Tag: Reflection

Psychological capital in the PhD

Hi there! Have you ever wondered what it really takes to thrive during a PhD? For over a decade, I’ve worked closely with graduate students, helping them navigate the academic and emotional hurdles of this journey. Along the way, I’ve seen a lot—students overwhelmed by isolation, stress, and uncertainty. Many come to me not knowing …

Autoethnography: What is it and how do you do it?

Autoethnography has become an increasingly popular research methodology, particularly within the humanities and social sciences. I use it regularly because of its emphasis on personal experiences, reflexivity, and storytelling which allows for a deeper exploration of complex experiences and societies. So what is autoethnography? The name autoethnography comes from three core aspects: self, culture, and …

Improving students’ understanding by building a culture of academic integrity

Credit: This blog post is an adapted form of a case study I wrote for Advance HE. Universities have been cracking down on cheating and all sorts of dishonest academic behaviour recently. They’ve rolled out a bunch of strict rules related to academic integrity and use fancy software to keep an eye out for academic …

Trauma, anxiety, depression, solitude: The impact of COVID-19 on academic identity

Credit: Text and images have been republished from an article in the Monash Lens, https://lens.monash.edu/@education/2023/04/28/1385557/trauma-anxiety-depression-solitude-the-impact-of-covid-19-on-academic-indentity COVID-19 brought about unprecedented changes to society, causing widespread disruption to many aspects of our lives. The pandemic has impacted people from all walks of life, but particularly hard-hit have been academics, early-career researchers (ECRs), and PhD students. They’ve had to …

How the pandemic shaped academic identity: Stories of resilience and struggle

Credit: Text has been republished from an article in Monash News https://www.monash.edu/news/articles/how-the-pandemic-shaped-academic-identity-stories-of-resilience-and-struggle A new book shares the stories of PhD students, early-career researchers, and established academics during the COVID-19 pandemic to shed light on the struggles faced by those in the industry. The COVID-19 pandemic impacted every aspect of our lives, and academia was no exception. …

Combining research and storytelling: Using personal experiences as research data

I find it quite amusing that I would be writing this blog post to advocate for a research methodology as emotional and subjective as autoethnography. For over a decade, I was trained to conduct scientific research where objective answers were sought to solve problems. My research focused on examining a gene activated in athletes’ hearts …