2026 Theses Doctoral

Transitions: Voices of Six EdD Graduates Reflecting on Their Doctoral Journeys

Seol, Katherine D.

While prior research has examined doctoral students’ experiences during their programs, less is known about how graduates make sense of the doctoral journey as a whole with the benefit of time and reflection. This qualitative case study explored how six EdD graduates from a cohort-based program in the Northeastern United States understood their doctoral experiences at least two years after graduation, with particular attention to development and transition.

Guided by William Bridges’ transition theory, this study examined how participants experienced endings, the neutral zone, and new beginnings during and beyond the doctoral process. Data were collected through two in-depth semi-structured interviews (approximately 90 minutes each) with each participant and analyzed using narrative and cross-case approaches to identify patterns in participants’ meaning-making over time.

Findings suggest that the doctoral journey functioned as a developmental and psychological transition characterized by internal shifts in identity, voice, and sense of legitimacy. The dissertation phase emerged as a prolonged “neutral zone,” characterized by uncertainty, ambiguity, and challenges in navigating expectations—particularly within advisor relationships. The extent to which participants experienced support within relational and institutional contexts—conceptualized in this study as “holding environments”—shaped how manageable or destabilizing these transitions felt. In addition, participants’ accounts indicate that integration of the doctoral experience into their identities continued well beyond graduation and was often recognized retrospectively.

These findings suggest that doctoral programs may benefit from more explicitly framing the doctorate as a developmental transition, strengthening relational support structures to help students through the messy middle, and creating opportunities for reflection during and after the program. This study contributes to a growing understanding of doctoral education as a developmental process shaped by the interplay of inner experience and external conditions of support.