Reaping the rewards of the PhD coaching journey
In the middle of isolation and social distancing measures I connected with two wonderful PhD candidates from Austria and Portugal, who also are a coach and a coachee or coaching client, for an open and honest conversation about the benefits and rewards of PhD coaching. We spanned Europe to talk about the human aspects of going through such a personal, transformational project as a PhD.
Here’s the recording of my live conversation with Tünde Erdös and Alex Leighton.
The humanity of excellence: crossover from coaching practice to PhD
Tünde Erdös
Tünde Erdös is a highly experienced executive coach who is currently doing her PhD research on coaching presence and the impact it has on coaching effectiveness with Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam Business Research Centre, NL in collaboration with Ashridge Centre for Coaching, UK as well as Case Western Reserve University, US. In other words, she investigates certain factors that potentially impact the effectiveness of coaching, exploring what really happens in coaching sessions.
In this interview dr. Claartje van Sijl talks with her about excellence and the personal deep motivation that drives her PhD project. We conducted the interview through several emails back and forth.
Why thriving is a better criterion for PhD success than excellence (part 1)
For her PhD project Katharina Lemmens-Krug (MSc UTwente) is studying challenges of present-day universities regarding their governance – more specifically concerning steering capacity of university leadership and the relation with centres for excellence in teaching and learning. In this interview dr. Claartje van Sijl talks with her about ways to understand excellence from the individual researcher’s perspective. The interview was conducted through several emails back and forth in November 2018. This is part 1, in which we discuss thriving as a PhD.
Why thriving is a better criterion for PhD success than excellence (part2)
For her PhD project Katharina Lemmens-Krug (MSc UTwente) is studying challenges of present-day universities regarding their governance – more specifically concerning steering capacity of university leadership and the relation with centres for excellence in teaching and learning. In this interview dr. Claartje van Sijl talks with her about ways to understand excellence from the individual researcher’s perspective. This is part 2, in which we discuss how taking the perspective of thriving contributes to improving PhD well-being.
Does the new Code for Research Integrity really makes us into Better Researchers?
The new Code for Research Integrity does not have the power it could have had, I argue. A code that only refers to research and not to acting with integrity in the broadest sense ipso facto cannot guarantee research integrity.
(A Dutch version of this article as been published on ScienceGuide.nl)
Questions with which researchers reach out to me, as career coach, regularly have origins that go way back and actually have little to do with their current situation and the direct reason why they contact a career coach. They are reconsidering their careers and are wondering whether they should continue in academia, or at the institute where they are currently based. Before long, though, it becomes clear that something else lies underneath these questions.
PhD success and mental wellbeing in an international context (part 2)
Judith Zijlstra (MA) is doing a part-time PhD project in sociology and migration studies. She investigates international mobility in academic careers of Iranians and the ways they
translate professional experience from one context to the other.
In this interview dr. Claartje van Sijl (independent career coach for academics) discusses with her what makes an international PhD project successful (part 1) and how a cross-cultural academic career affects the mental wellbeing of the research professional (part 2). The interview was conducted through several emails back and forth in June 2018. This is part 2.
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PhD success and mental wellbeing in an international context (part 1)
Judith Zijlstra (MA) is doing a part-time PhD project in sociology and migration studies. She investigates international mobility in academic careers of Iranians and the ways they
translate professional experience from one context to the other.
In this interview dr. Claartje van Sijl (independent career coach for academics) discusses with her what makes an international PhD project successful and how a cross-cultural academic career affects the mental wellbeing of the research professional. The interview was conducted through several emails back and forth in June 2018. This is part 1. Lees meer →
What is PhD success and does it imply a deliberate risk for your mental and social health? (2)
dr. Els van Rooij
Dr. Els van Rooij investigates PhD trajectories for the Graduate School at Groningen University. In particular, she focusses on success factors in PhD research projects. Key topics are working pressure and mental wellbeing of PhD candidates, as well as social aspects of the academic working environment and the supervisory relationship.
This is PART 2 of an interview with Dr. Els van Rooij (postdoctoral researcher at Groningen University) by Dr. Claartje van Sijl (independent career coach for academics) conducted via email in May 2018. In part 1 we focussed on PhD success. This second part examines the working pressure that young researchers experience and its effect on their PhD success, work/life balance and mental wellbeing. Lees meer →