The Academic Profession in Canada: Successful Socialization to the Scholarly Role

There is little research on the socialization of doctoral students in Canada. Using survey data collected from 64 Canadian universities for the 2018 Academic Professions in the Knowledge Society project, this paper explores the reported doctoral experience of full-time academic faculty in Canadian universities who were "successfully" socialized to the role of scholar, to find potential factors affecting doctoral experience and career progression. This paper suggests that financial and faculty support are key to doctoral success. With disciplinary nuance alive and thriving, many contemporary doctoral students may be subject to unfair disadvantages, potentially one of the underlying reasons for high attrition from doctoral programs. Results indicate that teaching continues to be an overlooked aspect of doctoral training in favour of research; the associated faculty support which often accompanies research, along with the potential for funding for the research-related activity, may be significant factors affecting socialization in Canadian doctoral programs.