Programas de Doctorado en Educación: Retos, Avances y Perspectivas Internacionales

Verónica Riquelme Soto; Gemma Cortijo Ruiz; María José Galvis Doménech

doi:10.31637/epsir-2025-2491

Authors

Verónica Riquelme Soto Universitat de València https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0737-7559
Gemma Cortijo Ruiz Universitat de València https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1729-7114
María José Galvis Doménech Universitat de València https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0116-7905

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31637/epsir-2025-2491

Keywords:

Higher education, Education, Doctoral Program, Mobility, Employability, Training, Focus group, Thematic analysis

Abstract

Introduction: This work presents the findings of a qualitative study based on the experiences of 30 Doctoral students of the Education program in six European countries: Greece, Romania, Hungary, Estonia, the United Kingdom and Spain. Through their participation in the International Doctoral Training Program Autumn, developed by different European universities and entities, two main objectives were achieved: identify the differences and similarities between the various doctoral programs in Education, and understand the main challenges faced during this training stage. Methodology: The method used to collect data was the focus group. The participants' interventions were carefully transcribed and subsequently analyzed, allowing a critical evaluation of the arguments presented and the formulation of relevant insights about the doctoral process. Results: The results obtained through the thematic analysis of the discussion groups noted notable organizational and curricular variations between the doctoral programs. Conclusions: The study's conclusions reinforce the need to promote adjustments in curricula to improve the educational experience and research effectiveness, particularly highlighting the importance of a flexible approach to the changing needs of doctoral students.

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Author Biographies

Verónica Riquelme Soto, Universitat de València

Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational Theory (University of Valencia). She was a Research Trainee in the same department after obtaining a FPU scholarship. She studied a Bachelor's Degree in Social Education, followed by a Master's Degree in Social and Educational Action, which she completed with the Extraordinary Award for Academic Excellence. She completed a residency at London Metropolitan University and completed her PhD in Education at the University of Valencia. Her research focuses on family and child protection, along with the study of the "Learning to Learn" competency in Higher Education.

Gemma Cortijo Ruiz, Universitat de València

Early Childhood Education teacher and doctoral candidate in the Education program at the Faculty of Philosophy and Educational Sciences at the University of Valencia. She is currently part of the research staff in training through the "UV Talent Attraction" grant and participates in the group's research project on the learning-to-learn competency. Her line of research focuses on the capabilities approach and its role in promoting the principles of human development in education. The main objective of her thesis is to analyze to what extent the learning-to-learn competency in the context of Higher Education integrates and contributes to the implementation of the capabilities approach to human development in the field of Social Sciences.

María José Galvis Doménech, Universitat de València

Assistant Professor at the University of Valencia. She teaches Criminal Investigation: Criminological Profile and Report in the Criminology degree and the double degree in Law and Criminology. She completed her doctoral thesis on Jihadist Terrorism, under the supervision of Dr. Vicente Garrido and Dr. Javier Guardiola. She obtained a FPU grant for the training of university professors and, as a complement to her specialization in Jihadist Terrorism, completed an international doctoral stay at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. She is the first graduating class in Criminology at the University of Valencia and has received an extraordinary award for the Master's Degree in Criminology and Security from the same university. Her research activity has been published in various articles and book chapters related to other areas of Criminology and Educational Sciences.

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