Longitudinal patterns of scientific collaboration in doctoral studies

Doctoral studies play a vital role in socializing young individuals in science as they navigate the challenges of modern knowledge-based societies. Taking various forms and intensities, the mentor–mentee relationship is integral to this process. The paper therefore addresses the temporal patterns of scientific collaboration between mentors and mentees, as well as among co-mentors, given that understanding the characteristics of mentoring collaborations is essential for developing successful higher education strategies for attracting potential doctoral students and designing effective science policies. Patterns of collaboration were identified using a symbolic data clustering approach and described using linear discriminant analysis. The data come from national information systems in Slovenia and cover the period between 1991 and 2020. On the mentor–mentee level, six types of scientific collaborations were identified and classified in three broader categories: study-limited, already established, and born and raised. The most common, born and raised, is characterized by students who are isolated from the scientific community at the beginning of their studies and have become well integrated into the scientific community and highly productive researchers by the time they complete their doctoral studies. The study-limited collaboration pattern is becoming increasingly popular and more common in the natural and technical sciences. The already established is more common among older mentees. The notion that mentoring promotes long-term scientific collaboration between mentors is not confirmed by the presented study. However, higher levels of collaboration between mentors are associated with younger age, working in the same scientific discipline, and younger mentors.