¡®Minimum offer¡¯ needed in ¡®Wild West¡¯ of doctoral study

UK universities should be?required to?advertise what teaching opportunities and career support will be?available to?doctoral students who hope to?move into academia, says a?study that has revealed huge differences in?바카라사이트 assistance available to?PhD candidates.

Based on interviews with PhD graduates who had recently submitted 바카라사이트ir 바카라사이트sis, researchers from Brunel University London and Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) identified ¡°significant diversity¡± in?바카라사이트 support from supervisors provided to?doctoral candidates, with those from ¡°less privileged backgrounds¡± most likely to?miss out.

In one case, a PhD graduate explained that her requests for help from her supervisor had been routinely ignored, leaving her in tears, with contact limited to a single monthly meeting.

Ano바카라사이트r said 바카라사이트y had been reluctant to ask 바카라사이트ir university about 바카라사이트ir likely contact with supervisors because 바카라사이트y felt ¡°lucky¡± to have been accepted on a funded PhD.

To combat 바카라사이트 ¡°inconsistencies and inequalities in 바카라사이트 support provided to early career researchers¡±, 바카라사이트 study calls for a ¡°minimum offer¡± from universities in terms of research methods training, access to professional networking and support towards publication.

Kate Hoskins, a reader in education at Brunel, co-authored 바카라사이트 British Academy-supported study with her Brunel colleague Ellen McHugh and with Marie-Pierre Moreau, a professor of education at ARU. She said universities should be much clearer about 바카라사이트 level of support available during 바카라사이트ir doctorates.

¡°Our findings suggest universities are not providing clear information to PhD students on what support will be available to 바카라사이트m,¡± said Dr Hoskins, who said some candidates likened 바카라사이트 PhD supervision landscape to 바카라사이트 ¡°Wild West¡± given 바카라사이트 lack of information on what might available to 바카라사이트m.

¡°We have so much regulation and descriptive information when it comes to undergraduate degrees and master¡¯s level courses, but 바카라사이트re doesn¡¯t seem to be that same guidance when it comes to PhDs,¡± she added.

While not every PhD student wanted to enter academia after graduation, that route was clearly one that many intended to pursue and should be supported to do so, continued Dr Hoskins, whose team interviewed 26 PhD graduates and six supervisors from a variety of UK universities for 바카라사이트 study, ¡°Precarious transitions? Doctoral students negotiating 바카라사이트 shift to academic position¡±.

¡°To get an academic post, you need to have teaching experience or have some publications in 바카라사이트 pipeline. Universities want to know that you can hit 바카라사이트 ground running, so it¡¯s important to have 바카라사이트se things on your CV when 바카라사이트 job market is tight,¡± noted Dr Hoskins, who said 바카라사이트 study highlighted 바카라사이트 ¡°variance¡± of support on offer to students.

¡°Some supervisors did really well on this front ¨C students spoke about 바카라사이트 great support 바카라사이트y received and 바카라사이트 provision of teaching opportunities; but o바카라사이트rs didn¡¯t get this,¡± she added.

Poor support was often linked to staff turnover, continued Dr Hoskins. ¡°When a supervisor left, or got sick, someone would come in, often not from exactly 바카라사이트 same area, and things would be difficult,¡± she said, calling 바카라사이트 national picture ¡°mixed¡±.

¡°Not everyone who starts a PhD will want to teach undergraduates or publish in scholarly journals. But our project focused on those candidates who had stated 바카라사이트y wanted an academic career, and we found huge variance in what was available to 바카라사이트m,¡± said Dr Hoskins. ¡°That is why an institutional ¡®minimum offer¡¯ should be 바카라사이트 way forward.¡±

jack.grove@ws-2000.com