“I realised that, if I am dead, I cannot finish my PhD!”: A narrative ethnography of psychological capital in academia

Abstract

Despite the increasing quantitative evidence that there is a mental health crisis in doctoral education, there is a lack of qualitative research that highlights the voices of individuals experiencing mental illness. This study highlights the experiences of a second-year PhD student as she discovers that she is mentally unwell. The participant’s experiences are interwoven with the reflections and experiences of the researcher, a doctoral educator. Through the use of narrative ethnography, this study highlights the need for doctoral educators to build an environment that fosters students’ psychological capital by helping them develop efficacy, optimism, hope, and resilience. In this way, doctoral education environments can become more welcoming, compassionate, inclusive, and growth-focused. This study also demonstrates the benefits for educators of employing narrative ethnography as a methodology to improve their own pedagogical practices by better understanding their own lived experiences as well as those of their students.

Pragmatic patchwork ethnography, a call to action for health, nutrition and dietetic researchers

“…With self‐funded research students, particularly those completing a PhD, associated with poorer financial outcomes compared to those with grants and funding, 50 it is important to explore and consider any option which will maximise data quality. In a world where postgraduate researchers are facing increasing mental health issues, 51 it is imperative that in addition to well‐being support, new methods of research are proposed with the aim to acknowledge the workload of not only postgraduate researchers but also the entire researcher community. Pragmatic patchwork ethnography offers a method that is supportive and sympathetic to lifestyle factors that impact the well‐being of the researcher, lessening the pressure of major lifestyle changes in the name of research.…”