum necessary to keep moving forward. They
described mentors’ communication of expectations, deadlines, and timelines as a best practice
that contributed to their successful dissertation completion. All ten mentees had a positive
experience in this regard, with one mentor providing feedback “very fast,” and another “within
two to three days.” A third mentor was described by a student as “very good at giving me
feedback very fast. Even if she couldn’t get it to me fast, she'd send me an email saying this is
when I'll have it to you. So that took a lot of stress off for me,” while the fourth mentor set
deadlines in the following manner:
I think the timeliness of feedback was really important. My advisor set very
specific deadlines for me and also set specific deadlines for responding to me. So
Pre-Final Version of manuscript submitted: Kumar, S. & Coe, C. (2017). Online mentoring and
student support in online doctoral programs. American Journal of Distance
Education, 31(2),128-142.
if she wanted to have chapter 1 and 2 done on a certain date, and as she actually
set up those times, she also said, I'll have my feedback by a certain date.
Mentees found the timeliness of feedback crucial to dissertation completion and the fact that they
were studying part-time:
The most useful thing she did was return my feedback quickly. Because I worked
fulltime, I tended to work either during the day or late at night, and I could submit
something late at night, and by the next morning, she was providing feedback for
me. So that allowed me to go in that next day when everything was fresh in my
head and review the feedback and make quick changes. There were some weeks
where I could do two or three revisions just because she was so quick on the
feedback.
Types of Feedback: All the mentees interviewed valued honesty, candor and specificity in
mentor feedback. Eight students highlighted that while they received constructive feedback and
they felt comfortable contacting their mentor at any time, their mentors acted as more of a
“guide.” Student comments about two mentors illustrate this:
She gave me lots of guidance and answered lots of my questions. But she also cut
me loose to do a lot of figuring out of things on my own, which I appreciated. She
would basically ask me to do something, to write a section or write a chapter and
then have her read it and then she'd make, then would give me some clarification
areas that I was weak in or needed more specific research from.
I had a lot of informal conversations with my advisor and just threw out ideas, and
she really was good in giving me feedback in terms of, well, go look at this, go
look at that, go look at this person’s dissertation, go look at this study, go look at
that framework. You know, just pointing me in a lot of good directions. It was
truly very beneficial.
Mentees found the additional resources such as dissertations, literature or contact with other
researchers valuable to their progress.
Pre-Final Version of manuscript submitted: Kumar, S. & Coe, C. (2017). Online mentoring and
student support in online doctoral programs. American Journal of Distance
Education, 31(2),128-142.
Small Group Mentoring: Seven of the ten mentees interviewed were mentored in small groups
of three or four students who met online at regular intervals with their mentor, and found that this
motivated them to progress. Despite varying research focii, students in these groups had similar
professional sites for their research or a common discipline, and were able to share resources,
literature, and frameworks. Virtual meetings within their small groups held by the mentor helped
mentees stay connected and feel less isolated, learn from the work of those who went before
them, and get feedback at every stage from a couple of peers during the process, as indicated in
the student comments below:
It was nice that she’d kind of coordinate dates, and worked around everyone's
schedule. She'd send out a doodle and say, you know, what times work for
everybody…I probably attribute the fact that I was able to make up time and kind
of stay motivated to the fact that I knew I would have this monthly check in, it
kind of kept me focused, as opposed to being you know kind of out there, you
know, left to come up with a topic and kind of hone in on project ideas by myself.
So I think meeting as a group with those that she chaired was probably a best
practice.
Knowing that within our little group, not only were we presenting and getting
feedback from the mentor, we were also sharing our work amongst ourselves, so
there was opportunity for us to help each other and know that if I helped out
someone that they were going to then be helping me out.
Providing moral support: In addition to frequent, constructive, iterative feedback during the
writing process, mentor support was found to play a key role in mentees’ progress and success.
All ten mentees emphasized the importance of having a supportive mentor and developing a
relationship with the mentor. Seven mentees mentioned that their shared research interests with
their mentors contributed positively to relationship-building. Mentees felt their mentors were
available to them and were comfortable contacting them by email or phone. They consistently
Pre-Final Version of manuscript submitted: Kumar, S. & Coe, C. (2017). Online mentoring and
student support in online doctoral programs. American Journal of Distance
Education, 31(2),128-142.
communicated with mentors about their progress and challenges, but also found their mentors
checked on them if they had not communicated, as evidenced in the following comments:
My advisor did check on me. I think that that was helpful you know, just kind of a
quick little email, hey where are you at. As much as I hated getting that email, it
was kind of a don’t forget, this is another part of your life that you need to be
working on. So that was definitely a best practice. I don’t feel like he did that on a
schedule. It was more or less it felt almost like he was just thinking, hey, I haven't
heard from her in a while, let me see where she's at. And that was definitely for
me a help, because I felt like hey, you actually care too that I'm working through
this.
I got to the point at the end…I didn’t really have a break. So she was really good
about saying, you know what, you need to get away from this for a couple of
days. Like go do something else. Take time away from this and come back to it
with fresh eyes. So she was really good at judging - you know, she knew me well
enough, she knew when I was kind of at that point where I needed a break, and
she really encouraged it.
Mentee Challenges and Role
Mentee challenges with the dissertation process in the online environment were time
management, life events (e.g. having a baby, illness of a family member), motivation to write,
and in the case of individual students, lack of knowledge or skills during specific parts of the
process. All ten mentees cited time management and finding the time to work on the dissertation
while fulfilling other commitments as a major challenge during the dissertation process.
Additionally, they were often not motivated to write or felt overwhelmed by the size and length
of the dissertation process. One student explained that he had “never written more than probably
20 pages” at once in his life, and that it was not about the grammar or his ability to write, but
about the “logic and flow.” Life events such as job changes, pregnancy, and family illnesses also
Pre-Final Version of manuscript submitted: Kumar, S. & Coe, C. (2017). Online mentoring and
student support in online doctoral programs. American Journal of Distance
Education, 31(2),128-142.
served as setbacks for some mentees. Individual students mentioned problems such as the IRB
process taking very long; the time taken to format the dissertation; insufficient knowledge of
advanced statistical procedures; and trying to resolve conflicting committee feedback. In order to
resolve these challenges, mentees articulated the following strategies that they termed best
practice and useful for doctoral students during the dissertation stage in online environments:
Time Management and Organization: Notwithstanding the support provided by the mentor,
small groups, and their cohort, mentees had to design, implement and write up their research on
their own. During this process they found that time management was essential to their progress.
All the mentees interviewed created a schedule of drafts and deadlines that helped them stay on
track. One student explained,
…the thing that worked for me the most was having a set schedule and deadlines.
‘I'm going to have this done by this time and agreeing with that with my advisor.
And then my advisor telling me, well, then after you do that, it's going to take me
so many days or so many weeks to look at what you did and get back to you.’ So
kinda the whole process was a what-do-I-do-next,’ okay, that's the next step. I'll
do that by a certain date, get it to you.’ Sometimes I made the date, sometimes I
didn’t.
Given their other commitments, mentees found that additional organizational and time
management strategies strategies helped them write their proposal and dissertation. They created
smaller goals and aimed to finish specific sections of their text on a timeline, which made the
large dissertation document appear more manageable. One students explained that she “really
mapped out each chapter,” while another stated that “designating time,” no matter where, to
write regularly was very helpful. One student described her approach as follows,
My advisor recommended writing daily even if it was just a little section here,
maybe a few paragraphs or just revising sections from the day before but staying
Pre-Final Version of manuscript submitted: Kumar, S. & Coe, C. (2017). Online mentoring and
student support in online doctoral programs. American Journal of Distance
Education, 31(2),128-142.
in contact with your project, it was huge for me. I got so much more done doing a
little bit each day or at least several times a week versus trying to do, you know,
whole sections at a time every two weeks.
Being meticulous in organizing the literature used, data collected, and drafts or
communications was also highlighted as students as useful because the dissertation process took
a year or more, and students were busy with many commitments in addition to their academic
activities. Additonally, students suggested saving and organizing the resources provided (e.g.
IRB examples, dissertation templates) and using them early in the process.
Support peers and communicate: Peer support had been structured during the first two years in
the program and was carried forth by the online students during the dissertation process. Peer
support in terms of encouragement and cheerleading from the larger cohort and more concrete
help in the form of the reading of drafts, check-ins, and provision of feedback within smaller
groups motivated students and helped them with their writing and research. One student
described how such student-driven groups worked:
I created a smaller group of like three to four people that I found to actually be the
most helpful for me as far as, "hey, can you read this draft," or "I really don’t
know what's going on," but having like a more personal connection with a smaller
group within the larger group, that connection really proved extremely vital for
me as far as that.
Some students also worked in pairs within the cohort if they had common research interests,
while others additionally sought out and worked with colleagues completing a doctorate.
Program Role
Pre-Final Version of manuscript submitted: Kumar, S. & Coe, C. (2017). Online mentoring and
student support in online doctoral programs. American Journal of Distance
Education, 31(2),128-142.
Questions about other resources or people that they found to be a source of support when
completing the dissertation at a distance were all found to fall within the responsibilities of the
institution at which the students were enrolled, and more specifically, were part of the design of
the online doctoral program. The following elements of program design were highlighted by
students as valuable during the dissertation process:
Cohort support. The online doctoral program in which the students were enrolled was cohort-
based. Students were admitted, enrolled and completed the first two years of coursework as a
cohort. Additionally, monthly synchronous sessions, yearly one-week on-campus sessions, and
smaller inquiry groups were structured and led by program faculty to help students build
community (Authors, XXX). Furthermore, a student-owned private Facebook group served as a
virtual space for the cohort to communicate and stay connected. All ten students interviewed
praised the cohort structure and “community support” as a key factor in their persistence and
success. Students described how “a lot of times a person would ask a question in the Facebook
group, and other students would answer” or “the cohort was really a great source of support as a
group.” One student reflected, “the Facebook group that we have was very beneficial, just
looking for people to read and proof and bounce ideas off of, getting in touch within a couple of
hours. It always seemed like somebody was on Facebook and could lend a hand if you needed
it.” Additionally, peers also provided moral support, as described by one student,
My cohort members really kept me going…having that support from our cohort,
having people…we would post updates in our little group Facebook page, and by
doing that, you get feedback from other members of the cohort, kind of like
rooting you on, saying, "good job," you know, "Keep going. You can do this." So
that was one of those essential things that really helped throughout the process.
Pre-Final Version of manuscript submitted: Kumar, S. & Coe, C. (2017). Online mentoring and
student support in online doctoral programs. American Journal of Distance
Education, 31(2),128-142.
Information Literacy Support. Information literacy instruction and guidelines for accessing
library resources online were integrated into initial online coursework in the program and praised
as key resources by mentees. Students mentioned the on-campus sessions and online webinars
during their first two years in the program that introduced them to the library, how to use
databases to find research or dissertations, and to manage their resources and bibliographies.
Although information literacy instruction was provided before students began their dissertations,
they highlighted its importance and the support of the library as something they “relied on
heavily during the dissertation.” A student elaborated,
Each time we were down there, we had a session with the library. Their online
resources are extremely helpful. So I used almost all of them. I used RefWorks to
keep my sources together. The VPN was very helpful to me being an out-of-state
student and able to just log in and not have to worry about everything and just be
able to search all of the databases.
Institutional Resources and Workshops: During the program, students were provided with
workshops on academic writing, Institutional Review Board (IRB) procedures and dissertation
formatting procedures based on suggestions from students in a previous cohort. Students stated
that these workshops were extremely helpful and also helped them “put a face” to those they
could contact for help, although information on dissertation formatting could have been offered
at a later stage in the process. One student stated, “I felt the timing and help regarding the IRB
was very useful to me,” while another reflected, “we had a session over at the editing office, and
they talked us through using the template. That was fantastic. My notes from that were
invaluable, when I actually started to submit my paper.”
Pre-Final Version of manuscript submitted: Kumar, S. & Coe, C. (2017). Online mentoring and
student support in online doctoral programs. American Journal of Distance
Education, 31(2),128-142.
Advice from program graduates: The program design integrated advice from graduates in the
previous cohort at each stage of the online doctorate, either in person or in a synchronous online
session. Students found it valuable that the program tried to “bring back those that have really
gone through it,” that they had opportunities to ask questions that they “maybe wouldn’t be
comfortable asking a faculty member,” so that they got “the lived experience from someone who
has relatively recently gone through it [the dissertation process]. Additionally, they found it
valuable to read dissertations completed in the program and contact a graduate about their
research.
Committee support: Dissertation committees in the online doctoral program comprised the
mentor or chair of the dissertation and three other members selected by program faculty. Despite
being in an online doctoral program, eight of the students reported having an attentive committee
and regular communication with committee members, and receiving comprehensive feedback on
their research process and writing from all their committee members. According to students, this
had several advantages. One student explained that his “committee was well constructed,” so he
could approach different committee members with questions in their area of expertise, while
another reflected, “by working with all of my committee members on the day of my defense,
there were no surprises. I knew their personalities. I knew what they were looking for. I knew
everything for each of them, and that took a lot of stress off when it came time to defend.”
Identifying dissertation foci early in the program: The doctoral program in this study
included multiple activities in the first two years of coursework to scaffold students’
identification of research interests, which seven students found “very helpful”. While some
students were able to focus in on a problem to research and use course activities to conduct
Pre-Final Version of manuscript submitted: Kumar, S. & Coe, C. (2017). Online mentoring and
student support in online doctoral programs. American Journal of Distance
Education, 31(2),128-142.
preliminary searches or pilot projects, others found it more difficult to adhere to a topic or
changed topics due to changes at their work place. Students suggested that future students would
benefit greatly from trying to determine the focus of their dissertation sooner, and should focus
coursework assignments on dissertation topics.
Discussion and Implications
We began this research study attempting to identify the strategies used by online mentors that
doctoral students find valuable during the dissertation process, the challenges that students face,
and any forms of support that they found valuable in the online environment. Where prior
research has mainly focused on the mentor/supervisor-mentee relationship in doctoral education,
the strategies used by online learners (not specifically doctoral) to persist and succeed in online
education, and the types of support needed in online courses, our findings reflected all these as
areas to consider during the dissertation process in online doctoral degrees. For students to make
consistent progress to successful completion of a dissertation at a distance, not only online
mentoring by faculty, but online student accountability, peer support, and institutional support
are also needed.
The online doctoral program that served as a basis of this study constituted online
coursework before the dissertation and three on-campus meetings (1.5 days, 4 days and 4 days
respectively) making it possible for students to get to know each other and faculty members not
only online but also face-to-face before they embarked on dissertations. Mentees in this research
did not cite challenges specific to the online environment such as lack of interaction, isolation, or
lack of clarity about the research process (Erichsen et al. 2014), but experienced challenges faced
Pre-Final Version of manuscript submitted: Kumar, S. & Coe, C. (2017). Online mentoring and
student support in online doctoral programs. American Journal of Distance
Education, 31(2),128-142.
in all doctoral programs, such as motivation and time management related to dissertation writing,
problems with research implementation at their research cites, delays with the IRB process, etc.
(Lee, Brennan, and Green 2009). While some of our results could be attributed to the discipline
or specific context and design of the online doctoral program in which the participants were
enrolled, the results of our study could be useful to faculty engaged in online doctoral education
as well as students in online doctoral programs during the dissertation process. Despite the small
sample and the self-reported nature of the data, the findings provide insight into a) several
aspects of online dissertation mentoring, an area that is not widely studied so far in online
education, b) specific strategies online mentors can use when mentoring research projects and
dissertations, and c) the types of support that students need in the online environment when
completing dissertations at a distance.
A leading theory that informs research in online education is the theory of transactional
distance that discusses structure, dialogue, and learner autonomy (Moore 1973). High dialogue
and learner autonomy and less structure are commonly understood to lead to a positive learning
experience. At the same time, much has been written about the need for instructional design,
consistency, structure, and different types of interactions within online courses and about the role
of instructor presence and social presence in online learning environments (Garrison, Anderson,
and Archer 2000). From an institutional perspective, several forms of support and infrastructure
have to be in place for online offerings to succeed. Our findings reinforce the need for structure,
dialogue, and learner autonomy at several levels during the online mentoring of dissertations – at
the institutional, program, mentor and mentee level. We thus discuss our findings here according
Pre-Final Version of manuscript submitted: Kumar, S. & Coe, C. (2017). Online mentoring and
student support in online doctoral programs. American Journal of Distance
Education, 31(2),128-142.
to the role that each of these can play in an online doctoral program, especially during the
dissertation phase.
Institutional Role
The literature on doctoral education focuses mainly on the mentor-mentee relationship and
on other factors that play a role in doctoral degree completion (e.g. financial support, peer
support), because on-campus doctoral programs have a tradition of services and networks for
doctoral students. Institutions embarking on new online doctoral programs have to create new
resources or adapt existing resources to help online students navigate administrative and research
requirements at the academic institution. Students in our research appreciated the provision of
workshops and support in information literacy, IRB processes, and dissertation guidelines, and
the ability to interact with librarians and other staff online when needed. However, they also
stated that these were offered during on-campus meetings and might have been more useful if
also available during other times. From a learner autonomy perspective, it would be valuable to
create online webinars and resources in these areas that students can access anytime, in addition
to the availability of staff to answer questions online, especially given the fact that students move
through doctoral programs at their own pace. Institutional provision of multiple technologies and
virtual spaces to communicate and store resources can also contribute to structure and dialogue
in online doctoral programs – while students in this study appreciated the ability to choose and
vary their modes of communication, they appreciated the consistent use of certain technologies
within their program (e.g. virtual classroom software).
Program Role
Pre-Final Version of manuscript submitted: Kumar, S. & Coe, C. (2017). Online mentoring and
student support in online doctoral programs. American Journal of Distance
Education, 31(2),128-142.
The students in this research highlighted the structure of the online doctoral program - the
cohort-model, the community-building activities, the smaller groups formed during online
courses, and the facilitation of peer feedback during the initial years of the program - as
contributing to cohort interactions and peer support during the dissertation process that came
later. It follows that high structure and high dialogue during the online coursework that preceded
the dissertation stage facilitated the building of a larger community and the formation of smaller
groups of students with common research interests or professional contexts. All ten participants
in this study cited the resulting peer support as imperative for persistence and completion of the
doctoral degree. Although the program created a virtual space for cohort interactions outside of
the online courses, students autonomously interacted within a student-led Facebook group where
faculty did not participate, sharing their frustrations, progress, and success. The program design
included continual opportunities for students to interact with recent graduates, which was
perceived as a useful form of support. Further, committee members who served on the
dissertations of students in the online doctoral program were carefully selected by program
faculty as comfortable with the online environment and provided information about both
program expectations and challenges faced by online doctoral students, to ensure they would be
responsive when their expertise was needed. The design of an online doctoral program, therefore,
has to foresee not only online mentoring processes for individual and small groups of students,
but also the support needed during the dissertation stage and ensure it is facilitated purposefully
during initial formal interactions and activities.
Mentor Role
Pre-Final Version of manuscript submitted: Kumar, S. & Coe, C. (2017). Online mentoring and
student support in online doctoral programs. American Journal of Distance
Education, 31(2),128-142.
As in prior literature, students valued regular and frequent communication with their mentor
through different modes of communication (Bierema and Merriam 2002) during the online
mentoring process. They perceived small group mentoring by their mentors as additional
opportunities for interactions with peers and the mentor, for brainstorming, refining research
questions and designs, and the sharing of progress. In addition to encouraging dialogue, mentors
in this study provided structure in the form of deadlines, clear timelines for submission and
feedback, regular individual as well as group meetings, timely and candid feedback, and the
management of peer feedback among their groups. They set clear expectations for mentees but
were also flexible in accommodating mentees’ needs and pace. Mentors were available, directed
mentees to potentially valuable resources, encouraged them to work independently, and
demonstrated technical, social, and managerial competence (Schichtel 2010) in their online
interactions. Mentees praised mentors’ use of small group and individual mentoring as useful to
dissertation completion, indicating that the mentor-doctoral mentee relationship remains central
to dissertation progress in online doctoral programs.
Mentee Role
Doctoral students are expected to work independently and drive the dissertation process in
both on-campus and online programs. Structure-related strategies suggested by students in this
study – communicating frequently with the mentor, setting deadlines, managing their time,
writing and the feedback received – are needed by all doctoral students to succeed and by all
online students who need to self-direct their learning (Shea and Bidjerano 2010). However,
online doctoral students need to make a concerted effort to communicate with peers and other
Pre-Final Version of manuscript submitted: Kumar, S. & Coe, C. (2017). Online mentoring and
student support in online doctoral programs. American Journal of Distance
Education, 31(2),128-142.
valuable partners (e.g. prior graduates, dissertation committee members) to sustain dialog
because they are not automatically part of networks on a campus. Notwithstanding the structure
and opportunities for dialog provided within a program, students have to understand the value of
such interactions and create a support network for themselves in the online environment. In
addition to technologies and spaces provided by the institution, they can use free communication
technologies (e.g. Google Hangout) or social media to build relationships and ensure
connectedness.
Conclusion
Dissertation mentoring, whether in on-campus or distance education settings, is perceived to
be dependent solely on the mentor and the mentee, and the institutional, program, and
instructional design considerations have previously primarily been considered in structured
online learning environments such as online courses. Our research indicates that mentors and
mentees and their actions continue to be of paramount importance in online dissertation
mentoring, but additionally, institutional and program support can greatly facilitate dissertation
progress, reduce isolation, and help online doctoral students. The provision and creation of
structure, be it by the institution, program, mentor or the mentee, is crucial, as are opportunities
for dialogue between mentees and various acteurs in the dissertation process (the mentor,
dissertation committee members, support services, prior graduates). At the same time, mentee
autonomy is high, as they continually negotiate the amount of structure, dialogue, or support they
need at each stage of the dissertation process in the online environment. Online doctoral
programs thus have to provide scaffolds in the online mentoring process, build community that
Pre-Final Version of manuscript submitted: Kumar, S. & Coe, C. (2017). Online mentoring and
student support in online doctoral programs. American Journal of Distance
Education, 31(2),128-142.
ensures peer support networks during the dissertation process, and ensure infrastructure at their
institutions, but also provide the flexibility for mentors and students to collaboratively build
relationships, evolve in their roles, and determine what works for mentee progress. Given the
increased number of online doctoral and professional programs and growing prevalence of online
mentoring for research and projects, further research is needed on strategies, online environment
design, program structure and design, and the types of support that are valuable to online
mentees. Notwithstanding the existence of e-mentoring and online mentoring literature in other
fields, the online mentoring of dissertations in online programs merits study in order to support
students through the difficult dissertation process towards successfully doctoral program
completion.
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