The doctoral studies period that PhD candidates experience varies greatly depending on the vantage point. Those outside of academia sometimes romanticize it as a period of intense study, with immense personal and professional growth, as PhD students dedicate themselves to research leading to innovative and world-changing results. Those inside academia often describe it as a tumultuous period filled with both joys and challenges, agreeing that it is a time of professional growth but also involving learning how to face failed experiments, rejection of ideas, stress, and looming deadlines.
We propose to expand the imaginary of becoming a PhD through the idea of a “wandering PhD”: an academic at the beginning of their career, taking unknown paths, getting lost, making and re-making their mind about their direction, asking for advice, committing to a new path or straying away from it, meeting fellow travelers along the way, rarely going from A to B but wandering with purpose, but along a less clear path than initially imagined.
In this proposed book, we aim to unpack experiences of PhD studies in the specific context of Sweden, as this is a country often given as a positive example in the way doctoral students are considered salaried members of faculty staff, with rights protected by unions, and with a robust system meant to protect them throughout the process. Despite its advantages, the lived experience of a PhD student involves considerably more, such as dynamics with colleagues and advisors, teaching duties, or personal crisis, all affecting how this journey is to develop. Although literature abounds on how to make this period a productive one, with titles focusing on tools and advice regarding planning, methodology, writing, and publishing, we believe that the experience behind the published final dissertation is somewhat missing. Thus, we invite chapter proposals in the form of abstracts for a planned volume focused on the important and personal experiences of doctoral students. The book The Wandering PhD: Navigating the Doctoral Journey as told by former PhD students” is planned to bring together essays on a range of experiences related to the PhD student period in Sweden specifically.
We are open for submissions of single or co-authored texts from academics who have recently defended their PhD thesis (within approx. 5 years) on a variety of themes such as (but not limited to) gender, ethnicity, student-advisor dynamics, receiving critique, dealing with rejection, celebrating success, motivations for working on a PhD degree in Sweden, collegial relationships, handling personal crisis, writing routines, or unexpected events.
Please submit your chapter proposal via e-mail to the editors (cristina.ghita@angstrom.uu.se and martin.stojanov@mau.se), in the form of a document containing a provisional title, a short biography (max 200 words) including your dissertation title and link (if available), and a chapter summary (max 500 words).
Important dates:
Abstract deadline: 22 November Abstract decision: 28th November
Full chapter deadline: 28th February
Review deadline: 29th March
Final submission: 30th April