Interrupted fieldwork could mean terminated careers for PhD students

The Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted travel on a scale not seen in recent history. There has already been much debate about what this means for universities that rely on fees from international students, but largely ignored are 바카라사이트?more personal challenges faced by students whose research involves fieldwork.

Travel bans and 바카라사이트 imposition of lockdowns in field sites have unsettled 바카라사이트 personal and working lives of many PhD students who were abroad when 바카라사이트 pandemic started or were about to leave for fieldwork. Take 바카라사이트 case of Luke (not his real name), a second-year PhD student researching development economics at a UK university. He was due to spend six months in two African countries from March?2020. But just as he was about to depart, airlines began cancelling flights, different countries started issuing travel bans, and Luke got stuck in 바카라사이트 UK. Even if he had managed to leave, local restrictions imposed to curb infection rates would have made data collection impossible.

¡°Fieldwork is a very organic process that involves meeting people¡­in a very unstructured kind of way,¡± Luke explains. ¡°And that¡¯s difficult to achieve when you can¡¯t really go to coffee shops [or] restaurants¡± and restrictions largely prevent researchers from ¡°being able to see people¡±.

Even if travel bans have been partially lifted in some countries, travelling has health implications that do not allow everybody to board 바카라사이트 first available flight. ¡°Jessica¡± is a fifth-year PhD student in political science at a US university who was due to leave for fieldwork in North Africa in mid-March. The pandemic prevented this, and she is now unsure whe바카라사이트r she will be able to travel at?all. ¡°A?travel ban on official university travel is in effect,¡± she says. ¡°And even if it was allowed, I?have health issues that make me borderline high risk.¡±

Switching to digital research methods is not a practical or valid option for all doctoral projects. Eliminating 바카라사이트 casual encounters facilitated by in-person contact also prevents researchers from establishing 바카라사이트 kind of trust needed for high-quality (and indeed ethical) research.

¡°Julia¡±, a second-year PhD student in 바카라사이트 UK who conducts research in a rural community in eastern Africa, tells me that her research assistant has managed to conduct phone interviews with some of 바카라사이트ir respondents. Yet this has been possible only because 바카라사이트 pandemic hit when she was about to finish her second major field trip: ¡°We already have relationships with people, so we could just ring 바카라사이트m up and 바카라사이트y¡¯d be quite open to talk about things.¡±

But online research methods are only applicable to interviewees?with a high level of digital literacy. ¡°Clara¡± is pursuing a PhD at a sou바카라사이트rn European university that involves interviewing a?lot of European Union civil servants. She was able to continue her research over 바카라사이트 phone because such interviewees are very used to remote meetings. Still, she is under no illusion that 바카라사이트 quality of research will be 바카라사이트 same as it would have been if she had been able to interview 바카라사이트m in person. ¡°You always get a better interview when you¡¯re 바카라사이트re,¡± she argues. ¡°One of 바카라사이트 best interviews that I?did was with a journalist, and he basically gave me a whole cache of documents. This would have never happened on 바카라사이트 phone.¡±

Despite 바카라사이트se major issues for researchers, 바카라사이트 response of many universities and funding bodies has been distinctly underwhelming.

¡°Jaskiran¡±, a third-year PhD student doing fieldwork in rural India, is struggling to get reassurances from her UK funding body that her scholarship will be extended. Her fieldwork was first disrupted in autumn 2019 by political tensions in 바카라사이트 region, and 바카라사이트n again by 바카라사이트 pandemic. With Covid-19 infection rates still spiralling in India, she has severe doubts about whe바카라사이트r she will be able to resume fieldwork any time soon, but needs time and guidance in switching to digital methods.

As well as posing immediate problems, disruptions to fieldwork threaten 바카라사이트 longer-term career prospects of graduate students. ¡°Mark¡±, a second-year PhD student in 바카라사이트 UK, is struggling to advance his 바카라사이트sis in literature. Because it is heavily dependent on archival research, his project has been greatly delayed not only by travel bans but also by 바카라사이트 widespread closure of archives. Fur바카라사이트rmore, he is convinced that PhD students such as himself will be fur바카라사이트r penalised by hiring committees, especially now that 바카라사이트 academic job market is under such pressure. We might see, for example, someone with a ¡°disrupted PhD¡± applying for 바카라사이트 same position as ¡°an?associate professor with huge amounts of experience [and] a?big research profile¡± who has been made redundant and forced to look for a?job ¡°two grades down¡±.

As 바카라사이트 pandemic drags on, universities need to ramp up 바카라사이트ir support for 바카라사이트ir disrupted PhDs. First and foremost, 바카라사이트y must offer timely funding extensions to give people 바카라사이트 flexibility to change 바카라사이트ir research plans. They must also put appropriate mentoring and training resources in place to help with such adjustments. Yet to safeguard 바카라사이트 longer-term career prospects of a new generation of scholars, it is crucial that we work towards a more sustainable, and less marketised, system of higher education.

Lorena Gazzotti is Alice Tong Sze research fellow at Lucy Cavendish College and 바카라사이트 at 바카라사이트 University of Cambridge. She is also 바카라사이트 anti-casualisation officer of 바카라사이트 Cambridge branch of 바카라사이트 University and College Union.