Does the viva matter? PhD student experiences of the oral examination and its contribution to examination outcome and researcher development

The typical doctoral examination comprises the assessment of a written thesis or other artefact followed by a viva involving the candidate and two or more examiners. Australian universities generally do not follow that model of PhD examination preferring instead to send theses to examiners and base decisions to award solely on examiner assessments of the thesis rather than involving an oral examination. In 2016, the University of South Australia (UniSA) became the first Australian university to mandate an oral defence of the thesis. This paper reports the result of a project examining UniSA doctoral candidates' experiences of the oral defence of the thesis and the impact the viva made on student results. The latter was determined by comparing results from examiners pre- and post-oral defence. Student experience is examined by an online survey involving 70 respondents. The paper concludes that the majority of students were positive about the experience, although room remains for improvement and professional development is important for all participants in the event. It also found that the oral defence or viva is important and has an impact both as an integral part of the doctoral examination, as a contributor to researcher development, and also symbolically.