Bodies in narratives of doctoral students' learning and experience

Abstract

Existing research on doctoral education documents levels of satisfaction, the difficulties students face and variations according to demographic variables. Cognitive dimensions of learning are emphasised, and calls to attend to bodies in doctoral education remain largely unheeded. This article draws on theoretical work that rejects Cartesian mind/body opposition, asking ‘in what ways do doctoral students’ bodies matter?' Thirty-three students were interviewed, and through analysis four themes identified: being with body, bodies in space, bodily practices and bodily experiences. The bodily dimensions of familiar issues, including race, gender, fatigue, and stress, are highlighted, and connections made between bodies and doctoral writing, thinking, age and the spaces in which students live and work. The themes provide new ways of understanding what it means to be and learn as a doctoral student. Taking bodies into account offers a fuller picture of how doctoral work is accomplished and the tolls this exerts on students.

Keywords:

• doctoral education
• body
• bodies
• mind/body dualism

Acknowledgements

This study was conducted as part of the Next Generation of Social Scientists (NGSS) project at the Centre for Excellence in Preparing for Academic Practice (Oxford University). We wish to acknowledge our colleagues in the NGSS team: Lynn McAlpine, David Mills, Gill Turner, Susan Harris-Huemmert and Patrick Alexander, who all made significant contributions to fieldwork and analysis. The study was funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England, the Oxford University Press John Fell Fund, and the Oxford Learning Institute. We also wish to thank attendees at the 2^nd International Doctoral Education Research Network (IDERN) conference and the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of this article.