Doctoral academics' roles in Philippine higher education institutions: Insights from a qualitative study

Mark B. Ulla
Walailak University, Thailand
Veronico N. Tarrayo
University of Santo Tomas, Philippines
William F. Perales
Walailak University, Thailand
Rudolf T. Vecaldo
Cagayan State University, Philippines

In educational research, the literature reveals disparities in how academics view their academic roles. Through semi-structured interviews, this study explores how a group of 53 Philippine higher education academics view themselves as doctoral academics and their roles in academic publishing. Overall, doctoral academics (which, in the present study, refers to academics who hold doctoral degrees) play important roles both in classroom teaching and in academic publishing. Our thematic analysis of interview responses indicated that doctoral academics in Philippine higher education institutions (HEIs) ascribed to two general roles: as teachers and researchers. In terms of academic publishing, it was found that doctoral academics fulfil four key roles: producers of new knowledge, research mentors and collaborators, expert reviewers of scholarly articles, and prime-movers of social change. The study includes implications for policy-making and curriculum development with respect to research pedagogy and academic publishing in Philippine HEIs.
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Authors: Mark B. Ulla is an assistant professor and the head of research at the School of Languages and General Education, Walailak University, Thailand. His research interests include teacher education, EFL teaching, language education and studies, and teacher training. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1005-5120 Email: mark.ul@mail.wu.ac.th Veronico N. Tarrayo is an assistant professor of the Department of English, Faculty of Arts and Letters of the University of Santo Tomas, Philippines. His research interests include stylistics, English language teaching (ELT), gender perspective in ELT, discourse analysis, and teacher beliefs/ideologies. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7466-0616 Email: vntarrayo@ust.edu.ph William F. Perales is a graduate of Bachelor of Arts in English at Mindanao State University, General Santos City, Philippines. He is currently finishing his Master of Arts in English language teaching while teaching at the Language Institute of Walailak University, Thailand. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8293-4362 Email: liamperales16@gmail.com Rudolf T. Vecaldo obtained his EdD degree at the University of Saint Louis at Tuguegarao in the Philippines. At present, he is an associate professor of the College of Teacher Education, Cagayan State University-Andrews Campus. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1723-3487 Email: rudolfvecaldo@gmail.com Please cite as: Ulla, M. B., Tarrayo, V. N., Perales, W. F. & Vecaldo, R. T. (2021). Doctoral academics' roles in Philippine higher education institutions: Insights from a qualitative study. Issues in Educational Research, 31(3), 972-989. http://www.iier.org.au/iier31/ulla.pdf