Contact, connection and communication: online community building on a professional doctorate

The doctoral journey is long and arduous; it is often perceived as lonely (Janta, Lugosi and Brown, 2014). Students on professional doctorates experience additional challenges associated with being experienced professionals, mature, and part-time, all of which can contribute to feelings of isolation, both academically and socially (Hutchings, 2017). To counter such isolation, the structure and strong cohort culture of our Professional Doctorate in Education (EdD) develops a community of doctoral researchers. While the focus here is on a professional doctorate, community building is equally important to others engaged in professional learning, for example, students on vocational courses, particularly those with a placement and those taking continuing professional development courses while working.