{"id":57036,"date":"2021-04-27T08:00:15","date_gmt":"2021-04-27T15:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/world.edu\/?p=57036"},"modified":"2021-04-27T09:36:46","modified_gmt":"2021-04-27T16:36:46","slug":"after-the-viva-defence-then-what","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/after-the-viva-defence-then-what\/","title":{"rendered":"After the viva\/defence \u2013 then what?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

There is no return to normal. There is no going back to what there was before. You have to find new ways of going on. I could be talking about the pandemic here. Yes indeed. But I\u2019m not. I\u2019m actually talking about life post thesis.<\/p>\n

I wrote something a long time ago about the\u00a0post PhD slump<\/a>. It\u2019s a real thing. It doesn\u2019t happen to everyone, but it is very common. The initial elation of finally reaching your doctoral goal is followed by an almighty anti-climax. Oh no. This is not what you expected.<\/p>\n

Working out how to deal with the thesis shaped hole in your life takes time.\u00a0I recently re-found some helpful writing about post thesis life and I thought it was worth passing on. It comes from Maria Piantanida and\u00a0Noreen Garman<\/a>\u2018s book\u00a0The qualitative dissertation: a guide for students and faculty<\/em>\u00a0<\/a>(2008). Piantanida and Garman describe the entire PhD process as \u201ccycles of deliberation<\/em>\u201d. And they see the period following the viva\/defence as a distinct cycle, which has its own specific issues and work. They list the challenges of finding the way forward post PhD as:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Rebalancing personal life.<\/strong>\u00a0Getting the research and the dissertation done and dusted will have caused \u201cunrecognised realignments \u2026 in relationships, responsibilities, priorities and the structuring of daily and weekly routines<\/em>\u201d they say. The person who finishes the thesis is not the same as the person who started. Not only older, and probably poorer, they are also likely to be somewhat unsettled.\u00a0But the people who have offered long -term support now want things to change. So it is important, Piantanida and Garman suggest, to spend during time reflecting on what incremental adjustments were made to everyday life, to think about what is possible and desirable going forward, and to negotiate with those closest to you. This is, they write, \u201cOne of life\u2019s rare opportunities to deliberately assess and rebalance one\u2019s priorities, interests and needs.<\/em>\u201d<\/li>\n
  2. Coping with career changes.<\/strong>\u00a0Many people hope that a doctorate will allow them to change their jobs and\/or locations. For those people who gave up permanent work in order to do the doctorate or who are looking for their first \u201creal job\u201d, doctorate in hand, this is an anxious time. Precarity rules both inside and outside the academy, and it may take quite a while to land a position. It is important to find a support group \u2013 they can help you cope with job-search disequilibrium as well as provide helpful advice and even mentoring.( Social media is now a good place to find such groups.)<\/li>\n
  3. Coping with the perceptions of others<\/strong>. Some people do a doctorate while in permanent work. They are often surprised by the response of their co-workers to their completion \u2013 some may not recognise the doctorate as a significant achievement, others may change their patterns of interaction in response to someone they now view as an \u201cexpert\u201d. Friends and family members, while proud, may also have ambivalent attitudes to interactions with you as doctor.\u00a0Confronting such attitudes often needs delicate but assertive handling.<\/li>\n
  4. Dealing with institutional relationships.<\/strong>\u00a0Piantanida and Garman discuss this institutional as part of dealing with the perceptions of others. I have listed it here as a separate issue, as I know the question of whether to call yourself Dr\u00a0\u2013 changing social media, bank accounts and the like \u2013 is often vexed. Scholars do not agree on whether, when and how we ought to use our academic titles if at all; this tends to be an individual decision. However when the Dr is sometimes ignored it may signal a gendered, raced response \u2013 witness the \u201cdiscussion\u201d about the current FLOTUS\u2019 academic title.\u00a0Again, an assertive response is required.<\/li>\n
  5. Internalising a new identity as scholar\/doctor.<\/strong>\u00a0The journey from student to authoritative scholar does not stop at doctoral graduation \u2013 it generally does not stop at all but is rolled into post PhD life, where-ever and whatever that is. Piantanida and Garman suggest that completing a doctorate can be transformative, but claiming the identity of scholar may require\u00a0refocussing a research agenda, developing a publication plan, and finding new contexts and groups to support reflection, deliberation and development.<\/strong>\u00a0This all takes time. The newly doctored need to be prepared for \u201cslogging around in new experiential puddles\u201d while their new sense of self and direction becomes clear.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    But these five post viva\/defence consequences can all be anticipated and planned for, and the rewards make visible and celebrated. I would add that universities generally might do much more to help their graduated doctoral researchers. I\u2019ve written before about\u00a0doctoral after-care<\/a>\u00a0and I could say more. But that\u2019s another blog post. In the meantime, I\u2019ll just say that if you are nearing the end of the doctorate, or are indeed in the post viva\/defence cycle, I hope that Piantanida and Granma\u2019s five point list makes sense to you, and lets you know that feelings of disorientation, and it all being a bit of a let down at the end, are common.\u00a0After all, there are potential good things in sight.<\/p>\n

    According to Piantanida and Garman, the doctorate is \u201crich with possibilities \u2013 the possibility of discovering one\u2019s own scholarly self, the possibility of adding one\u2019s own voice to evolving research and the possibility of forging one\u2019s own unique legacy through scholarly deliberation.<\/em>\u201d The period immediately after the viva\/defence has been done can be a potentially important time for moving these possibilities forward.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    There is no return to normal. There is no going back to what there was before. You have to find new ways of going on. I could be talking about the pandemic here. Yes indeed. But I\u2019m not. I\u2019m actually talking about life post thesis. I wrote something a long time ago about the\u00a0post PhD […]\n… learn more→<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":57037,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[366321],"coauthors":[11733],"class_list":["post-57036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-higher-education","tag-doctorate"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAfter the viva\/defence \u2013 then what? - World leading higher education information and services<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/after-the-viva-defence-then-what\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"After the viva\/defence \u2013 then what? - World leading higher education information and services\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There is no return to normal. 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