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Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration and Scholarly Independence in Multidisciplinary Learning Environments at Doctoral Level and Beyond

Brodin, Eva LU orcid and Avery, Helen LU (2020) In Minerva 58(3). p.409-433
Abstract
The aim of this study is to investigate how patterns of collaboration and scholarly independence are related to early stage researchers’ development in two multidisciplinary learning environments at a Swedish university. Based on interviews with leaders, supervisors, doctoral students, and post docs, results show how early stage researchers’ development is conditioned by their relative positions in time (career stage) and space (geographical and epistemic position). Through the theoretical notions of ‘epistemic living space’ and ‘developmental networks’, four ways of experiencing the multidisciplinary learning environment were distinguished. Overall, the environments provided a world of opportunities, where the epistemic living space... (More)
The aim of this study is to investigate how patterns of collaboration and scholarly independence are related to early stage researchers’ development in two multidisciplinary learning environments at a Swedish university. Based on interviews with leaders, supervisors, doctoral students, and post docs, results show how early stage researchers’ development is conditioned by their relative positions in time (career stage) and space (geographical and epistemic position). Through the theoretical notions of ‘epistemic living space’ and ‘developmental networks’, four ways of experiencing the multidisciplinary learning environment were distinguished. Overall, the environments provided a world of opportunities, where the epistemic living space entailed many possibilities for cross-disciplinary collaboration and development of scholarly independence among peers. However, depending on the members’ relative positions in time and space, this world became an alien world for the post docs who had been forced to become “over-independent” and find collaborators elsewhere. Moreover, it became an avoided world for absent mono-disciplinary supervisors and students who embodied “non-collective independence”, away from the environments’ community. By contrast, a joint world emerged for doctoral students located in the environment, which promoted their “independent positioning” and collaborative ambitions. Thus, early stage researchers’ collaboration and development of scholarly independence were optimised in a converged learning space, where the temporal and spatial conditions were integrated and equally conducive for learning. Based on these results, the authors provide suggestions for how to improve the integration of scholars who tend to develop away from the community because of their temporal and spatial positions. (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
keywords
Doctoral students, Post docs, Collaboration, Scholarly independence, Interdisciplinary, Transdisciplinary
categories
Higher Education
in
Minerva
volume
58
issue
3
pages
25 pages
publisher
Springer
external identifiers
  • scopus:85079784245
ISSN
1573-1871
DOI
10.1007/s11024-020-09397-3
project
Scholarly development in interdisciplinary graduate schools
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
96470bf3-b793-42ce-84ae-3ac9ff24bb2a
date added to LUP
2020-01-29 19:37:24
date last changed
2023-10-07 23:31:33
@article{96470bf3-b793-42ce-84ae-3ac9ff24bb2a,
  abstract     = {{The aim of this study is to investigate how patterns of collaboration and scholarly independence are related to early stage researchers’ development in two multidisciplinary learning environments at a Swedish university. Based on interviews with leaders, supervisors, doctoral students, and post docs, results show how early stage researchers’ development is conditioned by their relative positions in time (career stage) and space (geographical and epistemic position). Through the theoretical notions of ‘epistemic living space’ and ‘developmental networks’, four ways of experiencing the multidisciplinary learning environment were distinguished. Overall, the environments provided a world of opportunities, where the epistemic living space entailed many possibilities for cross-disciplinary collaboration and development of scholarly independence among peers. However, depending on the members’ relative positions in time and space, this world became an alien world for the post docs who had been forced to become “over-independent” and find collaborators elsewhere. Moreover, it became an avoided world for absent mono-disciplinary supervisors and students who embodied “non-collective independence”, away from the environments’ community. By contrast, a joint world emerged for doctoral students located in the environment, which promoted their “independent positioning” and collaborative ambitions. Thus, early stage researchers’ collaboration and development of scholarly independence were optimised in a converged learning space, where the temporal and spatial conditions were integrated and equally conducive for learning. Based on these results, the authors provide suggestions for how to improve the integration of scholars who tend to develop away from the community because of their temporal and spatial positions.}},
  author       = {{Brodin, Eva and Avery, Helen}},
  issn         = {{1573-1871}},
  keywords     = {{Doctoral students; Post docs; Collaboration; Scholarly independence; Interdisciplinary; Transdisciplinary}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{3}},
  pages        = {{409--433}},
  publisher    = {{Springer}},
  series       = {{Minerva}},
  title        = {{Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration and Scholarly Independence in Multidisciplinary Learning Environments at Doctoral Level and Beyond}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11024-020-09397-3}},
  doi          = {{10.1007/s11024-020-09397-3}},
  volume       = {{58}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}