Today's doctoral students will have a major role in educating tomorrow's students, so how do we want to shape their doctoral experience? Should this be a lone, unsupported journey as they try to find their way among institutional regulations, periodic supervisory inputs and milestones, or should Business Schools look for some way to integrate and support their doctoral students as is often done in science and technology Schools? This paper reviews available academic literature on doctoral completion, the impact of social isolation and the relevance of online and offline support communities on that completion. Business researchers are particularly diverse compared with other doctoral groups, employing a variety of soft and hard disciplines and methodologies and this makes it more difficult to connect meaningfully with their peers. International students may be particularly vulnerable. The research questions driving this study are: what kind of support needs arise at different stages of the doctoral journey for these students and what opportunities derive from facilitated or peer-led support communities to offer that support? A phased model is proposed to guide policy and initiatives in this area.

今天的博士生将在教育明天的学生中扮演重要角色，那么我们如何塑造他们的博士经历？难道这是一个孤独，不受支持的旅程，因为他们试图在机构法规，定期监管投入和里程碑之间找到自己的出路，还是商学院应该像科学技术学校那样寻求某种方式来整合和支持其博士生？本文回顾了有关博士完成，社会隔离的影响以及在线和离线支持社区对该完成的相关性的现有学术文献。与其他博士团队相比，业务研究人员的多样性尤其大，他们采用了各种软，硬的学科和方法，这使得与同事进行有意义的联系变得更加困难。国际学生可能特别脆弱。推动该研究的研究问题是：这些学生在博士旅行的不同阶段会产生什么样的支持需求，以及在便利或同行主导的支持社区中提供哪些支持？建议采用分阶段的模型来指导该领域的政策和倡议。