Emotional Capital, Academic Resilience, and Scholarly Identity Formation Among Business Education Doctoral Candidates in Nigeria

This study investigated the relationships among emotional capital, academic resilience, and scholarly identity formation among Business Education doctoral candidates in Nigerian universities. The doctoral journey is widely recognized as an intellectually and emotionally demanding process that shapes not only academic competence but also professional identity. In Nigeria, where doctoral candidates in Business Education navigate inadequate supervisory support, funding insecurity, and institutional resource limitations, emotional capital and resilience represent critical yet understudied personal resources that mediate the path to scholarly identity. Grounded in Reay Theory of Emotional Capital, Bonanno Theory of Resilience, and Wenger Communities of Practice Theory, a narrative inquiry design was adopted. Forty purposively selected Business Education doctoral candidates at various stages of their programmes across universities in Lagos, Enugu, Kano, Abuja, Port Harcourt, and Maiduguri participated. Data were generated through narrative life history interviews, reflective journals, and two rounds of follow-up interviews over a twelve-month period. Analysis employed narrative inquiry methods including restorying, thematic narrative analysis, and structural narrative analysis. Findings reveal that doctoral candidates with high emotional capital, characterized by a sense of academic belonging, emotional literacy, and peer solidarity networks, demonstrate significantly stronger academic resilience in the face of supervisory challenges and resource scarcity. Scholarly identity formation was found to be a non-linear process heavily influenced by the quality of institutional climate and doctoral community engagement. The study makes an original contribution to doctoral education theory in Africa and recommends emotional intelligence training and doctoral community building as institutional priorities. Keywords: emotional capital, academic resilience, scholarly identity, doctoral candidates, Business Education Nigeria