School of Education

Refocusing on the Positive Elements of the Hidden Curriculum in Doctoral Education

Published by Dely Lazarte Elliot

The concept of the hidden curriculum has existed since Philip Jackson’s coined this term in 1968 in his book Life in Classrooms, in which he highlighted examples of unintended learning that occur within the classroom. Other subsequent publications on this subject followed suit, also couched in the negative lens of the hidden curriculum. As an example, the title of a book chapter written by Jane Rolan Martin in 1994 strongly conveyed the sentiment surrounding this concept, i.e. ‘What Should We Do with a Hidden Curriculum when we Find One?

As informed by my own doctoral research, our research exploration on the HC began with the Adam Smith Research Foundation Seedcorn funded-research on ‘Academic acculturation through international education: The British Higher Education experience’ that I led with two colleagues from the School of Education. This initial research further steered other funded research and several publications. In particular, our article: ‘Hidden treasure: successful international doctoral students who found and harnessed the hidden curriculum’, with its distinctly positive focus on HC led to Palgrave Macmillan’s invitation to write a book on this underexplored but important subject.

In our first book entitled ‘The Hidden Curriculum in Doctoral Education’, Soren Bengtsen, Kay Guccione, Sofie Kobayashi and I (EARLI SIG 24 – Researcher Education and Careers members) re-conceptualised the hidden curriculum, underpinned by our strong advocacy not to overlook but instead to harness its positive elements. We elucidated what it entails, what it could offer and who will support harnessing the hidden curriculum to promote a more tailored, holistic doctoral provision. This enhanced interest stimulated further conversation and exploration, which are exemplified in numerous blogposts as well as recorded views from doctoral researchers and practitioners globally.

Our follow up book called ‘Developing Researcher Independence Through the Hidden Curriculum’ has a pragmatic focus on HC from <50 chapter contributors based in twelve countries from almost all geographical regions indicating wide global reach. This edited collection took an applied approach, with a view to crystallising what it offers to different stakeholders – doctoral scholars, supervisors, researcher developers, graduate schools and organisations that support these scholars’ pathways to researcher independence. The sustained interest in harnessing the hidden curriculum in doctoral education has continued as shown by a total of 25,000 online accesses and over 120 citations for both books, to date.

Wider interest has been extended to the invitations that our team frequently receives to present a talk on this topic. On 2-3 July 2025, the UK Council for Graduate Education held their annual conference at the University of Glasgow. For the first time, the UKCGE Conference featured a dedicated PGR event on ‘The Hidden Lives of PGRS’ aimed at exploring PGRs’ experiences of implicit learning. As explained on the UKCGE website, what inspired this new conference tradition were the books that our team published. This also led to the opportunity for me to deliver the keynote address entitled ‘Harnessing the Hidden Curriculum: Reflecting on, Searching for & Co-creating Pedagogical Spaces in Doctoral Education’. It was heartening to witness firsthand how nine doctoral scholar presenters contextualised and applied the HC in their respective contexts through their presentations and discussions. Moreover, examples of conference delegates’ anonymous written feedback were equally encouraging:

[With my enhanced understanding of the hidden curriculum], I do not feel guilty doing my volunteering and community activities anymore. I will read Dely's books and suggest my department invites Dely to give a talk to new PhD students. … It was useful information to reflect on and would be good to present to students before they start their PhDs.

This [keynote] presentation has encouraged me to explore more possibilities to promote the concept of hidden curriculum and its relevant practices. … The examples … show to us that hidden curriculum is actually prevailing in students' lives and they can be achieved with so many benefits to students. … Also grown up in a culture where grades and ranking are very much prioritised, I had learned the importance of working towards the best outcome and not doing "irrelevant" things. However, as it was discussed in the conference, people might not be aware of other important things, such as soft skills and personal development in other aspects. Also more importantly, hidden curriculum literally relies on students' initiatives and willingness to engage…. To these students, improv[ing] their awareness of the importance of the hidden curriculum is key … [to] having a richer and flourishing PhD life with tons of learning opportunities.

All aspects of the keynote resonated deeply with me. In many ways, I had encountered elements of the hidden curriculum throughout my doctoral [journey] but never had a language to describe it. …Dely’s framing of both the early definitions and the expansive, contemporary understandings - was timely and affirming. It gave clarity to my experiences and helped me reframe many of the informal lessons and struggles I had previously internalised. … The keynote speaker delivered an incredibly thoughtful, grounded, and emotionally intelligent presentation. …she handled the session with remarkable composure and presence. She was prepared, intentional, and highly responsive to the room…. Her questions invited personal reflection and validated many of our lived experiences. She was deeply reassuring, and I intend to reach out to her personally in the near future.

In my conversation with other academics at the conference, they highlighted and reiterated similar sentiments as our PGRs did: a) our book provided the language that enabled them to articulate many aspects of the doctoral experience that they ‘previously struggled to name or frame’; and b) my keynote address should be developed into another book, with the specific aim of promoting and normalising the PhD by publication model via co-creating pedagogical doctoral spaces.

Taken together, our books were the first to apply the ‘hidden curriculum’ within doctoral education. It has shifted the discourse by taking a contradictory stance to its negative conceptualisation. With these books’ forward-thinking approach, they broadened previously restricted conceptualisations of the hidden curriculum, crystallised the academic, social and psychological benefits of hidden educational spaces, elucidated its value and promoted its practical utility.

With the third book on the hidden curriculum linked to research culture now under development, Guccione, Bengtsen and I are hopeful that our reconceptualised hidden curricular pedagogies will continue to influence not only the language and the conversations that ensue, but more importantly, in continually improving and enhancing doctoral practices for everyone within the doctoral ecology.

Elliot, D. L., Baumfield, V., Reid, K., & Makara, K. A. (2016). Hidden treasure: successful international doctoral students who found and harnessed the hidden curriculum. Oxford Review of Education, 42(6), 733–748. https://doi.org/10.1080/03054985.2016.1229664

Elliot, D. L., Bengtsen, S.S.E. & Guccione, K. (Eds.) (2023) Developing Researcher Independence through the Hidden Curriculum. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9783031428746 (https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-42875-3)

Elliot, D. L., Bengsten, S. S.E., Guccione, K. & Kobayashi, S. (2020) The Hidden Curriculum in Doctoral Education. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9783030414962 (doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-41497-9)

Elliot, D. L., Guccione, K., Bengsten, S. S.E., and Kobayashi, Sofie (2020) The Hidden Curriculum in Doctoral Education. [Website]

Jackson, P. (1968). Life in classrooms. Holt, Rinehart and Winston Inc.

Martin, J. R. (1994). What should we do with a hidden curriculum when we find one? Changing the educational landscape: Philosophy, women and curriculum (pp. 154–169). Routledge