Students’ perceptions of the benefits and drawbacks of technology during their doctoral studies

Akbar, Muhammad Naveed (2026) Students’ perceptions of the benefits and drawbacks of technology during their doctoral studies. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

Digital competence is increasingly regarded as essential in higher education, particularly since the expansion of remote working following the COVID-19 pandemic, and the introduction of artificial intelligence tools. The impact of digital technology on doctoral students’ learning habits and their evaluation of its usefulness remains poorly understood. Using a critical realist ontology combined with a social constructionist epistemological framework, the present mixed-methods study explored whether consistent patterns can be identified behind the perceived beneficial and problematic uses of technology and what relationship these have to academic progress, communication and well-being.

The quantitative phase of the study comprised a cross-sectional survey, conducted between November 2021 and November 2022. This involved an opportunity sample of 310 participants, all doctoral students, recruited predominantly from UK universities. The survey captured data on general software use, emotional reactions to engaging with electronic information sources, data collection, processing and analysis, videoconferencing, communication, training, personal technology use, time management, perceived well-being, rating of study progress, and the effects of the pandemic. Few systematic demographic differences were found although variability in patterns of use, appraisal, and reactions to different tools were evident.

Several factors significantly predicted respondents’ perceptions. These were grouped into those directly related to technology use and those concerning well-being. Together, these explained over 25% of the variance, with greater predictive ability in the period when the pandemic was most disruptive. Notably, finding software difficult to learn/use, reported by 12.3% of respondents, was primarily predicted by negative emotional reactions when engaging with information sources. Overall, analyses highlighted inter-relationships between technology use, health, well-being, and emotion. These relationships were situated in a technological eco-system shaped by a set of tools provided by major technology companies and in a biopsychosocial climate shaped by the pandemic.

The qualitative phase of the study employed semi-structured interviews with 16 participants from diverse disciplines. These were intended to illuminate processes of meaning making underpinning doctoral students’ technological engagement and to explore, in depth, issues arising from interpretation of the survey data. The interviews were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Five themes were developed from the analysis; one overarching theme referred to a pandemic-induced cultural shift in technology use. Three further themes detailed students’ evaluation of the technological ecosystem they studied in. These addressed positive and negative aspects of technology use, and the importance of the human element in interactions with technology. The final theme encompassed strategies used to aid wellbeing by limiting technology use, with a strong emphasis on self-reliance.

Findings from both phases revealed a conflicted relationship with technology. On one hand, technology facilitated social and professional interactions and enhanced efficiency in numerous areas. On the other, developments were associated with heightened distraction, information overload, wasted time, obstructed work, compromised well-being and compulsive patterns of technology use. Together, these tools underpinned a simultaneous strengthening of the means through which students exercised control over their research, alongside a growing sense that personal control was ebbing away, undermined by an unhealthy and compulsive relationship with technology. These paradoxes point to an altered subjectivity at the heart of a transformed socio-technical system that dominates contemporary higher education. Three significant inter-related areas of concern stand out from the findings: doctoral students’ difficulties in managing time effectively, their training needs and how these are best addressed, and the challenges posed by artificial intelligence. Running through these issues is the clear importance of the human dimension in understanding individuals’ engagement with technology. Study limitations are discussed, concluding with recommendations derived from the findings for improving postgraduate life.

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Subjects: L Education > L Education (General); T Technology > T Technology (General)
• Colleges/Schools: College of Social Sciences > School of Education
• Supervisor's Name: Morrison-Love, Dr. David and Crichton, Dr. Hazel
• Date of Award: 2026
• Depositing User: Theses Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:2026-86122
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 15 Jul 2026 12:54
• Last Modified: 15 Jul 2026 12:54
• Thesis DOI: 10.5525/gla.thesis.86122
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/86122