PhD Mum

This was written from my experience of doing a PhD in a Psychology context. Please note, this experience is always going to be different depending on the subject so whilst I would encourage you to read my experience, I can't guarantee that this is exactly what you will go through if you are not doing a PhD in Psychology. So you have started a PhD – this is the most important decision you have made.  To start.  Well done!  (Try to remember why you made this decision and remind yourself of it throughout your PhD as you will question this at least 10 times a week until you finish it). I found the first 6 months of the PhD the most difficult to adjust to. Not only because I was pregnant, but because the pace of it was so different to what I had been used to. The emphasis was definitely on me, as an academic, developing a research question rather than just “doing a research study”. I think if you go through academic life without a break, this transitio...

What a year 2017 was. I managed to finish a PhD (I am officially Dr Nic ;)) with a toddler kicking around at my heels. I have been very lazy of late with my writing. Since submitting the PhD, I keep wondering what exactly I am going to write about. I started ‘PhD Mum’ almost 2 years ago with the aim of sharing my PhD and parenting journey with others who might be interested in doing the same. I was so hopeful that these small little posts could potentially encourage other parents to return to education and perhaps even provide some sort of support for anyone who is doing the same and having a difficult time – we all need to know that we aren’t alone. I find it is hard to write about my PhD journey without feeling like a 'know-it-all'. I think this is what has held me back from writing much about my PhD experience. Having submitted the thesis and the corrections, I know that each PhD candidate has a different journey and experience to get to the submission point a...