What we wish we had known: lessons learned to keep your doctorate on track

Abstract

Over the years we have often talked with one another, with our doctoral students, and with numerous colleagues and friends about how doctoral students and supervisors/advisors might be better supported on their doctoral journeys. Recognizing the richness of both students’ and supervisors’ lived experiences, and the importance of their insights and learning to others in helping to keep doctorates on track, we have chatted long into the night about how we might make their and others’ stories, what they now know, and the lessons they have learned more accessible. This book brings together contributions from authors across the world and from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds. It is about the realities doctoral researchers in the social sciences face on a day-to-day basis. Unlike the majority of books about doctoral research and research methods texts, it places centre stage, their lived experiences from the perspective of current and past candidates, as well as supervisors. Our aim in compiling this book is to offer insights to those thinking about (or presently undertaking) doctoral research and those supporting them. While everyone’s experiences (and doctorates) are unique, it is important to recognize that there are some commonalities too. The book is meant to be a companion for your doctoral journey, from the first thoughts of ‘how to begin’ through to submission and finding that first job. We aim for the book to be as close as possible to sitting and chatting with a friend or trusted advisor over a cup of coffee, tea, or even a gin and tonic. This is not a step-by-step procedural text; rather, it is about the realities that others have experienced during the doctoral process, and through these it gives a platform for their insights, advice and lessons regarding the realities of the doctoral process.