Abstract
While the production of writing is a primary graduation requirement of students in doctoral programs across the world, required doctoral-level writing instruction is often excluded from doctoral program curriculum. This qualitative, instrumental, single-case study explored the case of the writing curriculum related to the teaching and learning of writing within a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program at a large, Midwestern university through the experiences of four graduates who learned doctoral-level writing during their doctoral journeys and the experiences of six faculty within the same program who supported doctoral writers. Methods included semi-structured interviews, observation of a course shell, and document analysis. Four themes emerged for both sets of participants: for graduate participants, themes included writerly self-perceptions, sources of learning to write, challenges learning to write, and overcoming challenges learning to write; for faculty participants, themes included writerly self-perceptions, methods of writing support, challenges supporting doctoral writers, and suggestions for programmatic change. I analyzed the findings from this study in accordance with the discourses of writing and learning to write (Ivanič, 2004) and threshold concepts (Meyer & Land, 2003, 2005) theoretical frameworks, which revealed gaps in the DNP program’s writing curriculum and helped to clarify the qualities of a threshold concept. Findings further revealed that without training and support related to teaching writing, doctoral faculty may rely on optional resources to teach students writing skills. Thus, when doctoral programs do not provide students with required writing instruction, some students will have the time and space to voluntarily learn the essential writing skills they need to succeed in their programs, and some will not. Recommendations for key stakeholders include examining the experiences of both faculty and students prior to the implementation of a doctoral writing initiative and implementing writing pedagogy education for doctoral faculty and explicit writing instruction for doctoral students.