3: A Needs Assessment of Doctoral Candidates

A PhD degree is extremely important to an individual as it is the highest academic degree one can achieve. Doctoral education is equally important to universities as it is the highest degree the institute can confer upon students. It is a matter of the institute's academic reputation and contributes to the institution's research output. Once seen as a gateway to an academic career, doctoral education has evolved in its nature and purpose over the last few decades owing to market forces, massification and commercialization of education. This chapter briefly touches upon some of the worldwide trends in doctoral studies which need to be urgently addressed in the Indian context to improve the supervision of doctoral candidates.