The struggle to make sense of doctoral study

Abstract

Semi-structured, qualitative interviews conducted with an ethno-culturally diverse group of 27 doctoral students in one Canadian university department produced narratives that often featured stories of stress and struggle. Two interrelated themes emerging from the data are highlighted here: surviving financially and dealing with divisions and diversity. The context is one where student bodies have become more diverse and the academic labour market less geared to full-time tenured positions. We argue that the commonplace notion that doctoral study means elite students being socialized into academic futures de-emphasizes the material conditions and interpersonal tensions that actually characterize everyday student life.

Keywords:

• diversity
• doctoral education
• socialization
• student experience

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the students – now mostly graduates – who generously shared their stories and Dr Nicole Sanderson for assisting with coding and analysis.

Notes

1. Generally, we use the terminology common in Canada in this article, for example, graduate student rather than postgraduate; faculty (member) rather than academic staff; professor rather than lecturer.

2. Students such as those interviewed here would be expected to enter with a master's degree (often including a thesis), complete approximately a year of course work, pass a comprehensive examination (the form and breadth of which differs from department to department), find a supervisor if an initial match has not been made or does not seem appropriate as interests develop, form a thesis committee with two additional faculty members, have a proposal for research accepted, do the research and write the dissertation and defend it at an oral examination.

3. In the department under study, a 1999 report indicated that there were two or three university entry scholarships and 14 graduate (research) assistantships available for new students (both masters’ and doctoral), awarded competitively and usually lasting for several years. About a fifth of the doctoral students held merit-based external scholarships.

4. Student figures come from a self-study produced by the department in 2012, citing figures supplied by the central university administration. The number of faculty members is our estimate.

5. All names used in this article are pseudonyms. Those mentioned by name or quoted include nine in the early stage (Quinn, Rosa, Selena, Tony, Una, Vanessa, Xavier, Yvonne, Zoe), four in the candidate stage (Francine, Hannah, Opal, Perry) and three in the completer stage (Alison, Carol, Elaine).