Profile: Robert
Key facts
PhD discipline: History
Area(s) of work: Academic research support administration
Year of graduation: 2003
Date of Interview: 17/06/2008
Year of graduation: 2003
Date of Interview: 17/06/2008
Timeline
How can the value of the PhD be translated for non-academic employers?The careers advisers discuss how employers may...
What kinds of work are arts and humanities PhD researchers drawn to?The group discusses the types of work that PhD...
Robert - adviceRobert discusses some of the benefits of working within a university setting but in a non-academic post. He also considers the possibility that there is a trade-off.
Robert - ambivalence about working in HE but in an non-academic postRobert talks about his decision to take a non-academic post and the reactions of others.
Robert - career building during the PhDRobert recalls writing for the student newspaper, and applying for jobs in publishing, academia and research support roles while finishing his PhD.
Robert - deciding against an academic careerRobert talks in detail about what happened towards the end of his PhD to put him off the idea of pursuing an academic career.
Robert - did you anticipate an academic career?Robert looks back at the expectations and assumptions he had about an academic career.
Robert - do you have any regrets about leaving academia?Robert reflects on why he didn't pursue an academic career.
Robert - employer attitudes to the PhDRobert discusses the assumptions that people have about the PhD.
Robert - expectations of where the PhD might leadRobert discusses how he saw an academic career as a natural next step, but then considered his other options.
Robert - finishing up and moving onRobert recalls the sometimes disheartening experience of applying for academic posts towards the end of his PhD. He explains his ultimate change of direction, into a non-academic post.
Robert - PhD experienceRobert describes the ups and downs experienced during his PhD, and how he kept going.
Robert - reasons for doing a PhDRobert identifies the different motivating factors that led to the PhD.
Robert - research funding managerRobert describes his work as a research funding manager in a post-92 university, and how having a PhD has helped in this role.
Robert - the meaning of the PhDRobert shares his feelings of satisfaction in achieving his PhD and he reflects on what the PhD means to him now and how it affects his sense of self and identity, since he is working in a university, but not in an academic post.
Robert - where do you see your career going from here?Robert contemplates the options open to him now, both within the field he works in and beyond it in something more related to his PhD.