Obeying, following, imitating, and hoping to shape the academic habitus: Supervisory interactions and doctoral students’ academic cultural (re)production

Jian Li (), Eryong Xue (), Yunshu He, Xinyi Wang and Ran Wu
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Jian Li: Beijing Normal University
Eryong Xue: Beijing Normal University
Yunshu He: Beijing Normal University
Xinyi Wang: Beijing Normal University
Ran Wu: Beijing Normal University

Palgrave Communications, 2025, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: Abstract Supervisory interactions play an important role in the academic development of doctoral students. Previous studies have recognized and examined the role of supervision in doctoral students’ academic socialization. However, there are few empirical longitudinal studies to investigate the dynamic process of doctoral’ students’ academic capital accumulation, and the role of their supervisory interaction process. To address this gap, this study used a semi-collaborative mixed ethnographic approach to explore how supervisory interactions mediate doctoral students’ academic cultural (re)production. Data collection spanned a 3-year period and involved several methods: instant messaging between researchers and participants, face-to-face interviews, and online and offline focus groups. Informed by Bourdieu’s cultural reproduction theory, data were subjected to thematic analysis. The analyses identified three dimensions in doctoral supervisory interactions by which students accumulated academic “capital”: inheritance, dependence, and imitation. Confrontation and recognition are embedded in gaming in the academic “field”. Accumulation and internalization are integrated to shape the academic “habitus”. This study contributes new insights into doctoral supervision interaction as a part of academic cultural (re)production process. The findings have important implications for understanding the process of doctoral supervision and the accumulation of doctoral students’ academic capital contextually.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1057/s41599-025-05735-6

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