The research-practice nexus in doctoral education: the voices of social and health sciences PhD candidates and graduates

The recent shift towards more practice-oriented doctoral training programmes relevant for non-academic settings raises the important, but still largely unexplored, question regarding how the relationships between research and professional practice are understood, experienced, and developed in contemporary doctoral education. Drawing on a mixed-methods study, combining a survey (n = 188) and individual interviews (n = 14), this paper explores the nature of the research-practice nexus in doctoral education from the perspective of PhD candidates and graduates with different professional backgrounds in social and health sciences in Poland and Portugal. Overall, the study findings suggest that this nexus is viewed as a dynamic, multidimensional relationship imbued with both connections and tensions. While the majority of the participants reported that their doctoral research influenced their professional practice positively and vice versa, there were also some respondents who identified negative impacts of their research on their practice and vice versa. The paper ends with some implications, thus providing a basis for reappraisal of current doctoral education provision in terms of deepening the relationship between research and professional practice.