Avhandlingsarbetet och forskarlivet en historia om ensamhet, övergivenhet och mindervärdeskomplex

Abstract

In this article we examine doctoral supervision by discussing how doctoral supervisors can help PhD students manage feelings of loneliness, abandonment and career doubts. As our starting point we use the concepts of “quit lit” and “stay lit”. We discuss how critical views of academia can be managed in the supervision relation between PhD student and supervisor. The article begins by presenting a background of changing working conditions and norms within academia. Audit cultures, battles of prestige and an increasingly competitive academic labour market are some of the aspects discussed. Thereafter we present the theoretical framework of the article where we combine social psychology with higher education theory. We exemplify our arguments by using quit lit and staypieces that we analyse in relation to the doctoral student/supervisor relationship.