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Original poster

Anyone doing a PhD?

117 replies

Klio · 12/01/2006 11:00

I'm six months pregnant with first baby, work part time and trying to do a PhD (early church theology) part time (no funding as arts based grrr) as well so all feels a bit of an uphill struggle at moment!! Have major guilt feelings all the time as not done any research for ages now as always too exhausted to even contemplate opening my books. Just wondering if anyone has any good tips, especially for once baby arrives on scene, or just fancies a general rant about the whole thing!!

OP posts:

sunnylabsmum · 27/03/2008 05:36

Gillianlovesmarmite

Wow that sounds interesting....many moons ago I taught in secondary schools.

How far through your EdD are you? I'm on the final hurdle of the thesis and we have to do 40-50K....sounds not too bad and I am up to around 34K with 1 chapter to go plus the inevitatble revisions. DD is on holiday from start of April so April is pretty much wiped out study wise for me. I guess you are like me self funded.

incidentally my DH has done 2 Masters degrees since I started this.....so he is sympathetic. I also well recall the juggling breastfeeding/naps/childcare saga....Do'n't forget to plan in some away from study relaxation as well. I've just re-started pilates once a week and its great to escape the hard work.

Good luck

GillianLovesMarmite · 27/03/2008 20:02

Hi Sunnylabsmum,

I'm just starting my thesis - I managed to complete all of the modules before having the baby! We're serial students so it's a good support when your dh knows what it's like. I was originally intending to look at menstrual activism and the promotion (or not) of alternative menstrual products, however, it was difficult finding a supervisor - although I envisage writing on this when I have finished the phd as I might do a couple of collaborative pieces with a friend. However, there was a project going on 14-19 education and it seemed more do-able. It does feel a bit mad at times, but I'm trying to make the most of my year off as although I love my ds to bits it is really very odd not being at work!

Gillian.

sunnylabsmum · 28/03/2008 05:51

Hi Gillianlovesmarmite

great name by the way...i too love marmite and you can get it in Cyprus-hooray!!

How long till the end do you think?? I'm trying to submit in Aug when we are back in the Uk on holiday. Then it'll be a viva in the Autumn which I am not looking forward to at all...I tend to clam up when intelligent sounding men speak to me...

Yes it can be odd not working especially at first. I have been forced into not working this year when we moved here as jobs are rather thin on the ground and I saw the 2 years here as a great opportunity to finish the doctorate and enjoy being a Mum. School finishes at 1pm so we have tons of quality time together.

What sort of word limit are you on and which Uni are you with. My word limit is 40-50K and I'm with Lincoln Uni as when I started this back in 2000 they offered the chance to do an international visit which was so interesting. I was supposed to finish in 2004 but as you can see I've rather overshot this!!!

Good luck

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lennied · 28/03/2008 14:21

Hi,

I am just applying for a PhD, am curently doing a MEd in Education. Have done my MEd part time but thinking about full time for the PhD, mainly becasue of funding. Nice to see so many others have made it through. Has given me extra motivation to get my funding proposal and my application sorted.

StudyingMum · 29/03/2008 21:43

Hi everyone, I am three years into a part-time PhD in human geography (took 10 months off last year for maternity leave).

I upgraded from MPhil to PhD just before I started maternity leave, it's quite a formal process at my uni, you have to host a workshop similar to a viva before you can be formally upgraded. I was 38 weeks pregnant when I did mine - think the assessors just wanted me out of there before my waters broke to be honest!

Anyway, I am conducting fieldwork at the moment. DD is 15 months and I also work full-time (but I work from home quite a lot too and am able to do some study at work).

It's good to read this thread. Most of the other students at my uni are full-time and I feel it can be a bit of a lonely experience sometimes as their world is far removed from mine.

P.S. I am MN regular but have name changed for this as some people I know in RL who are also MNetters would be able to identify me from this post.

knittingmama · 30/03/2008 12:30

It is really inspiring to read everyone's stories. I keep having confidence issues- seems to hard to get into 'thinking head space' with DD around. I'm trying to read and get together a proposal... met with one of my old lecturers and he was really enthusiastic! He has encouraged me to apply for this autumn, as I'll be part-time and self funded. Now, if only I could settle on a topic! I'm afraid of being completely bored with it, if I am going to spend such a long time doing it. Anyway keep those inspirational stories coming- I keep re-reading this thread when I think it will be impossible to be a good mum and a PhD student at the same time. x

GillianLovesMarmite · 30/03/2008 22:07

Hi Sunnylabsmum,

I'm at Newcastle and my word limit is also 40-50,000 so I'm just busy scoping out my sections and trying to get my head round the concept of epistemology and ontology... Ideally I would like to be finished by the end of next year if I get my data collection done by the summer as although my 'official' completion date is somewhere around 2012 (I haven't taken a maternity break but thought I would just stick some time on the end for 'writing up' if I needed extra space. But I'd like to finish in a couple of years so that me and DH can graduate together and be Dr and Dr rather than Mr and Mrs!!

For LENNIED - I would say if you've done the MeD it's really worth seeing if you can convert to the EdD once you've done the Med you're nearly halfway there!!

Gillian.

sunnylabsmum · 31/03/2008 07:02

Hi everyone
Just about to finish for 2 weeks easter hols as DD on holiday then and we have visitors from the UK over too. I'm ready for a break as I've written 34K words since January!!

Gillian----can I recommend my tutors book as its really helped me organise my write up. Its called writing and presenting research and she is called Angela Thody. Its available on Amazon and is in a really easy to read format. I had written up quite a lot of papers but still suffered from a 'How do I start writing up this thing?' moment or two!!.
As for the graduating together how cool would that be! I did some tutoring for the OU a few years back and DH passed his MBA with the OU and I was in his academic procession..That was absolutely great as I had a front row seat!!

Knitting mama- Yes getting a topic is really hard and I began to despair that I'd ever find something to settle on. In the end whilst doing one of my final assignments for the EdD I looked at plagairism, realised I'd enjoyed that module the most and that there was lots I still wanted to find out. You are right that it has to keep inspiring you and mostly it still does, but some days it is the last thing I want to think about. Fortunately its not that often! I remember well having loads of postits of vague ideas on my study wall before something emerged rather like a Phoenix from the mess!

Like many of you I am self funded which is hard going, especially when I work out that I have 'invested' about 12K in it so far over the last 8 years. Good job I have a basic lifestyle, but I guess I'll be like a kid with a sweetie jar when I've finished and have more money!!!

Keep going Girls...we've made it this far, lets sprint for the finishing line!! and be able to say 'Trust me I'm a doctor!'

knittingmama · 02/04/2008 22:34

sunnylabsmum- post-its, what a great idea! That's exactly what I need right now, because I have a notebook full of random ideas and blurbs. Well done for 34K words in three months, that's amazing. Thanks for the support, I'm definitely going for it now! Going to have to change my username though- no time for knitting with all these books surrounding me...

knittingmama · 05/04/2008 08:49

Another question for everyone. I'm trying to decide whether to do full time or part time. I don't want to put DD in childcare 5 days a week but I could probably deal with 4 days a week... if I do part time I'd want to put her in 3 days a week anyway. I dread the idea of stretching it out for 5 or 6 years (or more) so part of me wants to go full time and get it done quicker. But is that realistic with a toddler?

sunnylabsmum · 05/04/2008 14:20

hi knittingmama

I think the childcare is up to you as only you know how your child will react? Some children prefer regular routine and others don't mind If you do 4 days then being able to spend the fifth day together might give you the incentive to keep going. My DD is now in school and I'm really pleased that we had so much time together before she started school. Now I have 5 mornings a week (school here is from 7.00 to 1.00)and to be honest I would prefer less as by thurs I am really tired and don't produce as good work as earlier in the week. However i'm the last to offer advice as I am in year 7 or is it 8??!!!

randomama · 05/04/2008 23:03

HI,
I'm just about to return to my studies from maternity leave. I'm in my 3rd year of a full time PhD in art history. I've had 9 months off on maternity leave (he's now 9 months old) For the first 3 months back I'm just going to be doing 2 days a week and dp will look after ds but then will up this to 3 days a week when ds turns 1 and I enter into my writing up year proper. As my PhD has been AHRC funded I've got to complete by Sept 09. Word limit is 80-100k. I feel the break has given me focus and some much needed perspective but tbh I'm shitting myself about the reality of getting all the writing done on time. Anyway, just wanted to say hi to all the other phd mums - it's great to know I'm not the only one!!!

knittingmama · 06/04/2008 19:06

randomama
welcome! how many days would you say you were working before the baby? every day, 8 hrs a day, or less? could you have done it on 4 days a week? wondering if i'd be crazy to work 4 days/wk and consider myself full time.

sunnylabsmum
where are you that school runs from 7 - 1? very curious!

Acinonyx · 06/04/2008 19:14

knittingmama - I think 4 days/week would be OK until you are writing up - then if you are sticking to some submission deadline you might need more. Also depends on how much you can work evenings/weekends. I have been 3 days/week & Sats but think I will have to up that later this year to finish.

Random - I also have a funding deadline this year - scary!

randomama · 07/04/2008 11:15

Hi,

Well I was working 5 days a week before the baby but tbh was wasting a lot of it. I tend to work in spurts as defined by external deadlines. Towards the end of my pregnancy I had a bit of a nightmare - went anaemic, my sister got sectioned and I missed my first deadline. So I AM nervous about the extra pressure of reduced working hours AND a baby. I've just found a nursery though that will have him 2 days a week and my dp will have him 2 days so I'll be 4 days a week - 8 hours a day plus evenings if I have a deadline. I've spoke to a couple of non mum PhD friends who have finished or are in their writing up year and they reckon I'll be fine with 4 days a week but I guess it depends on the nature of your study.

I'm dreading leaving my baby though. I've only been apart from him for a total of 12 hours over the last 9 months; he's still bfing a lot; and I will just MISS HIM!!! But yeah, has to be done.

Good luck all!

knittingmama · 07/04/2008 22:14

randomama

I totally understand how you feel about leaving the baby. It's really hard, but between 9 and 12 mos I noticed my little one became far more independent... she is now a year old and is really good with her childminder. She's still BF'ing, although only in the morning/eves. I think it's harder on mum than on baby to leave them. I started off slow, just half days at work, and worked up to full days. Good luck.

I may start off 3 days and go up to 4, although that may be tricky- 3 days seems to be classed as PT and 4 days seems to be FT even though it's only a day's difference. I guess the difference will be in how much I work at night and on weekends.

sunnylabsmum · 08/04/2008 10:16

hi all

Well Knittingmama we are in Cyprus with the forces and so school is early to miss the heat of the middle of the day. I must admit that I really like this way of working and would love to take this bit back when we return in 2009.

like you randomama I work in spurts and like to beat my targets if possible. In my first and masters degree I always beat deadlines so to fall this far behind on the doctorate was a real wake up call.

Spent this morning on the beach with DD (5) which I guess you guys could not do in the UK especially as we had shorts and t shirts on.

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