PhD blog: 44
Graham Foster
- February 2010.
The story so far… Having completed two years of unfunded PhD studies at Manchester Metropolitan University, Graham is at last in receipt of finance for his research into 'evidence of a literary fin de siècle in the millennial fictions of David Foster Wallace and Douglas Coupland'.
No immediate results
One of the biggest strains on the postgraduate student’s psyche is the lack of immediate results in their work. This is not talked about much by anybody in academia, but I’ve seen the negative effects all over. I will use my current research situation as an example:
I have been researching the historical/intellectual context of my chosen subject, which is sometimes like reading a completely different language. With literary criticism I feel at home, I enjoy it, I can find books and article with relative ease. Now I am going off-piste so-to-speak.
I’m reading history books, art books, sociology books – anything but literary criticism really. This is all vital work, but I seem to have been reading forever, and I have little written work to show for it. There is another problem with historical context – if you don’t pick your angle astutely enough, you can be in danger of just repeating what someone else has written. History doesn’t change, there is little room to express opinion, and there are already dozens of books detailing your chosen field of research.
Major crisis
So, I am undergoing my first major (non-money related) PhD crisis. This is a bigger test than being unfunded ever was in a way, this relates directly to my own ability to get the work done. I believe I can do it, and I am working hard, but there are moments of self-doubt and misery and throw-the-book-against-the-wall frustration. I am not unique in this – I’ve seen other students go through the same thing. I’ve seen people let it get the better of them, which I absolutely will not do.
You're not alone
So what do you do when the soul-testing elements of a PhD emerge? The first thing to realise is that you are not on your own. There is a support structure in place. I have been to see my DoS a few times since this started and he has been a tremendous help. But it is vital to be honest about your problems – a DoS isn’t there to shout at you for not working hard enough (well, he is if you really are not working hard enough), he is there to aid and motivate.
My DoS proved very good at talking to me about the problems I was/am facing and I am hitting the books with a new sense of direction. Admitting to problems is not a sign of weakness with a PhD, but a necessary part of the process – hiding them will make them grow, and that will make you scared to do work, and you will eventually crumble.
As everybody told me as I was starting my studies: You will have problems, it will be hard, it will test your mettle in new and brutal ways. What they don’t tell you is that these problems, these difficulties of PhD study, can be overcome, and that feeling is second to none.
Read my previous blogs
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