Session Information
22 SES 02 C, Academic Work and Professional Development
Paper Session
Contribution
There is relatively little research on doctoral students in the Sciences compared to the Social Sciences and Humanities (Mangematin, 2000; Cumming, 2009). The “academic and scientific enculturation” of scientists is relatively absent from the “sociology of science, sociology of the professions and the sociology of education” (Delamont & Atkinson, 2001: 88). From the literature available, there is substantial evidence of the differences in experiences of doctoral students in Sciences throughout their PhD study as well as the variation in potential career paths and identity- trajectories. A study of biochemistry doctoral students through ethnographic interviews, reveals the importance of the research group and the supervisor in helping to normalize and support the doctoral student through experiences of ‘failure’ that provide a form of extended socialization mechanisms to enable to the development of tacit skills (Delamont & Atkinson, 2001). However, Cumming (2009), using a practice rather than socialization perspective, has argued that the normal assumptions or set of characteristics accorded to the typical experience of doctoral students in the Sciences (such as, participating as a group member, work on a problem common to the research group etc...) are not always so clearly in evidence and that there is abundant variation to the assumed norms of experience. In-depth qualitative research through individual case studies, he argues can shed new light on “the inter-relationships that exist with regard to education, training, research, work and career development” (Cummings, 2009; 887). Overlooked to date in researching the experiences of Sciences doctoral students is an understanding of the biographical backgrounds as well as the career intentions and potential trajectories of these students whether in academic or other sectors. There is an expectation that there is more of a focus on collaborative work and emphasis on publications and other research pursuits for doctoral researchers in the sciences than the social sciences and humanities (Mangematin, 2000).
It would seem clear that there is scope for further research into doctoral student experiences in the Sciences in order to better understand how they are enabled and supported through doctoral work and as previous studies have shown, in-depth qualitative work can give a rich insight into these processes. The main focus of this paper is on the construction of identity(-ies) of these students and how this relates to their biographical past and their intended future careers. Building on previous collaborative work (McAlpine & Lucas, in press), this study intends to utilize the idea of academic identity-trajectory (McAlpine et al, in 2010) where individual case studies are presented to explore past experiences and influence on present intentions and engagement in academic work as well as future imagined possibilities. The dynamics of agency and structure will be explored (Archer, 2000) and also potentially the extent to which future imagined career possibilities influence the present intentions and engagement in academic work. In particular, where an academic career is intended, the extent to which doctoral students are mindful of the performance driven culture and the rules of the academic ‘research game’ (Lucas, 2006) will be explored.
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
Archer, M. (2000) Being Human: the problem of agency, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Cumming, J. (2009) The doctoral experience in science: challenging the current orthodoxy, British Educational Research Journal, 35, 6: 877-890. Cumming, J. (2009a) Representing doctoral practice in the laboratory sciences, in Boud, D. & Lee, A., Changing Practices of Doctoral Education, London: Routledge. Delamont, S. & Atkinson, P. (2001) Doctoring uncertainty: mastering craft knowledge, Social Studies of Science, 31, 1: 87-107. Hakala, J. (2009) Socialization of junior researchers in new academic research environments: two case studies from Finland, Studies in Higher Education, 34, 5: 501-516. Holley, K. (2009) Animal Research Practices and Doctoral Student Identity Development in a Scientific Community, Studies in Higher Education, 34, 5: 577-591. Lucas, L. (2006) The Research Game in Academic Life, Maidenhead: SRHE/Open University Press. Mangematin, V. (2000) PhD job market: professional trajectories and incentives during the PhD, Research Policy, 29: 741-756. McAlpine, L., Amundsen, C., Jazvak-Martek, M. (2010) Living and imagining academic careers, in L. McAlpine & G. Akerlind (eds) Becoming an academic: international perspectives, London: Palgrave Macmillan. McAlpine, L. & Lucas, L. (in press) Different places, different specialisms: similar questions of doctoral identities under construction, Teaching in Higher Education. Pearson, M., Cowan, A. & Liston, A. (2009) PhD Education in Science: producing the scientific mindset in biomedical sciences, in Boud, D. & Lee, A., Changing Practices of Doctoral Education, London: Routledge.
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