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Business Communication Quarterly, Vol. 67, No. 2, 168-181 (2004)
DOI: 10.1177/1080569904265421
© 2004 Association for Business Communication

The Odyssey of Ph.D. Students Becoming a Community of Practice

Annick Janson

Michèle Schoenberger-Orgad University of Waikato, annick{at}waikato.ac.nz

Laurie Howard

Michèle Schoenberger-Orgad University of Waikato

Wenger’s theory of communities of practice (CoPs) helps explain how a group of Ph.D. students in the Department of Management Communication at the University of Waikato in New Zealand met a need for emotional and academic support and reduced isolation as they developed regular opportunities for face-to-face and virtual discussions on theory and technical and emotive issues. An analysis of this process makes three contributions to communities of practice scholarship: It documents "catalyzing" circumstances for CoP creation, places the Ph.D. quest in the context of existing CoP theory, and identifies a critical point that precedes CoP formation in the existing CoP model. Highlighting the shared experience of postgraduate students opens up opportunities for CoP formation that can help students emerge from isolation into a supportive peer community.

Key Words: community of practice • postgraduate studies • Ph.D. students • community


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