Riding the auto/biographical PhD rollercoaster (original) (raw)

Routledge eBooks, 2021

Abstract

In this piece, I discuss the differences and difficulties I found during the tumultuous, nerve-racking process of completing a PhD in a subject that is both very personal and extremely sensitive: male involuntary childlessness. A subject so sensitive that reaction to my work has ranged from genuine tears of empathy to sarcastic gestures of weeping and condescension (Hadley, 2020). My doctoral research drew on my personal experience and the issue of auto/biography is relevant here. Auto/Biography acknowledges and embraces the significance of the personhood of the researcher in the research process (Brennan and Letherby, 2017). Michael Brennan and Gayle Letherby (2017: 54) suggest that that there is an ‘autobiographical continuum’ ranging from auto/biography to auto/biography. The former refers to those that write about others but acknowledge the significance of their personhood in the process. The latter, in writing about themselves recognise the importance of others in their story. In my PhD and other academic writings, I write from an auto/biography perspective. However, here I write from the auto/biographical perspective as I share my story of being a doctoral student.

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