The Doctoral Experience; Success and Failure in Graduate School

Richly illustrated with case studies and interviews, this book identifies key themes pervading academic life: the nature of research and research supervision; key social processes and problems; distinct and contrasting sub-cultures of departments and disciplines in universities; mentorship and sponsorship; and apprenticeship and rites of passage for postgraduate students. Anyone developing policy and practice in Higher Education, or wishing to understand their own position within the wider picture will benefit from reading this book.

Sara Delamont is Reader in Sociology at Cardiff University. She has published extensively on social interaction in schools and classrooms, womens education, women intellectuals, and the anthropology of contemporary Europe. Paul Atkinson is Professor of Sociology at Cardiff University. His research and publications include work on medical knowledge, genetic science and educational knowledge. Odette Parry is Research Fellow in the Research Unit in Health and Behavioural Change at the University of Edinburgh. She has extensive research experience in a number of fields including health and illness, the body, and education in the UK and the Caribbean.