2016 Annual Conference

Diverse doctoral students struggle adapting to new academic environments, especially international and non-traditional adult learners with schooling gaps and language barriers. Using the conceptual framework of Lorde’s (1984) interdependency, we reveal how differences between culturally dissimilar learners prompted mutual growth as they found ways of being in a new world.

Professors in Adult Education Program:
The discussion will characterize advising relationships as collaborative instead of hierarchical.
Ph.D. and Postdoctoral students:
The discussion will give insights and directions for future research and involvement in academia as well as ideas how to arrange and structure mutually beneficial mentoring relationships.

Doctoral students face challenges as they attempt to join academia. There is an expectation of understanding of traditional hallmarks of academic success such as conference participation, paper publication, teaching in online and face-to-face contexts, although the scaffolding to reach that understanding is often missing. Joining this new community of practice requires extensive mental energy, especially for international and non-traditional students. Additionally, institutional processes may create unnecessary obstacles.
However, we, two doctoral candidates and one faculty member, learned how to work “interdependently,” relating to each other’s needs and viewing our individual limitations as the beginning point for growth fostered by our collaborative efforts.
In retrospect, we recognized the source of unexpected positive outcomes was the environment we created where collaboration, rather than competition, flourished. Our ontological framework from our non-traditional backgrounds led us to discover that there is a perspective that allow us to build greater
resources rather than compete for finite resources.
In this session, we will discuss how to use our experiences as a model to create collaborative relationships to meet academic challenges. Using the years of doctoral study to establish these relationships is valuable for professional success.