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PEOPLE@HES-SO – Directory and Skills inventory

PEOPLE@HES-SO
Directory and Skills inventory

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Skakni Isabelle

Skakni Isabelle

Responsable du service Relève et carrières académiques

Main skills

Qualitative Research

Qualitative methods

Higher Education

Mixed-methods research

Early career researchers

Competencies

Career development and trajectories

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Main contract

Responsable du service Relève et carrières académiques

HES-SO Rectorat
Route de Moutier 14, 2800 Delémont, CH
DICRI
Department/Dicastery/Faculty
Rectorat - Dicastère Recherche et innovation
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Ongoing

SNAP! Student Narrative Approaches through Photography (Swiss context)

Role: Main Applicant

Description du projet :

Study on the challenges faced by 1st year PhD students in the Swiss context

Research team within HES-SO: Skakni Isabelle

Partenaires académiques: Guccione, Kay, University of Glasgow; Blackmore, Chris, University of Sheffield

Durée du projet: 01.09.2023 - 30.09.2024

Statut: Ongoing

PhD holders pursuing non-academic careers in Switzerland: Typical profiles and untraditional stories

Role: Main Applicant

Financement: FNS

Description du projet :

The aim of this project is threefold: 1) to define the profiles of PhD holders pursuing non-academic careers in Switzerland, 2) to explore and map individual and contextual factors that influence their career trajectories and work experiences, and 3) to examine the relevance and usefulness of PhD degrees for non-academic careers.

Research team within HES-SO: Skakni Isabelle , Inouye Kelsey , Kereselidze Nata

Partenaires académiques: Delobbe Nathalie, Université de Genève; Castelló Badia Montserrat, Blanquerna Ramon Llull University, Spain; Marcionetti Jenny, SUPSI; Schreiber Marc, Zurich University of Applied Sciences

Durée du projet: 01.09.2021 - 31.08.2025

Montant global du projet: 526'929 CHF

Statut: Ongoing

Early career researcher identity development: research within and beyond academia

Role: Partner

Requérant(e)s: Castello Badia, Montserrat, University Ramon Llull, Barcelona

Financement: Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities

Description du projet :

Cross-cultural study on early career researcher identity development and career trajectories

Research team within HES-SO: Skakni Isabelle

Partenaires académiques: Castello Badia, Montserrat, University Ramon Llull, Barcelona; Gallego, M., University of Deusto; Weise, C., Universidad Autonoma de Barcelona; Pyhältö, K., University of Helsinki; McAlpine, L., University of Oxford; Peltonen, J., Oulu University

Durée du projet: 01.09.2021 - 31.12.2023

Statut: Ongoing

Completed

Career competencies amongst early career researchers

Role: Main Applicant

Description du projet :

Career competencies amongst early career researchers (adaptation of a questionnaire)

Research team within HES-SO: Skakni Isabelle , Maggiori Christian

Partenaires académiques: Masdonati, Jonas, Université de Lausanne

Durée du projet: 02.01.2019 - 31.07.2021

Statut: Completed

PhD holders’ career decision-making

Role: Collaborator

Requérant(e)s: McAlpine, Lynn, University of Oxford

Financement: Erasmus+ programme & Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities

Description du projet :

UK & Swiss PhD holders' career decision-making

Research team within HES-SO: Skakni Isabelle

Partenaires académiques: McAlpine, Lynn, University of Oxford; Inouye, Kelsey, University of Oxford

Durée du projet: 02.01.2018 - 01.06.2020

Statut: Completed

Early career researchers’ identity development, Switzerland

Role: Main Applicant

Financement: Fonds de recherche du Québec-Société et culture (FRQSC)

Description du projet :

Early career researchers’ identity development in the Swiss context

Research team within HES-SO: Skakni Isabelle

Partenaires académiques: McAlpine, Lynn, University of Oxford

Durée du projet: 01.09.2016 - 30.09.2018

Statut: Completed

Early career researchers’ identity development, UK

Role: Partner

Requérant(e)s: McAlpine Lynn, University of Oxford

Financement: Erasmus+ programme & Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities

Description du projet :

Mixed-methods study about early career researchers' identity development in the UK context

Research team within HES-SO: Skakni Isabelle

Partenaires académiques: McAlpine Lynn, University of Oxford; Maria del Carmen, University of Vienna; Corcelles, Mariona, University Ramon Llull, Barcelona

Durée du projet: 01.09.2015 - 30.08.2017

Statut: Completed

2023

Preparing for the world outside academia: Avoiding organisational culture shock
Book chapter

Skakni Isabelle, Kelsey Inouye

Dans Eliott, Dely, Guccione, Kay, Bengtsen, Søren,  The Hidden Curriculum in Doctoral Education, and the Development of Researcher Independence.. 2023,  Basingstoke : Palgrave

Summary:

This chapter explores the challenges experienced by PhD holders from Switzerland and the UK as they transitioned to careers beyond academia. We build from an exploratory study that drew upon 16 semi-structured interviews with PhD holders from a range of disciplinary backgrounds who have been working in various non-academic sectors within the past 10 years. The results suggested that participants who entered non-academic roles directly after the PhD and who had few prior work experiences were more likely to experience what we call organisational culture shock—a mismatch between prior experiences in academia and the organisational culture and daily practices, which PhDs had to negotiate and adjust to when they entered non-academic workplaces. Given the increasing numbers of PhD holders working outside of academia due to limited positions and the demanding employment conditions that characterise much of academic culture, understanding the transition from PhD or post-doc to non-academic sectors is central to the Hidden Curriculum of doctoral education. If institutions are to prepare doctoral scholars for the multitude of available career paths, they must both communicate the reality of post-PhD career trajectories early on in PhD programmes and prepare doctoral scholars for work in non-academic organisational cultures. This is also critical to the development of researcher independence, as awareness of career options and how to mobilise one’s skills empowers PhD researchers to shape their futures in whatever sectors they choose.

2022

Ready for careers within and beyond academia ? :
Scientific paper ArODES
assessing career competencies amongst junior researchers

Isabelle Skakni, Christian Maggiori, Jonas Masdonati, Jos Akkermans

Higher Education Research Development,  2023, vol. 42, no. 4, pp. 968-983

Link to the publication

Summary:

This study examines the extent to which career competencies (knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to manage one’s own work and learning experiences to achieve the desired career progression) are prevalent amongst early career researchers (ECRs). We adapted the Career Competencies Questionnaire [Akkermans, J., Brenninkmeijer, V., Huibers, H., & Blonk, R. W. (2013). Competencies for the contemporary career: Development and preliminary validation of the career competencies questionnaire. Journal of Career Development, 40(3), 245–267] to ECRs’ training and career specificities, considering the two career tracks facing them: within and outside academia. This questionnaire was sent to PhD students and junior PhD holders in 16 countries (n = 727). Our results show that career competencies for within and outside academia are clearly contrasted. Furthermore, compared with their female counterparts, male participants generally reported stronger career competencies in preparation for careers both within and outside academia, while PhD students perceived having more career competencies in preparation for careers outside academia than PhD holders did. We also found a positive link between ECRs’ career competencies and their perceived employability, and those who perceived themselves as having strong career competencies were more likely to consider their current work meaningful. While most PhD holders pursue careers beyond academia, the concept of career competencies offers an innovative theoretical contribution to the field of ECRs’ development, by highlighting how this population perceives their preparedness for diverse professional paths.

The identity of the responsible researcher in education
Book chapter

Núria Suñé Soler, Carles Monereo, Skakni Isabelle

Dans Monereo Carles,  The Identity of Education Professionals: Positioning, Training, and Innovation. 2022,  Charlotte, NC: USA : IAP–Information Age Publishing

Summary:

This chapter proposes a reflection on the identity of the responsible researcher in education, as considered through the prism of the responsible research and innovation (RRI) framework. In a context in which new ways of governing and conducting research are sought to ensure more respectful, democratic, and impactful outputs in terms of societal well-being and progress, the core idea of the RRI framework is to open up research and innovation to a broader range of societal actors. While this framework represents a fruitful avenue by which to promote a performative dialogue among educational researchers, societal actors and stakeholders, we highlight specific barriers that arise in the full enactment of RRI among educational researchers. Drawing upon the Dialogical Self Theory, we examine the identity challenges that the RRI framework may pose for educational researchers. Then, we provide a guide to foster a “responsive dialogue” among researchers, social actors and stakeholders.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on early career researcher activity, development, career, and well-being: The state of the art
Scientific paper

Irina A. Lokhtina, Montserrat Castelló, Agata A. Lambrechts, Erika Löfström, Michelle K. McGinn, Skakni Isabelle, Inge C. M. van der Weijden

Studies in Graduate and Postdoctoral Education, 2022

Link to the publication

Summary:

The aim of this paper is to identify the documented effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on ECR activity, development, career prospects, and well-being.
This is a systematic literature review of English-language peer-reviewed studies published 2020–2021, which provided empirical evidence of the impact of the pandemic on early career researcher (ECR) activity and development. The search strategy involved (a) online databases (Scopus, Web of Science, and Overton); (b) well-established higher education journals (based on Scopus classification), and (c) references in the retained articles (snowballing). The final sample included 11 papers.
The evidence shows that ECRs have been affected in terms of (a) research activity, (b) researcher development, (c) career prospects, and (d) well-being. Although many negative consequences were identified, some promising learning practices have arisen; however, these opportunities were not always fully realised. The results raise questions about differential effects across fields and possible long-term consequences where some fields and some scholars may be worse off due to priorities established as societies struggle to recover.
There is a need for revised institutional and national policies to ensure that sufficient measures are implemented to support ECRs' research work in a situation where new duties and chores were added during the pandemic.
This paper provides insights into the impacts of the initial societal challenges of the pandemic on ECRs across disciplines that may have long-lasting effects on their academic development and well-being.

Ready for careers within and outside academia? Assessing career competencies amongst junior researchers
Scientific paper

Skakni Isabelle, Christian Maggiori, Jonas Masdonati, Jos Akkermans

Higher Education Research & Development, 2022

Link to the publication

Summary:

This study examines the extent to which career competencies (knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to manage one’s own work and learning experiences to achieve the desired career progression) are prevalent amongst early career researchers (ECRs). We adapted the Career Competencies Questionnaire (Akkermans et al., 2013) to ECRs’ training and career specificities, considering the two career tracks facing them: within and outside academia. This questionnaire was sent to PhD students and junior PhD holders in 16 countries (n = 727). Our results show that career competencies for within and outside academia are clearly contrasted. Furthermore, compared with their female counterparts, male participants generally reported stronger career competencies in preparation for careers both within and outside academia, while PhD students perceived having more career competencies in preparation for careers outside academia than PhD holders did. We also found a positive link between ECRs’ career competencies and their
perceived employability, and those who perceived themselves as having strong career competencies were more likely to consider their current work meaningful. While most PhD holders pursue careers beyond academia, the concept of career competencies offers an innovative theoretical contribution to the field of ECRs’ development, by highlighting how this population perceives their preparedness for diverse professional paths.

2021

Examining cross-national research teamwork: revealing rewards and challenges
Scientific paper

Lynn McAlpine, Skakni Isabelle, Anna Sala-Bubaré, Crista Weise, Kelsey Inouye

Qualitative Research Journal, 2021

Link to the publication

Summary:

Purpose-Teamwork has long featured in social science research. Further, with research increasingly "cross-national," communication becomes more complex, for instance, involving different cultures, languages and modes of communication. Yet, studies examining team communicative processes that can facilitate or constrain collaboration are rare. As a cross-national European team representing varied disciplines, experiences, languages and ethnicities, we undertook to examine our communication processes with the aim to promote better qualitative research practices.
Design/methodology/approach-Viewing reflection as a tool for enhancing workplace practices, we undertook a structured reflection. We developed an empirically derived framework about team communication, then used it to analyse our interaction practices and their relative effectiveness.
Findings-The results highlighted two under-examined influences, the use of different modes of communication for different purposes and the need for face-to-face communication to address a particularly challenging aspect of research, negotiating a shared coding scheme to analyse diverse cultural and linguistic qualitative data.
Practical implications-The study offers a procedure and concepts that others could use to examine their team communication.
Originality/value-The communicative processes that can constrain and facilitate effective cross-national research team collaboration are rarely examined. The results emphasise the need for careful negotiations around language, epistemologies, cultures and goals from the moment collaboration begins in formulating a project, through applying for grant funds, to when the last paper is published-timely in a context in which such work is increasingly expected.

Careers beyond the traditional: Integrating individual and structural factors for a richer account.
Scientific paper

Lynn McAlpine, Skakni Isabelle, Kelsey Inouye

European Journal of Higher Education, 2021

Link to the publication

Summary:

More than half of PhD graduates work outside academia. Yet we know little of the nature of their post-PhD careers and the conditions influencing them. Further, research to date tends to focus on either individual factors (e.g., graduate perceptions of PhD skills used) or structural factors (e.g., organizational interest in hiring PhDs). Few studies examine the intersection between individual and structural factors that actually influences career trajectories. Thus, this study was an exploratory examination of UK and Swiss non-traditional PhD careers in which we conceptually and empirically linked structural factors to individual experiences. The results provide a richer, more nuanced picture of PhD career trajectories, showing, for instance, how structural factors like distinct national economic climate and employment patterns intersected with individual factors like job-seeking strategies and job selection. The study’s originality lies in a narrative cross-case approach that merged empirical evidence from interviews with secondary data. We conclude by assessing the value of using such an integrative framework as well as suggesting areas for future research.

PhD holders entering non-academic workplaces: organisational culture shock
Scientific paper

Skakni Isabelle, Kelsey Inouye, Lynn McAlpine

Studies in Higher Education, 2021

Link to the publication

Summary:

This paper addresses the subjective experiences of PhD holders from Switzerland and the UK who pursue careers beyond academia. Drawing on the concepts of organisational culture and culture shock, we examined the challenges that characterise this passage from academia to non-academic workplaces. With an exploratory aim, we analysed 32 semi-structured interviews conducted with PhDs engaged in non-academic careers in private, public, or parapublic sectors for ten years or less. It emerged that, when they entered non-academic workplaces, half of our participants devoted a large portion of their time and energy to understanding a new organisational culture, including their workplaces' daily functioning, the values shared within their organisations, and the statuses to which they were assigned. This puzzling experience, which we define as organisational culture shock, was reported more frequently by those who entered non-academic workplaces directly after the PhD and those with little or no work experiences prior to the PhD. These findings contribute to the ongoing global conversation about how to prepare PhDs for careers beyond academia.

2020

Early career researchers making sense of their research experiences: A cross-role and cross-national analysis
Scientific paper

Anna Sala-Bubaré, Skakni Isabelle, Kelsey Inouye, Crista Weise, Lynn McAlpine

Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 2020

Link to the publication

Summary:

Early career researchers’ journey (i.e. doctoral researchers and post-PhDs) is increasingly challenging, but little is known about how they live and interpret their significant experiences, that is how they attribute meaning to these experiences and their associated feelings. Moreover, research about how doctoral researchers and post-PhDs deal differently with such experiences remains scarce, especially when accounting for the interpretation of significant experiences across countries. This paper explores how role (doctoral researchers or post-PhDs) and country (Spain, UK and Switzerland) can influence individuals’ interpretation of significant events. It draws on the most significant events reported by 544 early career researchers in two open-ended questions. Analyses revealed differences between roles only regarding the sense-making, especially in the future implications, and across countries in both the sense-making and the associated feelings. This interaction between role and cultural/workplace practices, is the most compelling, especially given the high mobility expected of post-PhDs.

PhD experience (and progress) is more than work: Life-work relations and reducing exhaustion (and cynicism)
Scientific paper

Lynn McAlpine, Skakni Isabelle, Kirsi Pyhältö

Studies in Higher Education, 2020

Link to the publication

Summary:

Prior studies have reported high levels of PhD stress resulting in exhaustion and cynicism related to negative institutional factors. Yet, we know little of the possible influence of personal lives on exhaustion/ cynicism. This mixed-methods study examines the interrelation. We drew on exhaustion, cynicism, life-work relation scales and free-write responses about managing life and work of 123 Swiss PhD students. Respondents typically reported positive life-work relations, with this experience particularly buffering exhaustion, which can lead to cynicism and possibly burnout. The analysis of free-write responses supported this view. Respondents reported they largely balanced/managed to balance life and work, with family most frequently referenced in this regard. Finally, we combined the scaled and free-write responses. Individuals, even if reporting exhaustion and negative aspects in their life-work relations, consistently reported being able to combine their career and life goals. This alignment may serve as a mechanism for buffering other life-work and institutional challenges.

L'expérience doctorale : état des lieux et propositions de structuration
Book

Denis Berthiaume, Mélanie Bosson, Verity Elston, Skakni Isabelle

2020,  Fribourg : DEVPRO,  102  p.

Link to the publication

What perspectives underlie ‘researcher identity’? A review of two decades of empirical studies
Scientific paper

Montserrat Castelló, Lynn McAlpine, Anna Sala-Bubaré, Kelsey Inouye, Skakni Isabelle

Higher Education, 2020

Link to the publication

Summary:

Over the past two decades, identity has emerged as a concept framing studies of early career researcher experience. Yet, identity is an amorphous concept, understood and used in a range of ways. This systematic review aimed to unpack the underpinnings of the notion of researcher identity. The final sample consisted of 38 empirical articles published in peer-reviewed journals in the last 20 years. Analyses focused on (a) identifying the dimensions used to define researcher identity, and (b) characterising the meta-theories—the underlying assumptions of the research—in relation to these dimensions. We identified four different stances towards researcher identity (clusters), based on variation on the identity dimensions in relation to the meta-theories. We characterised these as (1) transitioning among identities, (2) balancing identity continuity and change, (3) personal identity development through time and (4) personal and stable identity. These stances incorporate thought-provoking nuances and complex conceptualisations of the notion of researcher identity, for instance, that meta-theory was insufficient to characterise researcher identity stance. The contribution of the study is first to be able to differentiate four characterizations of researcher identity—important given that many studies had not clearly expressed a stance. The second is the potential of the four dimensions to help characterise identity, in past as well as future research—thus a useful tool for those working in this area. Many questions remain, but perhaps the biggest is to what extent and under what conditions is identity a productive notion for understanding early career researcher experience?

Career competencies amongst early career researchers: A response to contemporary uncertain work contexts?
Scientific paper

Skakni Isabelle, Jonas Masdonati, Christian Maggiori

ETH Learning and Teaching Journal, 2020 , vol.  2, no  2, pp.  125-130

Link to the publication

Summary:

In a context where the research career patterns are dramatically changing, it is increasingly difficult for early career researchers to anticipate and prepare for their future careers. In this paper, we examine this issue by drawing on data from three recent studies conducted with European early career researchers using qualitative and quantitative methods. Our findings highlight that beyond the research and generic skills these researchers have acquired throughout their academic paths, some of them also developed a contemporary type of meta-competency defined as career competency. The latter refers to reflexive communicative and behavioural skills, knowledge and abilities that help one to cope with uncertain professional contexts. The relevance of this type of competency for career development interventions is discussed, and further research perspectives are provided.

2019

Hanging tough: Post-PhD researchers dealing with career uncertainty
Scientific paper

Skakni Isabelle, María del Carmen Calatrava Moreno, Mariona Corcelles, Lynn McAlpine

Higher Education Research and Development, 2019

Link to the publication

Summary:

This study examines the impact of career uncertainty on post-PhD researchers’ experiences. Drawing on an identity-trajectory approach and a qualitative design, we analysed experiences of post-PhDs from the UK and Switzerland. Our findings show that in the course of their work experiences, career uncertainty takes two different forms: intellectual uncertainty and occupational uncertainty. On a daily basis, both forms strongly impact the participants’ work and personal lives and can limit their ability to plan for the future, restrict their developing research expertise and networks and induce tension in trying to reconcile work and personal lives. While often struggling with a blurred institutional status, participants ‘hang tough’ despite their uncertain situation, notably by clinging to their academic researcher identity. Contributing to the previous work on the increasing casualisation of post-PhD positions and the resulting challenges, our study offers new insights into how different aspects of career uncertainty influence post PhDs’ work and identity.

2018

Désacraliser la carrière universitaire: concilier compétences scientifiques, génériques et «de carrière» pour repenser les identités professionnelles en recherche.
Scientific paper

Skakni Isabelle

TransFormations-Recherches en éducation et formation des adultes., 2018

Link to the publication

Summary:

Dans un contexte où les carrières scientifiques se sont diversifiées et précarisées, il est de plus en plus difficile pour les chercheures en début de parcours d’anticiper leur avenir professionnel et de s’y préparer. Si de nombreuses études ont été réalisées jusqu’ici afin de mieux comprendre les enjeux de la formation et de l’insertion professionnelle des doctorantes, peu de travaux s’attachent à comprendre les effets de cette diversification et précarisation sur la construction de leur identité professionnelle. Pourtant, c’est notamment à travers la construction d’une image de soi en adéquation avec le rôle professionnel qu’il anticipe que l’individu en arrive à maîtriser les compétences propres à son champ de pratique. C’est aussi en fonction de ce soi professionnel anticipé qu’il oriente ses actions et fait des choix (Ashforth et Schinoff, 2016). Afin d’examiner cette question dans le cadre des parcours en recherche, une analyse exploratoire a été réalisée auprès de 98 doctorantes et 37 postdoctorantes suisse romandes. À partir d’un devis mixte, il s’agissait plus particulièrement de comprendre comment les compétences développées tout au long de leur parcours en recherche participent de la construction de leur identité professionnelle. Cette analyse révèle, d’une part, que le soi professionnel idéal de la majorité des participantes demeure celui de professeure d’université, et ce, même pour les personnes qui n’envisagent pas une carrière universitaire. D’autre part, il apparaît que les participantes tendent à développer, au fil des années, une forme relativement inédite de compétences que l’on peut qualifier de « compétences de carrière » (Akkermans et al., 2013). Ces dernières renvoient à une capacité réflexive leur permettant d’anticiper et d’orienter les suites de leur parcours, en réponse à un contexte professionnel marqué par l’incertitude et l’ambiguïté.

Doctoral studies as an initiatory trial: Expected and taken-for-granted practices that impede PhD students’ progress.
Scientific paper

Skakni Isabelle

Teaching in Higher Education, 2018

Link to the publication

Summary:

Intellectual abilities alone are not sufficient to successfully progress through doctoral studies. Research indicates that modes of training and the context and conditions in which doctoral studies take place also have a significant impact on the process. However, few studies examine how taken-for-granted and self-evident practices in academia likely impede students’ progress. To address this gap, a qualitative inquiry was conducted according to an instrumental case study design. Six human and social sciences faculties at a Canadian university were selected to define the case. In addition to analysing institutional documents pertaining to doctoral studies in this specific context, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 36 PhD students, 14 thesis supervisors and five academic administrators. Based on Giddens’ theory of structuration, the analysis revealed an enduring perception of doctoral studies as an ‘initiatory trial’ that affects both the formal and tacit organisation of the process, and consequently its underlying challenges.

Reasons, motives and motivations for completing a PhD: A typology of doctoral studies as a quest
Scientific paper

Skakni Isabelle

Studies in Graduate and Postdoctoral Education, 2018

Link to the publication

Summary:

Purpose This study aims to examine how PhD students with diverse profiles, intentions and expectations manage to navigate their doctoral paths within the same academic context under similar institutional conditions. Drawing on Giddens’ theory of structuration, this study explores how their primary reasons, motives and motivations for engaging in doctoral studies influence what they perceive as facilitating or constraining to progress, their strategies to face the challenges they encounter and their expectations regarding supervision. Design/methodology/approach Using a qualitative design, the analysis was conducted on a data subset from an instrumental case study (Stake, 2013) about PhD students’ persistence and progression. The focus is placed on semi-structured interviews carried out with 36 PhD students from six faculties in humanities and social sciences fields at a large Canadian university. Findings The analysis reveals three distinct scenarios regarding how these PhD students navigate their doctoral paths: the quest for the self; the intellectual quest; and the professional quest. Depending on their quest type, the nature and intensity of PhD students’ concerns and challenges, as well as their strategies and the support they expected, differed.

2017

Post-PhD researchers’ experiences: An emotionally rocky road
Scientific paper

Skakni Isabelle, Lynn McAlpine

Studies in Graduate and Postdoctoral Education, 2017

Link to the publication

Summary:

Purpose – This study aims to examine how post-PhD researchers construct their identities through significant work experiences as they endeavour to develop their research independence and a distinct scholarly profile. The authors were especially interested in how they made meaning of their important work experiences, the ones that were emotionally salient. Design/methodology/approach – Using a narrative approach, the analysis was conducted on a data subset from a large cross-national mixed-methods research project about early-career researchers’ identity development. The sample included 71 post-PhD researchers from the UK who completed an online survey. Ten of whom were also interviewed through a semi-structured protocol. Findings – Post-PhD researchers considered work experiences to be significant when those experiences helped them to gauge whether their self-representation as researchers was coherent and a further research career was practicable. The same type of significant event (e.g. publishing in a prestigious journal) could hold different meanings depending on who experienced it. Positive experiences helped to maintain their motivation and made them feel that they were consolidating their identities. Negative experiences tended to challenge their sense of identity and their sense of belonging to academia. Whereas positive feelings towards a significant experience appeared to persist over time, negative feelings seemed to fade or evolve through selfreflection, but ultimately had greater saliency. Originality/value – Few previous studies have been conducted on how emotionally powerful work experiences influence post-PhD researchers’ identity development. Besides highlighting how emotions and feelings, often-neglected aspects of identity development, influence the process, this study offers a constructive – and, in some ways, alternative – view of the impact that negative experiences have on their identity development.

2016

Entre attentes et réalité : la construction de l’identité professionnelle des diplômé.e.s de la formation professionnelle et technique
Scientific paper

Imane Zineb Lahrizi, Jonas Masdonati, Skakni Isabelle, Geneviève Fournier

Orientation Scolaire et Professionnelle, 2016

Link to the publication

Summary:

l’heure où les exigences du monde du travail se complexifient, la question de la qualificationdes jeunes revêt une importance capitale (Davis &  Foray, 2002  ; Trottier, 2006). Cettequalification, incarnée par le diplôme, contribue en effet à réduire les risques de précarisationdes parcours socioprofessionnels, mais aussi à augmenter la satisfaction et le bien-être autravail (Hamilton & Hamilton, 2006 ; Scarpetta & Sonnet, 2012). Au Québec, les formationsdites « professionnalisantes », telles que la formation professionnelle et la formation technique,jouent en ce sens un rôle central : elles permettent aux personnes qui les choisissent d’obtenirun diplôme, dans un laps de temps relativement court, qui leur reconnaît une expertiseet les autorise à exercer un métier donné. Au-delà de cet aspect qualifiant, la formationprofessionnelle et technique constitue un lieu de transition entre monde scolaire et mondedu travail et contribue de ce fait à la construction d’une identité professionnelle (Masdonati,2007). Un moment clé de ce processus de transition et de construction identitaire est celui del’insertion professionnelle, soit du passage de la formation à l’emploi. Durant cette période,notamment, les personnes confrontent leurs attentes envers le travail – construites tout au longde leur formation – à la réalité de l’exercice du métier (Porfeli, 2008). C’est ce moment sensiblede la construction de l’identité professionnelle des jeunes, analysé du point de vue des liensentre attentes et réalité de l’insertion, qui est au cœur de la présente contribution.

2013

S'engager ou ne pas s'engager dans la carrière professorale: points de vue de doctorants
Book chapter

Skakni Isabelle

Dans Fournier Geneviève, Bourassa Bruno & Gauthier Christine (Editeurs),  Les dynamiques d'insertion et d'intégration en emploi dans tous leurs états: événements-clé, transitions et bufurcations du cheminement professionnel. 2013,  Sainte-Foy, Canada : Presses de l’Université Laval.

2011

Socialisation disciplinaire et persévérance aux études doctorales : un modèle d'analyse des sphères critiques
Scientific paper

Skakni Isabelle

Initio, 2011

Link to the publication

2010

La session d'accueil et d'intégration: Un nouveau parcours d'accès à l'enseignement supérieur québécois
Scientific paper

Skakni Isabelle

Education et Sociétés, 2010

Link to the publication

2024

Navigating careers beyond academia: Empowering PhD graduates to meet the challenge
Conference

Skakni Isabelle, Kelsey Inouye

SIG24 Conference 2024: Researcher Independence., 24.09.2024 - 24.09.2024, Leiden, The Netherlands: University of Leiden.

Post-PhD careers landscape.
Conference

Skakni Isabelle

GSFN Summer Meet 2024 of the Global SNSF Fellows Network, 17.06.2024 - 17.06.2024, Bern, Switzerland: Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF)

2023

PhD graduates’ preparedness for careers beyond academia: The role of support communities.
Conference

Kereselidze Nata, Skakni Isabelle

20th Biennial Conference of the European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction (EARLI), 22.08.2023 - 26.08.2023, Thessaloniki, Greece: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

Valuing the PhD degree in non-academic workplaces: PhD holders and employers’ perceptions.
Conference

Parmentier Michaël, Kereselidze Nata, Kelsey Inouye, Skakni Isabelle, Laurence Fedrigo

Symposium What is a PhD worth beyond academia? Impact of the disciplinary field, 20th Biennial Conference of the European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction (EARLI)., 22.08.2023 - 26.08.2023, Thessaloniki, Greece: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

Symposium What is a PhD worth beyond academia? Impact of the disciplinary field
Conference

Skakni Isabelle

20th Biennial Conference of the European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction (EARLI), 22.08.2023 - 26.08.2023, Thessaloniki, Greece: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

Transitions in post-PhD careers
Conference

Inge Van der Weijden, Skakni Isabelle, Anna Sala Bubaré

Symposium Transitions in researcher education and careers, 20th Biennial Conference of the European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction (EARLI), 22.08.2023 - 26.08.2023, Thessaloniki, Greece: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

Quitter le monde universitaire par choix ou par dépit : histoires individuelles et enjeux institutionnels.
Conference

Skakni Isabelle

Dynamiques internationales des trajectoires des PhDs, 90e congrès de l’Acfas, 08.05.2023 - 12.05.2023, Montréal

2022

Ready for the next step? Guiding PhD holders in their preparation for careers beyond academia
Conference

Skakni Isabelle

Translating the research on post-PhD career trajectories into practice. International Doctoral Education Research Network (IDERN), 12.07.2022 - 12.07.2022, Online

2021

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on researcher activity and development.
Conference

Montserrat Castello Badia, Agatha Lambrechts, Irina Lokhtina, Erika Löfström, Michelle McGinn, Skakni Isabelle, Inge van der Weijden

19th Bennial Conference of the European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction (EARLI)., 23.08.2021 - 27.08.2021, Online

S’engager dans un doctorat en contexte de pandémie. Quels enjeux pour la santé psychologique des doctorant.es?
Conference

Skakni Isabelle

Les transitions interordres et intercycles en enseignement supérieur : regard sur la santé mentale des étudiant·es. Consortium d’animation sur la persévérance et la réussite en enseignement supérieur (CAPRES), 26.05.2021 - 26.05.2021, Online

Le co-encadrement de thèses en contexte européen : aperçu des principaux enjeux.
Conference

Skakni Isabelle

Colloque Encadrement aux cycles supérieurs : de la modélisation à l’action, 88e congrès de l’Association francophone pour le savoir (ACFAS), 04.05.2021, Organisé par l’Université de Sherbrooke et l’Université Bishop. Online.

Link to the conference

Summary:

Si l’importance de la relation d’encadrement dans la formation doctorale n’est plus à démontrer, le modèle d’encadrement traditionnel perd aujourd’hui du terrain au profit de modèles plus collectifs (Agné & Mörkenstam, 2018). Parmi ceux-ci, le co-encadrement, i.e. l’encadrement formel d’un.e doctorant.e par deux ou plusieurs professeur.e.s, est de plus en plus privilégié. Introduit à l’origine pour éviter les écueils liés à la dépendance d’un.e doctorant.e envers un.e encadrant.e unique (Pole, 1998), les enjeux du co-encadrement interpellent de plus en plus de chercheur.e.s et administrations universitaires. D’un côté, des études montrent les effets positifs du co-encadrement sur les délais de diplomation et le potentiel d’apprentissage qu’il offre aux doctorant.e.s (Guerin et al., 2015). De l’autre, des recherches soulignent les défis complexes de ce modèle, notamment : difficultés de communication entre co-encadrant.e.s et doctorant.e.s, demandes parfois contradictoires adressées au doctorant.e.s et enjeux de pouvoir entre les co-encadrant.e.s (Robertson, 2019). Cette communication porte sur les défis du co-encadrement de thèses tant pour les doctorant.e.s que les encadrant.e.s. Trois sources de données sont mobilisées: les résultats d’une recherche européenne sur l’expérience des doctorant.e.s, un corpus de textes institutionnels relatifs au co-encadrement et les constats issus d’ateliers pour doctorant.e.s et encadrant.e.s conduits en Espagne, en Finlande et en Suisse.

2019

PhD holders entering non-academic sectors: A culture shock.
Conference
In I. Skakni (Chair). Symposium Pursuing careers beyond academia: Motivations, challenges, and trajectories

Skakni Isabelle, Kelsey Inouye, Lynn McAlpine

18th Biennial Conference of the European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction (EARLI), 12.08.2019 - 16.08.2019, Aachen, Germany: RWTH Aachen University.

Devenir chercheur∙e: des hauts et des bas de l’expérience doctorale.
Conference
Colloque Enjeux de la relève en recherche : regards pluriels sur la réalité des étudiants-chercheurs,

Skakni Isabelle

87e congrès de l’Association francophone pour le savoir (ACFAS), 27.05.2019 - 31.05.2019, Gatineau, Canada: Université du Québec en Outaouais.

Chercheur∙e∙s en début de parcours et compétences de carrière: une réponse adaptative à des contextes professionnels précaires ?
Conference
In M. Kaddouri et F. Loiola (Chairs). Symposium Enjeux, tensions et pratiques autour de la notion et de l’approche par compétences.

Skakni Isabelle

87e congrès de l’Association francophone pour le savoir (ACFAS)., 27.05.2019 - 31.05.2019, Gatineau, Canada: Université du Québec en Outaouais.

Early career researchers’ meaning-making of research experiences: A cross-role analysis using cross-national data
Conference
In L. McAlpine (Chair). Symposium Findings and reflections from a cross-national cross-role (Ph.D., Post-Ph.D. researchers) research program: Possibilities and challenges.

Kelsey Inouye, Anna Sala-Bubabé, Skakni Isabelle, Crista Weise, Lynn McAlpine

American Educational Research Association (AERA) Annual Meeting, 05.04.2019 - 09.04.2019, Toronto, Canada: University of Toronto.

Effectively conducting cross-national research with cross-national teams: Trust, quality communication and cross-cultural sensitivity.
Conference
In L. McAlpine (Chair). Symposium Findings and reflections from a cross-national cross-role (Ph.D., Post-Ph.D. researchers) research program: Possibilities and challenges.

Lynn McAlpine, Kelsey Inouye, Skakni Isabelle, Anna Sala-Bubaré, Crista Weise

American Educational Research Association (AERA) Annual Meeting, 05.04.2019 - 09.04.2019, Toronto, Canada: University of Toronto.

Becoming a researcher: The most significant events that mark PhD students’ journeys.
Conference

Skakni Isabelle

Is it just me? Discussing mental health and the PhD experience., 30.01.2019 - 30.01.2019, London, UK: Queen Mary University of London.

2018

Early career researchers and academic writing: A love-hate relationship?
Conference

Skakni Isabelle

16th International Conference of the EARLI special interest group on writing., 29.08.2018 - 31.08.2018, Antwerp, Belgium: University of Antwerp.

2017

Doctorate as a quest: PhD students purposively navigating their doctoral paths.
Conference

Skakni Isabelle

17th Biennial Conference of the European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction (EARLI)., 29.08.2017 - 02.09.2017, Tampere, Finland: University of Tampere.

Reading the map of post-PhDs’ academic relations.
Conference

Skakni Isabelle, María del Carmen Calatrava Moreno, Mariona Corcelles, Lynn McAlpine

17th Biennial Conference of the European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction (EARLI)., 29.08.2017 - 02.09.2017, Tampere, Finland: University of Tampere.

Désacraliser la carrière académique: concilier compétences scientifiques, génériques et «de carrière» pour repenser les identités professionnelles en recherche.
Conference
In M. Kaddouri et F. Loiola (Chairs). Symposium De quelques enjeux de la formation doctorale: quelles compétences pour quels devenirs des doctorants ?

Skakni Isabelle

15e rencontres du Réseau international de recherche en éducation et en formation (REF)., 04.07.2017 - 04.07.2017, Paris, France : Conservatoire national des arts et métiers (CNAM).

How to stay ‘objective’ (and not become depressed!) when researching your peers: The journey of a junior researcher analysing junior researchers’ journeys.
Conference

Skakni Isabelle

Oxford Department of Education Qualitative Methods Hub., 18.05.2017 - 18.05.2017, Oxford, UK: University of Oxford, Department of Education.

2016

Formation à la recherche ou épreuve initiatique? Désacraliser les études doctorales pour mieux préparer la relève scientifique.
Conference

Skakni Isabelle

Journée sur la persévérance aux études doctorales de l’Université Laval., 19.08.2016 - 19.08.2016, Québec, Canada : Université Laval.

La formation doctorale en sciences de l’humain et du social: entre enjeux individuels et obstacles structurels.
Conference

Skakni Isabelle

29e Congrès de l'Association Internationale de Pédagogie Universitaire (AIPU)., 06.06.2016 - 09.06.2016, Lausanne, Suisse : Université de Lausanne.

Les études doctorales en sciences de l’humain et du social: formation à la recherche ou épreuve initiatique?
Conference
In M. Kaddouri et F. Loiola (Chairs). Symposium La formation doctorale. Pratiques d’encadrement et postures de recherche des encadrants.

Skakni Isabelle

84e congrès de l’Association francophone pour le savoir (ACFAS)., 09.05.2016 - 13.05.2016, Montréal, Canada : UQAM.

2014

Les enjeux de l’insertion dans la carrière scientifique en sciences humaines et sociales: regards croisés.
Conference

Skakni Isabelle

Congrès international de L’Association internationale en orientation scolaire et professionnelle (AIOSP)., 03.06.2014 - 06.06.2014, Québec, Canada : Centre des congrès.

Progresser dans la formation doctorale en sciences humaines et sociales: enjeux individuels et obstacles structurels.
Conference

Skakni Isabelle

82e congrès de l’Association francophone pour le savoir (ACFAS)., 12.05.2014 - 16.05.2014, Montréal, Canada : Université Concordia.

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