Imposter syndrome is widespread in academia. Resident blogger Ebba gives her perspective on what's actually going on in those moments when you feel like what you're saying is marking you out as a fraud, when you can't make your way into an academic discussion, or plainly when you start to harbour a secret suspicion that you're not smart enough to do a PhD.
In this blog Beth Price shares her advice for dealing with critical feedback on your work, and keeping your self-motivation and self-confidence up in the face of negative comments.
This guest blog comes from Emma Brunton, a first-year PhD student at the University of Glasgow. Her thesis is titled: ‘Transformations in women’s spiritual power from precolonial to early colonial Rwanda’. Here, she discusses her experience conducting fieldwork from May to June of 2019. When I started my PhD about eight months ago, I knew … Continue reading Research in Rome
Learning when to say ‘no’ is something of a fine art. It’s something that a lot of people struggle with in their daily lives in general, but I think the struggle is equally, if not more, applicable to PhD life. From personal experience, I know how hard it is to say no to both requests, … Continue reading Learning when to say no to yourself and others
With so much demand on PhD researchers to produce more and more academic achievements that they can list on their CV – conference papers, journal articles, public engagement, awards, creation of impact, funding attracted, classes taught, the list goes on and on – it’s easy for the other achievements to be pushed to one side, … Continue reading The personal skills you gain from a PhD
At the beginning of the month, my 60-day suspension of studies ended. There were a number of factors leading to my decision to take a break, and ultimately while I was nervous to truly step away from my PhD for any period of time, it was exactly what I needed...but there are some words of … Continue reading Taking a Break
I finally took some of my own advice a few days ago and took a day-trip out to the Isle of Arran. It was going to be one the last nice days for some time according to the forecast and so I thought I’d hike the Goatfell. It was when I started struggling a bit … Continue reading Walking on Arran and Writing: The Struggle is Part of the Process
I sat in my supervisor’s office, staring out the window lost in my own thoughts. The words, “we need to improve your writing. It really needs a lot of work” still replaying in my mind. Not because they stung, but because they rang true to me. My supervisor and I have a good relationship and … Continue reading Rethinking Bad Writing: Five ideas for improving your writing
I have often felt lost during my PhD and it often seems to get mixed up with the imposter syndrome. I’ve often felt like I was wandering through the woods without a map or compass, while some of my colleagues seem to know right where they are going. Honestly, I was worried that if I … Continue reading Explorers not Impostors: 3 things to remember when you feel lost
As I’ve mentioned in earlier posts, I soon have to submit some chapters for my first year upgrade review. In fact, they are due this week, so this may be a shorter post than usual! This week, precipitated by this looming deadline and my accompanying feelings of inadequacy, I want to write about PhD anxiety … Continue reading When the Pomodoro technique doesn’t work …
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