Is getting a PhD basically 'project management'? Rethinking qualifying strategies for early career researchers

Abstract

Project-orientation and management logics in science have fundamentally altered research and scientific careers. This article contributes to ongoing research about early career researchers’ self-definition as ‘24-hour scientists’ and deals with their involvement in processes of self-precarisation. It focuses on qualifying strategies and soft-skills training for scholars. These training programs and advice often encompass so-called key competences for scholars, such as time and self-management. I argue that it is time to redefine the criteria for successfully completing a PhD by breaking with management rhetoric. 30.09.2016 | Sarah Weber (Karlsruhe)

Keywords

• qualifying strategies in academia
• project management
• management critique
• PhD training
• academic work