The PuRPOSE partners are ready to start the focus groups as the first step of their study.
Phase 1 of the PuRPOSE project aims to understand what motivates or prevents students to consider a PhD after their studies in order to further adapt the information and training offer of the partner universities.
The partners suggested that the representation that students have of a PhD, considering elements such as the perceived reality of the work of a researcher as well as other activities carried by PhD students, or the financial aspects of doing a PhD, is of primary importance regarding their motivation to engage. Enshrined in the theoretical framework of the Planned Behaviour, thought by the social psychologist Icek Ajzen, the methodology developed under the leadership of the University of Montpellier includes first a qualitative study, led among current PhD students and supervisors in the 3 universities member of the PuRPOSE consortium, to formulate working hypotheses as regards to the attitude, the subjective norms, and the perceived behavioural control linked to the decision to engage in a PhD.
With the interview of stakeholders of the PhD in three different countries, the partners intend to gather valuable qualitative data which will be present in a report, and then to develop a questionnaire targeting MA students. The quantitative date extracted from the answers to this questionnaire will then serve as a basis to tailor-make the information and content of the PuRPOSE training programme.
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