Collaboration with dissertation chair associated with greater scholarship productivity during social work PhD training: a retrospective, cross-sectional study in the U.S

Various disciplines have investigated factors associated with PhD student publication productivity. However, there is a dearth of research on factors related to scholarly productivity during social work PhD training. This retrospective, cross-sectional study explored correlates of scholarly productivity in a sample of early career PhD social work faculty members regarding publications during their PhD training (N = 58). We sent an electronic survey to early career social work faculty members asking about their PhD studies. We analyzed the data using negative binomial regression and logistic regression models. Outcome variables were the number of publications and whether respondents published with their dissertation chair. Findings indicated that publishing with a dissertation chair positively influenced scholarly productivity and that having a relationship with that chair prior to beginning a PhD program predicted collaboration. Collaboration with a dissertation chair is key to early scholarly success. Enhancing mentorship opportunities for PhD students with their dissertation chair is a promising target to improve productivity.