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SkIlls Perception Inventory of End-stage Doctoral students

We have developed a bespoke questionnaire to capture the views of late-stage, science, engineering and medical discipline PhD students on a programme of transferable skills development.
Institution(s):
Imperial College London
Region(s):
London
Date first submitted:
25 Mar 2010
Date last modified:
17 Apr 2010
Relationship to RDF:
  • Domain A: Knowledge and intellectual abilities
  • Domain B: Personal effectiveness
  • Personal Qualities
  • Self-management
  • Domain C: Research governance and organisation
  • Research management
  • Domain D: Engagement, influence and impact
  • Working with others
  • Communication and dissemination
Focus:
Audience:
  • Postgraduate researchers
Range:
  • Institution
Impact Level 2: Learning

Evidence of change of attitude, including improved knowledge and increased confidence.

Rationale, aims and outcomes
What is the rationale for doing this?
How does it fit with institutional strategy?
What are the main features of the provision?
What are the aims and expected outcomes?

The questionnaire has been developed as a follow up the original SKIPI questionnaire (SKIlls Perception Inventory) which was reported previously [practice ID 272]. 

SKIPI has proved successful as a quantitative measure of course impact and the follow up questionnaire was dubbed SKIPIED (SKIlls Perception Inventory of End-stage Doctoral students).

SKIPIED includes the original SKIPI questionnaire plus additional items, to explore ‘distance travelled' in skills development since commencement of doctorate and factors impacting on skills development.

The results showed that most students report a positive impact from having taken part in transferable skills initiatives and that they have a positive attitude towards them. Participants report an enduring positive impact on their behaviour and consider that the training meets their perceived needs as they progress as researchers. They understand its benefits and they choose to attend well beyond the compulsory requirement.

However, amongst the population as a whole, there were differences in views. For example, it was found that females, overseas students and those mainly motivated to do the PhD by career-related reasons attach the greatest importance to such opportunities to develop transferable skills. There is also some evidence that the provision of a high quality programme of transferable skills training contributes to maintaining the high reputation of this institution in the opinion of the research students questioned.

Engagement
Are there any pre-requisites for engagement, e.g. levels of skill, years of experience, essential pre-activities?
How many participate in each 'activity'?

All research students who registered between 1 April 2005 and 1 October 2006 were invited to participate.

Evaluation: benefits, challenges and next steps
How do you monitor effectiveness?
Who do you seek feedback from?
Do you have benchmarks?

SKIPIED will provide some validation for our research skills development course.

Encouraging the students to complete SKIPIED fully.

Further research likely to be generated.

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Owner

Ms Sally Baker