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The purpose of this paper is to explore the development and challenges of doctoral education in Korea. In particular, it focusses on the differences between overseas and domestic doctorates in terms of training, supply and demand in the academic workforce, their academic entry-level jobs and employment status.

This study applied document analysis to mainly secondary data sources. The data were drawn from the Statistical Yearbooks of Education, Annual Science and Technology Statistics, the Database for Overseas Doctorates Registration and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

The findings indicate that the doctoral education system in Korea, in terms of both size and quality, has demonstrated significant development for last four decades. However, the results also show that overseas doctorates have relative advantages for their academic job entry over domestic doctorates, and the major research universities are more likely to hire those with overseas doctorates than domestic doctorates.

This study presents the evolution of the doctoral education system in Korea, which has not yet been considered in the international research.

The purpose of this paper is to present a case for appraisal of the current curriculum provisions for international students. In this paper, the authors summarise the key challenges of Asian international research graduate students pursuing doctorate studies in Australian universities to become researchers for the global communities. The intention is to advocate further research on current higher degree research curriculum with a view to enriching the developmental experiences of international research graduate students in preparation for global practice.

This is an analytical paper that adopts a conceptual and rhetorical approach.

The authors review a growing body of research on higher degree research studies and establish a need for appraisal of current curriculum provisions.

This is the first paper to concentrate on an emerging need to appraise current higher degree research curriculum provisions to enhance the development international research graduate students for global practices.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the dynamics of the Doctorate of Business Administration (DBA) in Australia through the lens of a changing higher education landscape. The paper reflects on issues raised in a previous analysis of DBA programmes undertaken a decade ago, and highlights persistent challenges and emerging opportunities for professional Doctorate programmes in the Australian context.

Interviews were undertaken with higher degree research directors, deans of graduate schools, and DBA programme directors from all 18 Australian institutions offering the DBA in 2013. Quantitative data on enrolments, accreditation requirements, course structures; and demographics are contextualised within a qualitative view of programme purposes, student and institutional motivations, rationales and concerns. Particular focus is given to perceptions of the difference between traditional research doctorates (PhDs) and professional doctorates, especially the DBA.

In the decade from 2003 to 2013 DBA enrolments are down but enquiries are up, indicating unmet demand. There is a shift in the players, with some smaller, regional universities dramatically increasing their enrolments, and larger, traditional institutions exiting the space altogether. Significant changes in accreditation criteria have generated a perceptual shift: where DBAs previously suffered from “academic snobbery” regarding their legitimacy, this perception is being challenged by standards which require DBA equivalence with a PhD. This shift in standards has also created some confusion amongst supervisors and candidates.

There is limited research into the DBA award or its candidates, and academic literature is generally silent on DBA supervision. This piece of research, one of very few that specifically examine the DBA, reflects on the past decade, analyses the present context and identifies emerging issues for the delivery of DBA programmes in Australia.

Whilst there has been some growth in the number of Indigenous Australians completing Higher Degree Research (HDR) over the past decade, the parity rate remains significantly behind that of other domestic Australian students. The bulk of research which investigates strategies to improve Indigenous Higher Education participation and completion tends to focus on undergraduate students, leaving a significant void of knowledge in how the sector can better cater for, and support, Indigenous postgraduate students.

This chapter proposes a set of strategies to seed the success of Indigenous HDR students. It draws on the findings of three separate studies undertaken during 2006 to 2013 in order to provide a detailed overview of the current challenges Indigenous HDR students regularly face.

It outlines various support mechanisms available to this cohort as well as those that are desired, but not necessarily available. An important component of the chapter is the inclusion of the voices of Indigenous Australians who were undertaking their postgraduate studies at the time they were interviewed, as well as a group of Indigenous Australians who had successfully completed their doctoral degrees. Through generously sharing their postgraduate experiences, participants provided important insight into this area which remains significantly under-investigated.

China's universities have decoupled academic staff rewards and returnee status (scholars with a higher degree or substantial work experience gained outside China). This development possibly poses a threat to returnees' psychological contract fulfilment (PCF), i.e. the extent to which employees perceive their employer has fulfilled their promises or obligations regarding the employment relationship. Drawing on the efficiency–flexibility balance theory, the authors predict Chinese universities would institutionalise human resource management (HRM) practices intended to countervail the decoupling's potentially negative influence. Furthermore, the positive effect of returnee status on PCF would subsequently manifest as higher job satisfaction and lower turnover intention.

Utilising a mixed-method approach, the authors first undertook a large-scale multi-time field survey of Chinese business school academics from a group of non-elite universities located in Southern China. The authors then conducted a series of in-depth interviews with a subsample of the surveyed cohort, which was then analysed using multivariate regression analyses and machine-aided qualitative content analysis (i.e. NVivo 10).

The authors find that, despite the decoupling of returnee status and faculty rewards, returnee status is positively associated with PCF. This positive association further manifests as an indirect effect on job satisfaction and a negative indirect effect on turnover intention. The authors also determine that returnees experience higher PCF because universities have revised HRM practices to reward evidenced job activities. Returnees can gain a competitive advantage by using their skills gained overseas.

This study makes four original contributions. First, the authors investigate a neglected yet essential issue, namely, how returnee status relates to PCF in China's universities. Second, the authors enrich the theoretical understanding by introducing the efficiency–flexibility balance theory into the employee PCF literature. Third, the authors provide new insights on how China's universities maximise the effectiveness of academic returnees' talents and skills. Finally, by focusing on non-elite universities, the authors provide insights relevant to a broader faculty population than is available in the existing literature.

Short-term international mobility has become popular among academics who are seeking new scholarly experiences abroad for a limited period. Short-term international mobility refers to staying abroad for a few days, weeks or months for scholarly work, although there is no specific definition of ‘short’. In this chapter, I describe my experience of a five-month international stay on my first sabbatical. After positioning myself as a researcher on academic mobility and a mobile academic, I describe the international mobile experience from preparing to travel to returning home. Based on personal reflections, the chapter shares the challenges that early-career academics might confront and offers strategies to enjoy meaningful experiences in short-term mobility.

The purpose of this paper is to identify and discuss the drivers behind the rise and fall of the Australian Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) and to assess its future.

Data covering the period 1993-2013 was sourced from the Commonwealth Department of Education and Training to provide a comprehensive analysis of the rise and fall of the Australian DBA.

In Australia, the DBA was introduced in 1993. In the first 11 years of the programme, enrolments increased from only nine candidates in 1993 to 1,505 candidates in 2004. However, by 2013, the number of candidates had fallen to 869 candidates. The authors argue that the principal rationale for the dramatic fall in enrolments points to the challenges and issues of managing overseas candidates by second tier and regional universities rather than a decline in the market per se.

The challenge for universities is to determine whether they can or are able to offer the DBA under a quality framework that requires academic rigour equal to the PhD.

This paper presents – for the first time – the most comprehensive description of trends in the Australian DBA programme from its inception to the present day. It also offers valuable insights and cautionary lessons for other countries thinking of introducing or expanding their current DBA programmes.