Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Doctoral dissertations in human geography from Swedish universities 1884-2015: demographics, formats and productivity

Niedomysl, Thomas LU ; Prowse, Martin LU and Lund Hansen, Anders LU orcid (2018) In Journal of Geography in Higher Education 42(3). p.337-355
Abstract
The doctoral dissertation is a key component of postgraduate education that plays an important role for knowledge production and hence the development of a discipline. Swedish human geography currently lacks an overview of dissertations. This article fills this knowledge gap by reporting findings from a unique database covering all doctoral dissertations between 1884 and 2015. The paper focuses on the demographics of the authors (age, gender), the format of the dissertation and explores productivity variations for authors of compilation dissertations. The findings show a notable increase in the number of doctoral dissertations since the late 1960s but a decreasing share of doctoral dissertations in the social sciences since the 1970s. In... (More)
The doctoral dissertation is a key component of postgraduate education that plays an important role for knowledge production and hence the development of a discipline. Swedish human geography currently lacks an overview of dissertations. This article fills this knowledge gap by reporting findings from a unique database covering all doctoral dissertations between 1884 and 2015. The paper focuses on the demographics of the authors (age, gender), the format of the dissertation and explores productivity variations for authors of compilation dissertations. The findings show a notable increase in the number of doctoral dissertations since the late 1960s but a decreasing share of doctoral dissertations in the social sciences since the 1970s. In terms of demographics, we show that while the age of the authors remains relatively stable, the gender-balance has improved considerably. In terms of format, the monograph has rapidly given way to compilation dissertations, which now account for half the number of dissertations. More than 70% of all dissertations are now published in English. Statistical results suggest that the likelihood of completing a compilation dissertation is greater if the doctoral candidate is young and if attending Umeå University. But individual author productivity for compilation dissertations is mainly influenced by unobservables. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Journal of Geography in Higher Education
volume
42
issue
3
pages
337 - 355
publisher
Routledge
external identifiers
  • scopus:85041913514
ISSN
0309-8265
DOI
10.1080/03098265.2018.1436535
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
18a09256-0d4f-42ea-a94d-bd717363a4fd
date added to LUP
2017-11-22 09:02:01
date last changed
2024-01-14 10:29:36
@article{18a09256-0d4f-42ea-a94d-bd717363a4fd,
  abstract     = {{The doctoral dissertation is a key component of postgraduate education that plays an important role for knowledge production and hence the development of a discipline. Swedish human geography currently lacks an overview of dissertations. This article fills this knowledge gap by reporting findings from a unique database covering all doctoral dissertations between 1884 and 2015. The paper focuses on the demographics of the authors (age, gender), the format of the dissertation and explores productivity variations for authors of compilation dissertations. The findings show a notable increase in the number of doctoral dissertations since the late 1960s but a decreasing share of doctoral dissertations in the social sciences since the 1970s. In terms of demographics, we show that while the age of the authors remains relatively stable, the gender-balance has improved considerably. In terms of format, the monograph has rapidly given way to compilation dissertations, which now account for half the number of dissertations. More than 70% of all dissertations are now published in English. Statistical results suggest that the likelihood of completing a compilation dissertation is greater if the doctoral candidate is young and if attending Umeå University. But individual author productivity for compilation dissertations is mainly influenced by unobservables.}},
  author       = {{Niedomysl, Thomas and Prowse, Martin and Lund Hansen, Anders}},
  issn         = {{0309-8265}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{07}},
  number       = {{3}},
  pages        = {{337--355}},
  publisher    = {{Routledge}},
  series       = {{Journal of Geography in Higher Education}},
  title        = {{Doctoral dissertations in human geography from Swedish universities 1884-2015: demographics, formats and productivity}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03098265.2018.1436535}},
  doi          = {{10.1080/03098265.2018.1436535}},
  volume       = {{42}},
  year         = {{2018}},
}