Management of the Level of Coursework in PhD Education: A Case of Sweden

PhD programs around the world include a variable amount of coursework. Using a curriculum design perspective, this paper explores the pros and cons of using different levels of coursework in PhD education. Inefficient management of coursework can jeopardize the quality of the PhD programs, since the students will be forced to devote less time to their research. On the contrary, coursework can also become a powerful teaching and learning activity that can help the PhD students to attain the intended learning outcomes of the program. However, a deep involvement of the administration and supervisors in the design of coursework is necessary for the latter case. Although the paper uses the Swedish system as a reference, most of the discussion is well applicable to most PhD programs elsewhere.