An Introduction to PGR: A PEP Network Event
On November 6th 2024, the Co-Chairs of our Postgraduate Education Practitioners’ Network, Susanna Broom and Kerri Gardiner, held a workshop looking at the specific issues and unique challenges which face those working within postgraduate research.
The session opened with an icebreaker, in which attendees discussed the question: “What makes PGRs different?” Picking up the discussions afterwards, Susanna Broom expanded on the differences between undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) study, with the latter often being in their 30s or 40s, often with significant experience in industry. She said that PGRs tend to be contributors to their universities, with some holding staff status, and that another crucial difference is that there’s an “all or nothing” exam at the end of doctoral study. Some “may be academics in their own right and coming back to formalise their experience and publications,” she said.
The Director of UKCGE, Dr Owen Gower, then followed with a look at the PGR landscape more generally. He talked about doctoral study as a “broad church” and referred to key findings from the 2024 UK Research Supervision Survey, highlighting the fact that 79% of supervisors felt that doctoral supervision improved the quality of their own research as a significant finding. Looking ahead, he spoke about the mental health and wellbeing of PGRs as being a priority for the near future, along with the cost-of-living crisis and the People, Culture and Strategy statement in REF 2029, which will heavily reference the quality of doctoral supervision.
A question period followed, with one attendee asking whether there was evidence in recent reports of the risks related to PGRs coming from politically fragile areas of the world and whether this was part of the current discourse. “Global events certainly impact doctoral study and that happens in many ways,” said Dr Gower, before citing the impact of Covid-19 and movements such as Black Lives Matter. He said that there was a need to know more about refugees in PGR and mentioned the Council for At-Risk Academics as an important resource in this area.
Kerri and Susanna then spoke about their own career trajectories and their aims for the PEP Network, which they hope will appeal to people working in professional services in different roles and at different levels. “We wanted an inclusive, safe space to share best practice and ideas,” explained Kerri. They then presented on some of the current challenges of navigating PGR in a UG world, speaking of the need to advocate for PGRs and other issues such as the availability of data (both locally and nationally) and the ongoing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
This was followed by another short breakout group, before Kerri and Susanna wrapped up the session by inviting attendees to ask questions and provide feedback. As with many of UKCGE’s workshops, the event was held under the Chatham House Rule, which encourages free discussion by allowing participants to share information without revealing the identities of those who spoke.