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Temporal Inequality in Doctoral Education: Rethinking Time, Justice, and Institutional Responsibility

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Doctoral education is governed by temporal regimes, time-to-degree benchmarks, fixed funding clocks, milestone calendars, and expectations of uninterrupted full-time engagement, that are widely treated as neutral instruments of efficiency. This paper argues that time constitutes a primary but under-recognised axis of inequality in doctoral education. Drawing on sociologies of time, adult life-course theory, and theories of justice in higher education, it shows how doctoral systems privilege early-entry, continuous, and linear trajectories while converting biographical difference, care, employment, health, and later-life transition, into institutional disadvantage.

Source: Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.24052229

Author: Templeton, Robert

Institution: University of Southern Queensland

Language: English

Topic: Doctoral Education Challenges and Solutions

Subfield: Education

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Reduced inequalities, Quality education

Open Access status: green

OpenAlex ID: W7225575302

FWCI:

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Related to: 10