A pilot scale explores doctoral students’ responses to adversity

Updated Sep 07, 2026

A pilot study by Dimitra Kokotsaki explores how doctoral students respond to setbacks through a scenario-based resilience scale. Its contribution is an exploratory measurement instrument; it does not establish that using the scale improves completion or prevents withdrawal.

What the study examined

Earlier interviews with 13 doctoral students informed ten adversity scenarios, including supervision, research milestones, isolation and competing responsibilities. The resulting DoRS-42 contains 42 items across perseverance, reflection and adaptive help-seeking, and emotional response. These dimensions drew on an existing undergraduate resilience instrument; they were not three new dimensions discovered independently in this pilot.

The cross-sectional survey involved 59 doctoral social science students at one institution. Rasch analysis examined measurement properties, followed by comparisons between participant groups. The abstract reports statistically significant differences between international and non-international students across the three subscales. It does not establish a sector-wide difference or a reliable way to classify individual students as at risk.

The author calls for larger, more representative studies across institutions and contexts. This review draws on the accessible abstract, design, instrument-development and limitations passages; the complete results and item-level diagnostics were not checked.

Questions for doctoral schools

The scenario approach suggests a useful local discussion: which specific obstacles do doctoral students encounter, and where can the institution change its support? Review those questions with students before introducing another survey.

A locally shortened or reworded questionnaire would need its own evaluation; it would not inherit the published instrument’s measurement properties. Keep exploratory feedback separate from clinical assessment or individual risk prediction. For small cohorts, review confidentiality and reporting thresholds using the student comment analysis governance checklist.

Reference

Kokotsaki, D. (2026). Doctoral students’ resilience and coping strategies: scale development and exploratory survey using Rasch analysis. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 50(6), 955–982. DOI: 10.1080/0309877X.2026.2642269.