Re-signifying subjectivity? A narrative exploration of 'non-traditional' doctoral students' lived experience of subject formation through two Australian cases

• Published in: Studies in higher education (Dorchester-on-Thames) Vol. 39; no. 5; pp. 823 - 834
• Main Author: Bendix Petersen, Eva
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Routledge 01.01.2014; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Academic degrees; Australia; Case Studies; Doctoral candidates; Doctoral Programs; doctoral supervision; Foreign Countries; Graduate Students; Higher education; Identity formation; narrative analysis; Narrative inquiry; Narratives; Nontraditional Students; Pedagogy; postgraduate students; Qualitative analysis; qualitative research; Self Concept; Semi Structured Interviews; Student Attitudes; Student Experience; Students; Subjectivity; Supervisor Supervisee Relationship; Australia
• ISSN: 0307-5079; 1470-174X
• DOI: 10.1080/03075079.2012.745337

Doctoral supervision continues to be an interesting pedagogical site. As the university changes, so do the expectations and circumstances for doctoral education, including supervision. Although it is unhelpful to overstate the homogeneity of the doctoral student body of the past, there is no doubt that global and local changes to higher education have diversified the doctoral student body in Australia. This article explores the doctoral student experience from the point of view of two 'non-traditional' students studying in Australian universities. Drawing on post-structuralist theorising around subject and subjectivity formation, the exploration focuses on these two students' lived experience of doctoral study with a focus on how subjectivity or selfhood is being (re)constituted and negotiated in pedagogical encounters with supervisors. It is argued that the self-narratives that doctoral students perform are of utmost importance to the doctoring process and that much would be gained pedagogically from listening carefully to these stories.