Juggling competing activities: academic staff as doctoral candidates

Smith, J. Russell; Billot, Jennie; Clouder, Lynn; King, Virginia

doi:10.1080/07294360.2019.1685945

Cited by 6 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Disclosures of bullying from supervisors and line managers reflected wider "toxic" academic cultures (Gill, 2009) produced by highly pressured neoliberal and inequitable environments. Instances where a participant's line manager was also their supervisor created further complexities (Smith et al, 2020). Fears about saying "no" reflect widespread academic precarity (Universities and Colleges Union [UCU], 2019) and cultures of overwork (Gill, 2009).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…I haven't felt personally part of a bigger group where we knew what was going on or had any influence in what is going on… we just had to adapt to it, whatever is happening.' (Full-time PhD, white woman) Particular challenges around status emerged for those occupying dual staff / student identities (Smith et al, 2020) often within the same department, contributing to uncertainties around place in institutional hierarchies. Sometimes this led to role confusion, a consciousness of 'wearing different hats' at different times and in different locations.…”

Section: Unsettled Statuses and Non-belongingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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“Peering through the window looking in”: postgraduate experiences of non-belonging and belonging in relation to mental health and wellbeing

Morris

2021

SGPE

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore belonging in relation to postgraduate wellbeing in the light of renewed concerns about the mental health and wellbeing this group of learners. It attends to postgraduates’ subjective wellbeing, identifying ways in which this is intertwined with a sense of belonging. Belonging is situated in relation to the social domains of postgraduate experiences. This paper seeks to contribute in-depth understandings of postgraduate experiences, to make recommendations for practice and to identify fruitful paths for further theorisation and research. Design/methodology/approach Two qualitative data sets situated in UK higher education are drawn on here: firstly, longitudinal qualitative data entailing 33 narrative interviews and written reflections of doctoral researchers were collected as part of a phenomenological study of doctoral learning. Secondly, interview data from 20 postgraduates (including masters, professional doctorates and PhD researchers) were collected as part of mixed method qualitative case study research into postgraduate wellbeing. Postgraduate participants were based in the social sciences, humanities, arts and professional disciplines at a cross-section of UK higher education institutions. Data were analysed thematically with a focus on interconnections between wellbeing, learning and belonging. Findings A sense of belonging arose as a key contributing factor to postgraduate wellbeing. Belonging emerged as multi-faceted, interlinking with spatial, relational and cultural factors which are likely to be experienced in different ways and degrees depending on positionalities. Experiences of belonging and non-belonging are understood as produced through academic cultures and structural inequities. They also pertain to the uncertain, in-between position of postgraduate learners. For postgraduates, and doctoral researchers especially, reaching a sense of belonging to academia was a profoundly important aspect of their journeys. Conversely, lack of belonging is linked with poor mental wellbeing and engagement with studies. Originality/value This paper engages with the neglected social domain of wellbeing. Attending to subjective perceptions of wellbeing enabled nuanced understandings of the links between wellbeing and belonging. It identifies spatial, relational and cultural dimensions of postgraduate belonging, contributing an understanding of how feelings of non-belonging manifest, how belonging might be nurtured, and how this potentially contributes to postgraduates’ wellbeing.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Unsettled Statuses and Non-belongingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Peering through the window looking in”: postgraduate experiences of non-belonging and belonging in relation to mental health and wellbeing

Morris

2021

SGPE

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“…As implied, this supervision model exposes the doctoral student to a number of supervisors, often bringing different expertise, knowledge and skills to the project (Manathunga, 2012). Smith, Billot, Clouder and King (2020) examined the dual status of academic staff, who are both PhD candidates as well as lecturers at the universities they work and study at. Similar to the earlier seminal work on colleague supervision by Denicolo (2004), Smith et al (2020) identified four aspects of the dual status of academics, which were assumed to be problematic, or a source of conflict.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Assessment of the Status, Practice and Challenges of Doctoral Supervision at Lupane State University in Zimbabwe

2022

IJSSES

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The main aim of this paper was to explore the status quo of doctoral practice at the Lupane State University in Zimbabwe, in order to get context into the challenges which are encountered that lead to low completion rates by doctoral students, from both the student and supervisor perspectives. Previous literature highlighted a need for further skills development of novice supervisors. This paper adopted a qualitative methodological approach, combining semi-structured interviews with documentary analysis techniques. The key findings were that as a rural based university, the institution is unable to retain its skilled human capital, and the few supervisors there are unmotivated. For students, the main highlight was their desire to interact and network with other PhD candidates, hence implored the organizing of regular doctoral colloquia to showcase their work in progress. This paper recommends that the university revises its current policies on doctoral supervision to accommodate the various modes of attaining a PhD, as well as expand the supervision models used to ensure that, in the event of a supervisor leaving the university, students are not disadvantaged and can still complete their PhD studies.

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“…Our earlier work (Clouder, et al 2020;Smith, et al 2020), guided by CHAT (Engeström 2015), focused on troublesome systems and processes. We were surprised that, unprompted, participants frequently raised the importance of personal and domestic spaces.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Borderlanders: academic staff being and becoming doctoral students

Billot

King

Smith

et al. 2021

Teaching in Higher Education

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This document is the author's post-print version, incorporating any revisions agreed during the peer-review process. Some differences between the published version and this version may remain and you are advised to consult the published version if you wish to cite from it. Borderlanders: Academic Staff being and becoming Doctoral StudentsThe notion of borderlands implies a boundary demarcating a crossing to/from an unfamiliar territory. It is a productive metaphor for dual-status academicsthose employed in academic roles in universities who concurrently undertake doctoral studies. We argue that dual-status academics dwell in an extended form of boundary crossing, potentially to-ing and fro-ing several times a day, inducing unforeseen impacts on identities. Having previously reported the structures that frame this boundary crossing, here we re-analyse an existing data set for the visceral: the stories of code-switching, of peripheral existence and of agentic purpose. Our data indicate that dual-status academics adopt a transactional approach to doctoral supervision that results in a 'fight or flight' response to the emotional and relationship challenges these borderlands present with implications for how academics manage colleague supervision, both as supervisor and supervisee. Our study leads us to recommend tailored institutional and supervisory support pedagogies for these academics.

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Juggling competing activities: academic staff as doctoral candidates

Cited by 6 publications

References 22 publications

“Peering through the window looking in”: postgraduate experiences of non-belonging and belonging in relation to mental health and wellbeing

“Peering through the window looking in”: postgraduate experiences of non-belonging and belonging in relation to mental health and wellbeing

An Assessment of the Status, Practice and Challenges of Doctoral Supervision at Lupane State University in Zimbabwe

Borderlanders: academic staff being and becoming doctoral students

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