Open AccessThe “Journey” of Doctoral Study in Applied Psychology: Lived Experiences of Students in Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology
Author(s) -
Jason S. Frydman,
Linda Cheung,
Joseph G. Ponterotto
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
the qualitative report
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2160-3715
DOI - 10.46743/2160-3715/2019.3393
Subject(s) - graduate students , psychology , qualitative research , phenomenology (philosophy) , pedagogy , lived experience , interpretative phenomenological analysis , counseling psychology , graduate education , sociology , applied psychology , social science , psychotherapist , epistemology , philosophy
A qualitative methodology was adopted to explore the lived experiences of doctoral level students in applied psychology. A total of 15 students ranging in age from 24 to 43, who were at varying levels of their doctoral education, participated in individual semi-structured interviews exploring themes related to influences for the pursuit of graduate study, experiences in their program of study, and general reflections of the graduate school journey. All interviews were conducted from a constructivist-interpretivist model, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using a phenomenological coding approach (Creswell, 2012; Moustakas, 1994). Emergent broad themes included antecedents leading to graduate study, current experience of doctoral education, and reflections on the doctoral experience. Implications for future research are discussed and recommendations for graduate programs based on findings are provided.