PhD confusion

[slapcabbage]

I've just finished my PhD but I'm having a family dispute about what to call myself.
I started under my maiden name and got married halfway through. I changed everything, passport, bank etc to my new name except at uni where I kept my maiden name because I already had publications in that name.
So I'm Dr maiden name but am I Dr married name too? DH says not and that I am Mrs married name even though he gets to use Dr on everything by virtue of never having been daft enough to change names.
Any clever mumsnetters out there with PhD's know the answer?

I would never ever in a million years do another Ph.D. I was miserable doing it. And skint.

Well, I'm doing the second first degree (as it were) now and thinking about what to do next. Still undecided.

beckybrastraps- glad I'm not the only one Fennel my supervisor uses CA (well known as a discursive psychologist). Wondering who your co-authors are now. We have a little CA research group that meets every week.

Congratulations.

You are Dr married name also because you got your PhD when you were married so the choice is yours.

I was single when I gained my PhD so all my publications were under my maiden name. When I married, I kept my maiden name for work purposes and used my married name at other times (Mrs). When I had my DTS three years ago I changed over to using my married name for everything because I could not be bothered with the hassle of having two surnames so now I am Dr married surname.

DH has a PhD too and sometimes when a professional calls us at home and ask to speak to Dr..., I have to say "which one?" In that respect, it may have been easier for me to keep my maiden name.

You just have to do what suits you best.

Another academic here and I have done my marking but am now trying to write a chapter of my phd for a meeting on Monday.

Wish me luck!!

Good luck

Am off to do some work now...honest!!

DH has a PhD too and sometimes when a professional calls us at home and ask to speak to Dr..., I have to say "which one?" In that respect, it may have been easier for me to keep my maiden name.

that was partly why I kept my own name - and because at the time we worked in the same department in the same subject area - altogether too confusing to have two of us !

Good luck.

Oh and another PhD student here, also just trying to complete my marking as well as preparing for an interview tomorrow for my research.

Once I am a Dr, I will keep my Dr and maiden nme for work, and be Mrs Married name for domestic stuff. I have published under my maiden name and therefore need to keep it.

DH and I are both chemist and both have publications albeit he is an organic chemist and I am a polymer chemist. Up until 4 years we worked in the same organisation (we met across a lab bench - how corny is that?) so when we got married, it was less confusing for me to keep my maiden name as nobody else has DH's surname in the organisation (over 10000 employees).

Now that he has moved over to academia, his surname lives on via me!

Maybe I could CAT you Gess as I'm quite interested in your department, assuming I'm right about where you are.

I have a doctorate in Comparative Literature, (since I took it in France, where the title doesn't go with the grade, that problem is a bit irrelevant).

I might take issue with the idea that literature, and therefore literary analysis, is entirely useless and pointless.

I am painfully aware of the navel-gazing aspect of such work and, while sweating guts to finish the damn thing, I frequently described my work in ironic tones as "ground-breaking research that will change the face of the earth".

No, I wasn't going to find a cure for cancer or a means of saving the environment, nor was I going to write a formula for world peace, but surely literature, like all arts, has a useful place in society and a positive purpose in individual and collective life? Or am I just deluded and idealistic?

(getting back to the OP)

If you're called SlapCabbage you have my immediate and undying respect regardless of PhD or MD status .

Please do fennel- or I can CAT you if you would prefer.

AuldAlliance, I admire anybody who gets a PhD, irrespective of the topic. It is hard work. Reading literature, analysing the information and making valid deductions to relate to your own data is not easy. I have no time for anybody who dismisses the efforts of those who have applied themselves and sacrificed personal time to achieve their goal.

I use to be in the lab at 7am and leave at 11pm in order to complete experiments. I also use to stay up to 3am in the morning writing my thesis because I wanted to complete it before I started my new job.

Undertaking a PhD is not for the fainthearted so anyone who has completed one, has earnt it. If someone feels that we are pompous about it, then that is their problem.

Thanks Ellbell.

Well said Speedymama!!!

Was your PhD on French lit, AA? (My first degree was Italian/French, but then I veered towards the Italian side.)

Muminfife, my DH is currently studying for an MBA and he already has a PhD so there is no reason why your BIL can't have one, if he so wishes. It is hardwork though, especially as he works full time and started it when the DTS were 7 months old!

"Undertaking a PhD is not for the fainthearted so anyone who has completed one, has earnt it. If someone feels that we are pompous about it, then that is their problem."

Here! Here! But what about including titles of Fellowships of any society after your name....is that pompous do you think?

I think that the moral of this thread is...

Never ask a bunch of PhDs a simple question!

I'll join the deluded and idealistic amongst you (and wait until DC arrives).

Why DrDaddy, are you thinking of changing your name to DrDaddyFSA FRICS FRS FINSTP?