The Viability of Doctoral Thesis and Oral Exams in Student's Native Language

The issue of English being the lingua franca in transnational higher education remains a debate, especially regarding fairness in doctoral examinations. The current study builds upon a recent publication that proposes examining doctoral students of an Anglophone doctoral program offered on an offshore campus in China to be held in the Chinese language with translation and interpretation. The current study explores the viability of this option for transnational doctoral programs from doctoral supervisors' and students' perspectives. This qualitative exploratory study recruited 13 full professors and 18 doctoral students to collect data using a hypothetical case scenario and in-depth face-to-face interviews. The qualitative data analysis utilized the six-phase framework of Clarke and Braun for the thematic analysis of the data. Four major themes in the findings suggest that such a radical provision might be an arduous process, if not impossible. The results are discussed regarding fairness in assessment, efforts to safeguard indigenous knowledge, and creating spaces for building knowledge from non-English speaking countries. This research sheds important light on the complexities and challenges involved in promoting fairness and inclusivity in transnational doctoral programs, highlighting the need for creative solutions that balance practical feasibility and ethical ideals.