The importance of critical reflexivity in a professional business doctorate

Yourston, Douglas ORCID: 0009-0007-4954-119X and Bown, Gerald Robin ORCID: 0000-0001-7793-108X (2024) The importance of critical reflexivity in a professional business doctorate. Reflective Practice, 25 (6). pp. 839-859. doi:10.1080/14623943.2024.2412870

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Abstract

The focus of this study is to research the importance of critical reflectivity in practice-based management research. To achieve this, this paper seeks to demonstrate how candidates on the Doctor in Business Administration (DBA) programme at the University of Gloucestershire, have managed to integrate the dynamic tensions associated with ‘real life’ practice with their scholarly activities. It contends that rather than applying a Cartesian logic to education, the interplay of theory and practice can provide an essential component for studyat a doctoral level. The proposal here is that it is no longer necessary to maintain the thinking that scholarship and ‘real-life’ practice need to have a critical reflectivity ethos embedded into the candidate’s journey throughout the programme. Adopting a qualitative approach, 12 candidates at various stages of their professional doctorate journey were interviewed, including 5 at the submission or viva stage. To inform the interviews the research drew on Heidegger’s three physical placements of ‘ready to hand’, ‘present to us’ and ‘mitsein’ or ‘being with others’ to contextualise the candidates’ experiences. This was also viewed in terms of anticipatory resoluteness. This study also highlights that the DBA, being a practice-based doctorate, needs to embrace the importance of co-production.

Item Type:	Article
Article Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Professional Doctorates; Critical Reflexivity; Real life practice; Co-production
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) L Education > L Education (General)
Divisions:	Schools and Research Institutes > School of Business, Computing and Social Sciences
Depositing User:	Douglas Yourston
Date Deposited:	30 Oct 2024 11:30
Last Modified:	18 Dec 2024 10:30
URI:	https://eprints.glos.ac.uk/id/eprint/14415

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