Defining the Competencies of an Exit Profile of PhD students as Emerging Faculty Members: Preliminary Mixed-Method Results of a Training Needs Assessment in Italy

Increasingly, academic institutions are embracing a holistic Faculty Development approach to train the multiple competencies of academics (Silva, 2022). Extending this approach to doctoral students, considered as emerging faculty members, is crucial for their professional development and to address evolving training needs. To do so, it is proposed to act a multi-level intervention - micro, meso and macro levels (Bronfenbrenner, 1986)- aligning with personal, professional and institutional development (Steinert, 2014). The aim is to equip qualified professionals for both academic and extra-academic careers (EUA-CDE, 2022) through the development not only of research skills, but also of relevant soft skills such as, for example, personal effectiveness, resource management and communication (Waaijer et al., 2017). This contribution pertains to a doctoral focused on elaborating a Faculty Development Literacy pathway for doctoral students, in order to support them in developing the skills necessary to access a complex organizational institution, such as the academic one. After conducting a mixedmethod needs assessment (Witkin & Altschuld, 1995) of the training needs of Italian doctoral students, this paper presents the preliminary findings of the pre-assessment phase, carried out at the local level through qualitative research tools, and the assessment phase, conducted at the national level through quantitative research tools. The main areas of investment in the training of doctoral students seem to coincide with the development of teaching skills, evaluative skills (selfand hetero-evaluation), management and leadership skills.