2025

Maunula, Minna; Harju-Luukkainen, Heidi

There is an increasing need for advanced expertise in the world to solve complex problems. A high level of education equips both individuals and societies with the expertise required to find solutions. This article examines the nature of expertise developed during doctoral education. The research question is: What kind of expertise is developed following doctoral studies, on the basis of the experience of doctoral graduates? The qualitative data consists of in-depth interviews with nine PhD holders. The data was analysed using an inductive approach. According to the results, theoretical expertise was perceived as the strongest and most selfevident dimension of doctoral education. However, practical, self-regulatory, and socio-cultural dimensions of expertise also emerged as key aspects of doctoral expertise. In particular, competence in networking, project work, and internationalisation were identified as crucial skills within the academic field. Nevertheless, flexibility, hybrid expertise, and broad applicability were recognised as core features of expertise regardless of the field. The study suggests that doctoral studies foster diverse and still largely unrecognised forms of expertise. This differentiated expertise should be more consciously integrated into the doctoral process. Doctoral expertise evolves at the intersections of different contexts, across disciplinary boundaries. Espousing an augmented meta-level awareness of the dimensions and processes of expertise, and engaging in dialogue across different fields, benefits doctoral graduates, doctoral education, and society at large in the development and utilisation of expertise.