Three years in a doctoral cohort: A survivalist's guide

Abstract

This narrative study examines the relationships and experiences of twelve members of a doctoral cohort in the field of educational administration. Although many studies on the success of the cohort model have been conducted, this study offers an uncommon viewpoint as the researcher is himself a member of the cohort from the first day of coursework through the last day, three years later. As such, one-twelfth of the relationships and experiences within the cohort are understood and narrated through the first-person experiences of the researcher, with the other eleven members of the cohort being given equal time and equal voice in second-person narration. The study was completed at the end of a three-year period of coursework and individuals of the cohort, the original twelve that both started and finished their degrees as part of the cohort, were interviewed individually as well as in a focus group regarding their memories, experiences, and relationships. Social network theory was used as the theoretical framing for the analysis, which surfaced three themes: the process of joining the cohort, the support cohort members provided one another, and the experiences and relationships that developed from being a member of a three-year doctoral cohort. Conclusions are drawn involving the success, as defined by the completion of the coursework, of the cohort being tied directly to the relationships that were formed by cohort members. Implications involving the establishment of relationships among cohort members are shown, and other recommendations for further studies are given.