Some PhD concerns...

Living, Teaching and Afterwards... image Jorge Cham, PhD Comics Living It's not easy being a postgraduate student. Sure, there's an intellectual challenge and the motivation that comes from doing work you're genuinely interested in, at least most of the time. But there's also a lot of poverty, difficulty adjusting to studying in the UK, loneliness and worry about the future. We wish we could solve these problems. In the meantime, here are some links that you might find helpful. Q. Where can I find funding for my media degree? This varies depending on whether you are a home or international student. Most research degrees in media studies are fundied either by the AHRB (if you are more humanities-orientated) or by the ESRC (for the more social-science related research). A good page on funding is maintained by the National Postgraduate Committee (NPC) Q. Where can I find funding for conferences? Normally it seems to come from your home department. If anyone finds any particularly good other sources, please let us know. Q. I'm sick and tired of people telling me that media studies is a mickey-mouse subject. How can I respond? A. How about pointing them to this article in The Guardian? Q. I don't think I'm getting paid enough for teaching. What can I do? A. The subject of postgraduate student pay is a tricky one. On the one hand, no one likes being exploited. On the other hand, many postgraduates consider teaching and research work, even if poorly paid, to be good experience for a career in academia. Only you know where you stand. But, you are not alone. If you and your fellow postgraduate students wish to build a case to contest what you see as pitifully poor pay, here are some links that can help: -The National Postgraduate Committee (NPC) has agreed three employment charters with the various unions and the NUS, the AUT/NPC/NPS Employment Charter (2000), the NATFHE/NUS/NPC Employed Postgraduates' Charter (2003), and the NPC Scotland/NUS Scotland/EIS Employed Postgraduates Charter (2003). - The Association of University Teachers (AUT) has a set of salary scales for universities whose staff are represented by the AUT. This should include postgraduate staff on a pro-rata basis. A copy of their policies relating to postgraduate employees is also available. - The National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education (NATFHE) has a special postgraduate advice page which may be of use. Teaching This site and network are, in part, sponsored by the Art, Design, and Media Subject Centre of the Higher Education Academy. But even more than that, teaching is often an important part of postgraduate studies. Below we've assembled a short list of frequently asked questions (and even more importantly, some answers). Q. Should I teach? A. Are you kidding? Yes, you should teach. It's like eating breakfast: it's good for you and sharpens your mind and concentration. And if you're the type who always skips breakfast, order yourself some job particulars for an academic job that takes your fancy (see Afterwards for job listing sites). Teaching experience is almost certainly a requirement for the job you're interested in. If you're SURE you don't want an academic job, then you can skip the teaching. But wouldn't you rather have a balanced diet? Q. Help, I'm teaching, and I feel like I don't know what I'm doing! Don't worry, we all have to start somewhere. Your university should ideally provide a series of introductory courses for new teachers. If you don't know of any, make a concerted effort to look for the Teaching & Learing Centre (it should be called something like that). They should be able to advise you. If there is no Teaching & Learning Centre, here are a couple of books to start you off: - Ramsden, Paul. Learning to Teach in Higher Education. Routledge, 2003 - Brown, George and Madeleine Atkins. Effective Teaching in Higher Education. Taylor Francis, 1990. Q. My students all hate me, what should I do? A. Don't worry, students hate everyone. OK, that's not true, but many students have an easier time voicing criticism than praise, especially in official evaluations. If you really think they have a point, and you don't know what to do about it, why not have a friendly observer attend one of your classes? You can ask the Teaching & Learning office at your university, if there is one. They may also have other resources. Or, you might try asking a peer you respect to observe, or exchange with them. Here are some guidelines for peer observations from the University of Reading. Other guidelines are available from the University of Nottingham, and still more from the University of Leicester. Q. I really like teaching, and I want to take it further. What should I do? The best thing, really, is to work towards teacher accreditation. This is a qualification offered by the Institute for Teaching and Learning, now part of the Higher Education Academy. Again, your Teaching & Learning centre should be able to help you. If not, the Open University offers a course leading to a postgraduate certificate in teaching and learning in higher education. Getting a qualification will give you an edge in the job search, as well. According to the The Dearing report into Higher Education: "over the medium term, it should become the normal requirement that all new full-time academic staff with teaching responsibilities are required to achieve at least associate membership of the Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, for the successful completion of probation" (Recommendation 48). Afterwards The PhD doesn't last forever. So what about afterwards, when you're suddenly Dr Mediastudent instead of just plain Mr or Ms Mediastudent? Our guess is you'll want a job, sharpish, to make up for the years of debt and poverty. Our advice is: plan ahead. Q. Where can I find academic jobs in media? A: To find an academic job in the UK, the website jobs.ac.uk is an excellent starting place. Other good sources are the Times Higher Education Supplement and the Guardian Education section.