Aside from the more traditional goals of higher education, including the advancement of human capital in creating knowledge and contributing to society economically, it has been widely recognised that higher education institutions have a much wider set of obligations to society (Arthur, 2005). At the very least, higher education should promote the intellectual, ethical, moral and social development of the student. In recent years, Western universities have incorporated a “skills push” in response to labour market complaints about inadequate skills training for doctoral students, thereby expanding the focus of training to include more operational and personal development skills (Mowbray & Halse, 2010).

This holistic view of student development is captured by  Amartya Sen’s (1999) idea that the availability of opportunities or capabilities allows people to apply their agency and reasoning in choosing  a way of life they value. The capability approach views education as both a fundamental capability in itself as well as a means to create capabilities (Sen, 1992; Terzi, 2007).  

In order to understand the role of higher education in the development of doctoral students, the latter perspective of education  within the capability approach will be central to answering the following research questions: “What is the extent of the student’s sense of social justice, citizenship and personal agency?”; “What role has higher education played in the moral development of these individuals?”; “What role does higher education, and more specifically doctoral education, play in providing access to certain capabilities?”.

Arthur, J., & Bohlin, K.E. (2005). Citizenship and higher education. London: RoutledgeFalmer. Mowbray, S., & Halse, C. The purpose of the PhD: theorizing the skills aquired by students. Higher Education & Research Development, 29(6), 653-664. Sen, A. (1992). Inequality re-examined. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Sen, A. (1999). Development as freedom. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Terzi, L. (2007). The capability to be educated. In M. Walker & E. Unterhalter, Amartya Sen’s capability approach and social justice in education. London: Palgrave Macmillan.