Season 6: May The Force Be With You: Community in a Scholarly Quest

In this third episode of season 6 of the Mawazo Ideas Podcast, the team explores the role of community in the PhD journey.

Scholars communicate in information sharing, innovation, publication, and evaluating each other’s work, establishing and maintaining ties that become an integral part of a scholar’s career. Yet, conducting research is often described as a lonely and isolating affair. Subjective accounts of women academics from around the world have referred to this as a period of ‘professional isolation and chilly institutional climate’ (Miller & Shrum, 2012). Academics who fail to develop the connections they need often suffer from stress and burnout as they progress through their courses, and are at a heightened risk of experiencing loneliness (Shaver et al., 1985; McLaughlin and Sillence, 2018).

Join us as we delve into the definition of community, the various types of community, and how to leverage them during the doctoral degree.

---

Further reading

• Miller, B. P., & Shrum, W. (2012). Isolated in a technologically connected world?: Changes in the core professional ties of female researchers in Ghana, Kenya, and Kerala, India. Sociological Quarterly, 53(2), 143–165. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1533-8525.2012.01229.x

• Shaver, P., Furman, W., & Buhrmester, D. (1985). Transition to college: Network changes, social skills, and loneliness. In S. Duck & D. Perlman (Eds.), Understanding personal relationships: An interdisciplinary approach (pp. 193–219). Sage Publications, Inc.

• McLaughlin, C. J., & Sillence, E. (2018). Buffering against academic loneliness: The benefits of social media-based peer support during postgraduate study. Active Learning in Higher Education, 24(1), 63–76. https://doi.org/10.1177/1469787418799185

• Randolph, S. M., & Koblinsky, S. A. (2012). Infant mental health in African American families: a sociocultural perspective. In SAGE Publications, Inc. eBooks (pp. 307–326). https://doi.org/10.4135/9781412976008.n16