Presenting our research on the hidden norms and values of doctoral education at #HERDSA2026 today. PhD students learn unintended messages about academic norms through their experiences. Our study explored who sets academic norms and values and what those learned norms and values are. #AcademicSky
July 7, 2026 at 1:38 AM
Presenting our research on the hidden norms and values of doctoral education at #HERDSA2026 today. PhD students learn unintended messages about academic norms through their experiences. Our study explored who sets academic norms and values and what those learned norms and values are. #AcademicSky
We are presenting a digital poster at this year's HERDSA conference. Check it out ⬇️ #HERDSA #HERDSA2026
#AcademicSky
#AcademicSky
HERDSA 2026 Poster - Impact of writing groups on academic publishing success
YouTube video by Lynette Pretorius: University Study Made Easy
youtu.be
May 7, 2026 at 7:52 AM
We are presenting a digital poster at this year's HERDSA conference. Check it out ⬇️ #HERDSA #HERDSA2026
#AcademicSky
#AcademicSky
What are the implications of our findings? Implication 1: Focus on compassionate supervision. This includes allocating an appropriate workload for supervising research students, improving professional development, and recognising pastoral care work in systems and promotion criteria. #HERDSA2026
July 7, 2026 at 1:38 AM
What are the implications of our findings? Implication 1: Focus on compassionate supervision. This includes allocating an appropriate workload for supervising research students, improving professional development, and recognising pastoral care work in systems and promotion criteria. #HERDSA2026
Attending the #HERDSA2026 conference. Great cultural opening with a traditional lion dance performance! 👏
July 7, 2026 at 12:55 AM
Attending the #HERDSA2026 conference. Great cultural opening with a traditional lion dance performance! 👏
Structural and cultural conditions, not just individual talent, shape who progresses and on what terms. Success depends on the ability to read and navigate institutional hierarchies, unwritten conventions of the discipline, and the subtle social processes that confer academic legitimacy. #HERDSA2026
July 7, 2026 at 1:38 AM
Structural and cultural conditions, not just individual talent, shape who progresses and on what terms. Success depends on the ability to read and navigate institutional hierarchies, unwritten conventions of the discipline, and the subtle social processes that confer academic legitimacy. #HERDSA2026
Norm 4: Bureaucracy and precarity are normal. Complex and unclear processes were considered just how academia worked, and this taught students that they had to navigate this complexity themselves as evidence of their worth. #HERDSA2026
July 7, 2026 at 1:38 AM
Norm 4: Bureaucracy and precarity are normal. Complex and unclear processes were considered just how academia worked, and this taught students that they had to navigate this complexity themselves as evidence of their worth. #HERDSA2026
CRADLE PhD student Michelle Pedlow attended #HERDSA2026 and found that research is rarely a solitary endeavour; it grows through dialogue, curiosity and generosity.
Read more of Michelle's reflections:
blogs.deakin.edu.au/cradle/learn...
Read more of Michelle's reflections:
blogs.deakin.edu.au/cradle/learn...
CRADLE Blog: Learning, Feedback and Community: My reflections from HERDSA 2026
In this post we hear from CRADLE PhD student Michelle Pedlow about her experience at the HERDSA 2026 conference in Singapore. This was Michelle’s first HERDSA conference and first conference …
blogs.deakin.edu.au
July 28, 2026 at 12:21 AM
CRADLE PhD student Michelle Pedlow attended #HERDSA2026 and found that research is rarely a solitary endeavour; it grows through dialogue, curiosity and generosity.
Read more of Michelle's reflections:
blogs.deakin.edu.au/cradle/learn...
Read more of Michelle's reflections:
blogs.deakin.edu.au/cradle/learn...
And read more about our doctoral education research here #HERDSA2026
www.lynettepretorius.com/tag/doctoral...
www.lynettepretorius.com/tag/doctoral...
Doctoral education – Dr Lynette Pretorius
www.lynettepretorius.com
July 7, 2026 at 1:38 AM
And read more about our doctoral education research here #HERDSA2026
www.lynettepretorius.com/tag/doctoral...
www.lynettepretorius.com/tag/doctoral...
Join the conversation to improve doctoral education. What is a good PhD student? Which norms do you think shape doctoral education and academia more broadly? Who benefits when struggle is normalised as a rite of passage? What would "belonging by design" look like at your institution? #HERDSA2026
July 7, 2026 at 1:38 AM
Join the conversation to improve doctoral education. What is a good PhD student? Which norms do you think shape doctoral education and academia more broadly? Who benefits when struggle is normalised as a rite of passage? What would "belonging by design" look like at your institution? #HERDSA2026
Implication 8: Diversify the narratives of doctoral success. This includes the provision of multiple legitimate career pathways, while also recognising and celebrating service, care work, and collaborative engagement. Celebrate degree completion as a meaningful achievement in itself. #HERDSA2026
July 7, 2026 at 1:38 AM
Implication 8: Diversify the narratives of doctoral success. This includes the provision of multiple legitimate career pathways, while also recognising and celebrating service, care work, and collaborative engagement. Celebrate degree completion as a meaningful achievement in itself. #HERDSA2026
Implication 7: must move away from the resilience model and begin designing for belonging as a core structural outcome of the degree. Supervisors should also be trained in relational care, ensuring they have the skills to recognise distress and refer students to appropriate resources. #HERDSA2026
July 7, 2026 at 1:38 AM
Implication 7: must move away from the resilience model and begin designing for belonging as a core structural outcome of the degree. Supervisors should also be trained in relational care, ensuring they have the skills to recognise distress and refer students to appropriate resources. #HERDSA2026
Implication 6: Deconstruct the cultures of conformity that stifle diverse ways of knowing. Train supervisors and examiners in epistemic diversity, moving them beyond the narrow boundaries of dominant paradigms to appreciate a broader range of methodological and theoretical possibilities. #HERDSA2026
July 7, 2026 at 1:38 AM
Implication 6: Deconstruct the cultures of conformity that stifle diverse ways of knowing. Train supervisors and examiners in epistemic diversity, moving them beyond the narrow boundaries of dominant paradigms to appreciate a broader range of methodological and theoretical possibilities. #HERDSA2026
Implication 5: There is a compelling need to broaden the scope of what counts as a legitimate scholarly output. This shift will support a more diverse range of scholarship and reduce junior researchers’ vulnerability to exclusionary practices. #HERDSA2026
July 7, 2026 at 1:38 AM
Implication 5: There is a compelling need to broaden the scope of what counts as a legitimate scholarly output. This shift will support a more diverse range of scholarship and reduce junior researchers’ vulnerability to exclusionary practices. #HERDSA2026
Implication 4: Importantly, norm-setters need to encourage adherence to established authorship norms, embed open conversations and milestones, and ensure that expectations regarding authorship order and contribution are established early and revised as roles evolve. #HERDSA2026
July 7, 2026 at 1:38 AM
Implication 4: Importantly, norm-setters need to encourage adherence to established authorship norms, embed open conversations and milestones, and ensure that expectations regarding authorship order and contribution are established early and revised as roles evolve. #HERDSA2026
Implication 3: Gatekeeping & unequal access should be countered by formalising opportunities, implementing transparent selection criteria, developing mentorship programmes, & embedding equity in policies, particularly those relating to the differential experiences of part-time cohorts. #HERDSA2026
July 7, 2026 at 1:38 AM
Implication 3: Gatekeeping & unequal access should be countered by formalising opportunities, implementing transparent selection criteria, developing mentorship programmes, & embedding equity in policies, particularly those relating to the differential experiences of part-time cohorts. #HERDSA2026
Implication 2: Improve admin transparency. Institutions must resolve the burden of opaque bureaucracy by establishing a single source of truth where students and staff can find the information they need, providing proactive navigation support, and simplifying contradictory policies. #HERDSA2026
July 7, 2026 at 1:38 AM
Implication 2: Improve admin transparency. Institutions must resolve the burden of opaque bureaucracy by establishing a single source of truth where students and staff can find the information they need, providing proactive navigation support, and simplifying contradictory policies. #HERDSA2026
How do these norms impact student experience? PhD students experience significant perfectionism, anxiety, & imposter syndrome. They are risk-averse & lack agency. They are burnt out, cognitively overloaded, cynical, disengaged, isolated, & distressed. They do not feel like they belong. #HERDSA2026
July 7, 2026 at 1:38 AM
How do these norms impact student experience? PhD students experience significant perfectionism, anxiety, & imposter syndrome. They are risk-averse & lack agency. They are burnt out, cognitively overloaded, cynical, disengaged, isolated, & distressed. They do not feel like they belong. #HERDSA2026
Norm 8: Students learnt that success in the PhD has to include a permanent self-transformation and a meaningful contribution to the field. While this has positive connotations, it also places weight on the PhD, framing it not just as a qualification but as a form of identity becoming. #HERDSA2026
July 7, 2026 at 1:38 AM
Norm 8: Students learnt that success in the PhD has to include a permanent self-transformation and a meaningful contribution to the field. While this has positive connotations, it also places weight on the PhD, framing it not just as a qualification but as a form of identity becoming. #HERDSA2026
Norm 7: Wellbeing is an individual responsibility. Students learnt that wellbeing in academia should be managed through resilience, conveniently masking the structural precarity producing the distress in the first place. #HERDSA2026
July 7, 2026 at 1:38 AM
Norm 7: Wellbeing is an individual responsibility. Students learnt that wellbeing in academia should be managed through resilience, conveniently masking the structural precarity producing the distress in the first place. #HERDSA2026
Norm 6: Marketisation. Students learnt that they were seen as customers. This created perceptions that everything was about efficiency and money, which led to cynicism and reduced engagement. What academia valued was quick, clear progress against predefined accountability metrics. #HERDSA2026
July 7, 2026 at 1:38 AM
Norm 6: Marketisation. Students learnt that they were seen as customers. This created perceptions that everything was about efficiency and money, which led to cynicism and reduced engagement. What academia valued was quick, clear progress against predefined accountability metrics. #HERDSA2026
Norm 5: Politics and networks shape opportunities. Students learnt that it is who you know that creates opportunities for teaching or research assistant positions. These opportunities are often not advertised, and even if they were, students learnt that inequity in hiring was normal. #HERDSA2026
July 7, 2026 at 1:38 AM
Norm 5: Politics and networks shape opportunities. Students learnt that it is who you know that creates opportunities for teaching or research assistant positions. These opportunities are often not advertised, and even if they were, students learnt that inequity in hiring was normal. #HERDSA2026
Norm 3: Difficulty establishes your worth as an academic. Students consistently spoke about a variety of challenges they experienced, but framed their suffering as evidence that they deserved to be there. They learnt that suffering is just what it takes to be an academic. #HERDSA2026
July 7, 2026 at 1:38 AM
Norm 3: Difficulty establishes your worth as an academic. Students consistently spoke about a variety of challenges they experienced, but framed their suffering as evidence that they deserved to be there. They learnt that suffering is just what it takes to be an academic. #HERDSA2026
Norm 2: Deference to dominant paradigms is rewarded. Students learnt that sticking with dominant theories or ways of doing research is what is valued if you want to succeed. The cost is a quiet erasure, the blunting of a scholar's own intellectual voice. #HERDSA2026
July 7, 2026 at 1:38 AM
Norm 2: Deference to dominant paradigms is rewarded. Students learnt that sticking with dominant theories or ways of doing research is what is valued if you want to succeed. The cost is a quiet erasure, the blunting of a scholar's own intellectual voice. #HERDSA2026
Norm 1: Publishing provides legitimacy. This was often connected to issues of unethical authorship. Students learnt that publishing secures legitimacy, so they should keep taking part, even though they know the system is flawed. This seems to be just the way academia works. #HERDSA2026
July 7, 2026 at 1:38 AM
Norm 1: Publishing provides legitimacy. This was often connected to issues of unethical authorship. Students learnt that publishing secures legitimacy, so they should keep taking part, even though they know the system is flawed. This seems to be just the way academia works. #HERDSA2026