Open AccessA Co/Autoethnography of Peer Support and PhDs: Being, Doing, and Sharing in Academia
Author(s) -
Karen McPhail-Bell,
Michelle Redman-MacLaren
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
the qualitative report
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.335
H-Index - 35
ISSN - 2160-3715
DOI - 10.46743/2160-3715/2019.3155
Subject(s) - autoethnography , reflexivity , sociology , peer support , process (computing) , reflection (computer programming) , pedagogy , psychology , computer science , social science , psychiatry , programming language , operating system
As doctoral students, we were well aware of the social, cultural, and economic isolation experienced by many students working towards a PhD. In this paper, we provide an account of an informal peer support model that assisted us to successfully complete our PhDs. We used co/autoethnography to write into each other’s story, seeking to improve our research practice through creative reflection. Data included over 215 emails generated through our “weekly check-ins” during our PhDs, for a period of over 18 months. Following the iterative nature of co/autoethnography, we generated further data through collaborative analysis and reflexive, creative writing. Analysis involved each of us conducting inductive analysis of the data separately, followed by a collaborative process of checking and co-identifying themes, and collaborative writing of the co/autoethnography. We identified three major themes in the data: Being an Academic, Doing Academia, and Sharing in Academia. We continue to transform through the co/autoethnography and lay bare our experience of peer support for the purpose of supporting others undertaking a PhD, including ways to approach writing (or support writing), and ways to navigate the corporate university setting.