– The purpose of this paper is to offer a provisional framework for researcher development in contexts where postgraduate research education is developing.
– This is a reflective essay. The author draws out lessons from his research education initiatives in India and Malaysia spread over a decade (2003-2013). The lessons are based on favourable and unfavourable processes which affected those initiatives. The processes are then synthesised in two stages, to arrive at a provisional framework.
– The framework is presented as a cyclical process blending five focal themes: identity, connections, network, skills and roles. Implementing such a process would require sustained institutional collaboration and a supportive policy environment.
– Given the limited experiential basis of this reflective exercise, the framework should be considered provisional in nature. There is a need to discuss and assess the framework in other contexts.
– Countries such as India and Malaysia have set ambitious targets for doctoral completion. Well-endowed scholarships have been put in place. However, doctoral programmes are still not yet widely popular. A need exists to direct policy debates towards the kinds of researchers needed and how to develop those kinds of researchers.
– The paper presents a first-hand reflective account of the opportunities and constraints of research education in India and Malaysia. The exercise has produced a provisional framework for researcher development that could be adapted and assessed in other contexts.
