The Experience of Multilingual Doctoral Students Related to Academic Success: A Descriptive Qualitative Study

When multilingual students face the challenge of writing a doctoral capstone or dissertation, delays in academic progress may occur. The aim of this study was to identify writing challenges multilingual doctoral students face and provide recommendations regarding learner-centered resources to support timely academic success, as literature regarding multilingual students and language diversity in the doctoral environment is limited. A qualitative descriptive design was used for this study, and six multilingual DNP and PhD alumni participated. Data were collected using semi-structured audio interviews and analyzed using iterative content analysis. The findings support the need for community and culture to support language identity and doctoral writing development. Findings also support that early diagnostics of writing issues and opportunities for editorial feedback help support multilingual doctoral students. Findings also suggest a need for faculty and academic team development regarding the impacts of language diversity and culture on academic writing. Ultimately the goal is to help all graduate students preserve and share their identity in their writing.