Good morning everone. Just finished breakfast so am about to start reading again. See you later and good luck x

Hey Lindalou, I hope your day gets better - and I hope the general quiteness of the thread means you're all doing all right today.

So far I've finished reading the introduction to the important book and read one chaper. I have also realised there is another chapter to read, which turns out to be 70 pages long. I hope to get the second chapter finished tomorrow morning before yoga. We will see...

I read for 5 1/2 hours today... blimey. I don't think I could have gone any quicker either, I had to re-read parts and took a lot of notes. I really hope I get this topic covered by the end of the week.

Good luck x

Hello everyone!

I have finally finished m porrige and tea and will be getting on with it from hence forth.

Sneaks: You will get there - and, indeed, seem well on the way already!

Batfink: Sorry to hear about your cold flat - perhaps a baked potato or similar in the oven from now 'til lunch will help?

And Emmaki: Glad you have discovered a new way to write more productively.

I'm at the stage with my draft where I need to include research bits, so must get on with reading and doing that. I will miss real writing though. Must get the research done quickly so I can get back to it...


So for today:

For topic (a) 1. Finish reading introduction of book and read important chapter of book and conclusion.

As this is a one goal thread I will leave it at that for now.

Best of luck everyone,

Esk X

Hey Wally, good to see you around again. We could do with some of your been there, done that wisdom - so don't go!

I can't see myself ever getting a job in 'industry', at least not the kind you are doing, but it is still good to have you around again.

Hello Batfink and Sneaks!

Sneaks, i hope things pick up soon and you get better perspective on your chapter. Perhaps you need a rest or a short break from it?? Probably not possible given your schedule... so not sure how helpful I'm being.

Batfink, good luck with your new schedule.


I did two hours of writing, which I finished about half an hour ago. Only two hours of reading though - which I will have to do again, because I didn't spot a particular relevence that my sup recommended it for, although I did see other things that were really useful, if unnexpected.

I spent half an hour watching a PhD writing morivation 'seminar'. Nothing that I don't know already really. It made me laugh because getting rid of procrastination distractions was one of the key points of the lesson...

Good luck everyone. See you all on Wednesday because I am teaching and going to the department tomorrow, so no writing. Hope to read on the train though.

Good night XXX

Hi all,

I think this situation is worse for science PhDs than humainites people - and not vice versa as has been suggested in an earlier post. There are very few - or no - funded PhD places in the humanities, so those of us that do take up PhDs expect the path to be difficult - like anything in the arts. Typically, we self fund to varying degress, so are doing this for reasons beyond just wanting a secure career - so not everything is hanging on that. I think there are probably far fewer of us around precisley because there is less PhD funding, even though the arts are well represented in undergrad and masters programmes. This allows for proprtionally more lecturing opportunities per PhD student.

I have noticed that scientists seem to fall the hardest on completing their PhDs. They are always the ones to start the 'PhD programmes are all a con' threads that turn up here intermitently.


I plan to be an English teacher in a private school if the Higher Ed stuff doesn't pan out. Probably a better life in many ways - although leaving my research would break my heart.

I have been told off recently for this plan B mentality - one of my friends thinks it shouldn't and won't be an option, just keep going and it will happen.

Good Monday morning everyone...

I just had the weekend off, celebrating two birthdays - I was out until 4am on Saturday night - so am a bit slow, plus there is the usual Monday mode to deal with. Today I am going to do some reading for about 3 hours and then write for two hours afterwards. I didn't write on Friday because I was too distracted by cake decorating and party preparation, hence I'll be working on the conclusion of my chapter today.

Good luck everyone and see you later. X

======= Date Modified 15 Oct 2011 13:05:17 =======
Yeah, I can see what you mean, that some questioning is fine, just normal chatter. But I had the impression, from the OP that there was a 'judgmental' tone to her friend's questioning, and I wouldn't dismiss the OP's perspective on the topic just because she is depressed and under pressure. I also think innocent, general chatter type questioning can easily spill over into more intrusive interrogation, especially in a competitive environment like academia - and that kind of questioning is usually not entirely benevolent. 

I'm amazed at how isecure many people feel about other's situations. I never feel insecure around women with children - or men with children. My supervisor has two kids, both university age. He built his formidable career alongside raising them, and it would never occur to me to feel intimidated by that. A childless life can be hard work for any number of reasons - caring for relatives, recovering from trauma, bereavement etc, etc; while a person with children could have very little extra work - because they have a stay at home partner and supportive families -I've seen both scenarios a few times (or they could just let their kids raise themselves - soemthing I witnessed in a highly successful artist I once spent a weekend in the company of). Or a person with kids could become more determined and disciplined because they have a family to raise - I've seen that a couple of times too. A single person can feel unsupported and lonely to a crippling extent. 

No one really knows what goes on in people's lives, so why on earth pit yourself against something you know very little about?


Bug: Your friend is right in that work cannot be everything, but that does not mean you have to have children - or even a partner. You just have to remember to be a human being and make those genuine, close bonds. It's funny you should say that you feel you could be missing out when you see your friends with kids. I feel the opposite! I adore my friends' and cousins' children, but I would not wish to swap my child free life. I much prefer things the way they are. And I have one friend who is particularly envious of me - she has been suffering from depression since her first childbirth a few years ago (this is pretty common), has had horrendous health problems since having the second and the career she loves has almost gone to the wall. Having kids is not always the answer, and it is the one thing in life you cannot renege on. I get plenty enough from being with the beautiful children I already have in my life - my situation is better for the planet too, infinitely.

Plus, Bug, I think your friend was quite rude to suggest you strive to achieve due to the lack of a relationship -would he have said that to a man? To me this is just another example of someone poking around and making judgments without knowing the full story.

Good luck, I can't believe you are leaving us. I think you wil be back using the post-doc threads. At least I hope so...

Good morning Button, Skig and Batfink!

Back to writing today after threeeee days away. Oh dear. Two days of teaching and a day off yesterday for recovery from teaching exhaustion, yoga and making a big birthday cake for my dad's 70th.

So this morning I will read through my chapter to establish what I want to say in the conclusion. Then I will write for two hours. See you later.

Good luck with the dog Button - sounds traumatic!

======= Date Modified 14 Oct 2011 10:51:05 =======
======= Date Modified 14 Oct 2011 10:47:39 =======
Hi Huhu,

PhD Bug could be right in that some people just don't have any social skills and genuinely have no idea how annoying they are to others. What your friend is saying may or may not be 'correct', but either way she is not your manager and your career decisions are your business, not hers. I think some people can forget this, especially in an intense environment like academia.

I often see people who have made decisions with their PhD or career that seem unwise to me, but I do not know the whole story of why those choices where important to them. Neither am I in a position to offer unsolicited advice - I am not their supervisor or parent. Some people just don't realise how patronising and annoying it is when people behave as if 'they know better', whether they realise they are doing so or not. What if you questioned her decision to have children, how will that damage her career? Sounds dreadful put like that doesn't it? She has no right to poke around in your affairs uninvited.

The fact is, you don't actually know what it would be like in another country or lab or with another supervisor, and neither does she - it could even be much worse, regardless of outward reputations (my masters looked astounding from the outside, but was in reality pretty much a disaster for most of the students). So you, like most of us, must be positive about your current situation and make the very best of it - I think it would be unwise to move at this late stage in your PhD. If she is hindering that, intentionally or otherwise, then, I think you should give her a wide berth.

I think you should just smile, say thank you for the advice and move on to talk to someone else who treats you more as an equal, regardless of what they think of your career decisions.







.

Emmaki, I'm so sorry to hear about the situation in your home country - and your difficult personal circumstamces too.

I makes me angry that hard working peole and children can suffer such deprivation when there is enough for all in the world. I am sure Greece will find its way again, but I just hope we can learn from this and change our economic systems - because they just do not work at present.

My thoughts are with you. x

======= Date Modified 13 Oct 2011 12:30:07 =======
Hi Flagarndom,


We get quite a few of this kind of post, usually from people in the sciences.

The thing about PhD work -and that includes teaching - is that you should only really be doing it if it is a great passion for you and you can't imagine your life without it. It is a mistake to undertake a PhD under the assumption that it is comparable with more industry based career choices.

Your PhD is an apprentice. This means you are not yet ready to fly on your own and your compensation for teaching and research reflects that. Your particular set up, a fully funded PhD with only two hours of contact hours is incredibly priveledged - I think I would go into shock if someone offered me that. I have taught - on average - full time hours throughout my PhD (sometimes more, sometimes less) and then do my PhD as well - and I feel priveledged because I am lucky to have the hours AND I LOVE WHAT I DO, it really makes me tick, and I'm so glad I found it. It sounds to me as if that is what is missng from your current career equation.

As someone else pointed out in an earlier post, universities are businesses, and it's a pretty naive PG student that doesn't realise that. Of course universities will be aiming for well balanced finances - they wouldn't exist otherwise...

If you are now having a moment of realisation about academia, yourself and your career aims, then perhaps it is time for you to call it a day. There are others who will get much more out of the oppportunities you have been given than you have.

That's great Ady, thank you. Just off to the library, must do more reading...

I have no brain either. A bunch of final year undergrads mugged me for it this morning... sorry.

Ok - I did my one hour and forty minutes of writing. Now I only have the conclusion to expand by about 5-700 words. I also compiled a list of all the bits of research and references I need to get in order to complete the chapter.

Instead of reading for my chapter I got most of my lecture stuff done. I read the weekly reading - made me realise how dull some academic writing is... why don't they spare the poor reader a thought? My slides are good - lots of nice images and I have compiled some rough notes which I will print at work and refine on the train tomorrow.

I am about to devour the delicious soup which has been sititng on my table for half an hour.

So good luck people who are still working, and see you tomorrow.