Abstract

Alongside the expansion of doctoral provisions, there has been a considerable rise in the study of doctoral education and doctoral writing, driven in part by the desire of multiple stakeholders to understand the factors influencing the academic success of doctoral students. Doctoral writing plays an influential role in shaping students’ experiences of their doctoral studies. Yet, it also poses a significant challenge for most doctorate students. These challenges are amplified for mature adult learners with established professional identities navigating their doctoral studies on a part-time basis. This paper reports on an exploratory case study of a South African professional doctorate student’s perceptions of their writer identity and its influence on their doctoral writing experiences. A broadly qualitative research approach was employed using ethnographic and interactive interview techniques as the primary data collection tools. The findings are discussed through narrative accounts that describe two themes, namely, (1) misalignment and (mis)recognition of previous literacy practices and (2) recognition of and alignment to disciplinary discourses. These narrative themes illustrate how intricate contextual factors and disciplinary knowledge practices influence writing pathways. The findings raise several implications for supervisors, institutional doctoral writing interventions, and doctoral students, underscoring the significance of understanding the varied nature of the doctoral writing experience. The study recommends adopting more flexible and responsive support interventions, able to cater to the unique writing pathways of “non-traditional” doctoral candidates.