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Doctoral studies as a precarious identity process: deviance and the rational ideal of the doctoral process.

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Title: Doctoral studies as a precarious identity process: deviance and the rational ideal of the doctoral process.
Authors: Blomberg, Annika (AUTHOR)
Source: Studies in Higher Education. Nov2025, Vol. 50 Issue 11, p2346-2360. 15p.
Subjects: Precarity, Identity (Psychology), Social structure, Deviant behavior, Graduate education, Normativity (Ethics), Self-perception, Doctoral programs
Abstract: Based on narrative interviews with late-phase doctoral candidates and early postdoctoral researchers, complemented by an autoethnographic diary, this study analyses the experiences of junior academics. A rational ideal of the doctoral process is identified, and its implications for doctoral students' identity work are discussed. While the rational ideal of the doctoral process has its uses, it prescribes the preferred conduct of doctoral studies and regulates doctoral identities through preferred conceptions of the self. Consequently, doctoral identity work often involves the construction of one's self in ways that seek to conform to the rational ideal while continuously failing to do so, making deviance from expectations a prevailing feature of it. These experiences of deviance from the elusive ideal both increase the precariousness of doctoral identities and reproduce the regimes of power in which doctoral students are embedded. Thus, this paper challenges the rational ideal and provides a more nuanced understanding of doctoral studies as a precarious, emotional and embodied identity construction process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Studies in Higher Education is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection
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  Data: Doctoral studies as a precarious identity process: deviance and the rational ideal of the doctoral process.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Precarity%22">Precarity</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Identity+%28Psychology%29%22">Identity (Psychology)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Social+structure%22">Social structure</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Deviant+behavior%22">Deviant behavior</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Graduate+education%22">Graduate education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Normativity+%28Ethics%29%22">Normativity (Ethics)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Self-perception%22">Self-perception</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Doctoral+programs%22">Doctoral programs</searchLink>
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  Data: Based on narrative interviews with late-phase doctoral candidates and early postdoctoral researchers, complemented by an autoethnographic diary, this study analyses the experiences of junior academics. A rational ideal of the doctoral process is identified, and its implications for doctoral students' identity work are discussed. While the rational ideal of the doctoral process has its uses, it prescribes the preferred conduct of doctoral studies and regulates doctoral identities through preferred conceptions of the self. Consequently, doctoral identity work often involves the construction of one's self in ways that seek to conform to the rational ideal while continuously failing to do so, making deviance from expectations a prevailing feature of it. These experiences of deviance from the elusive ideal both increase the precariousness of doctoral identities and reproduce the regimes of power in which doctoral students are embedded. Thus, this paper challenges the rational ideal and provides a more nuanced understanding of doctoral studies as a precarious, emotional and embodied identity construction process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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  Data: <i>Copyright of Studies in Higher Education is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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        Value: 10.1080/03075079.2024.2420205
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      – Code: eng
        Text: English
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        PageCount: 15
        StartPage: 2346
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      – SubjectFull: Precarity
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Identity (Psychology)
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Social structure
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      – SubjectFull: Deviant behavior
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      – SubjectFull: Graduate education
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      – SubjectFull: Self-perception
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      – SubjectFull: Doctoral programs
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              Text: Nov2025
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