The dishes can wait: A young mother's reflection post-PhD
Published 26th May 2012
I envy full-time doctoral students, privileged to spend most days oncampus, focusing solely on their research project. Completing a PhD isnot for the faint-hearted; it is mostly a self-inicted journey paved withmany obstacles. While there is much celebration when the title of ‘Doctor’ is nally prexed to one’s name, there are limited opportunitiesto reect on arduous times and share the realities of student-hood. What does it actually mean to be a research student in this day and age?I was a PhD candidate from 2006 to 2011 at the Queensland University of Technology, Australia. Asmar (1999, p. 267) succinctly describeshow ‘[t]he PhD degree which is supposed to open up the magic doors toan academic career is not attained without pain’. During those ve years,I worked in the multicultural eld, got married, established myself as a newly arrived skilled migrant in Australia, and had a baby. Each of thosesituations presented specic obstacles to ultimately submitting my thesis,and I experienced them concurrently. Some would say I love a challenge.
