In this intimate and interactive session Rodrigo González Álvarez was our guest, and kindly offered to reflect on his untypical PhD path with us. Rodrigo, originally from Mexico, completed his master’s and PhD at the RUG. He defended his dissertation titled ‘Resilience among LGBTQIA+ youth in out-of-home care: A multidimensional exploration of their resilience resources’ in February. He is currently a lecturer at the University College Groningen. By sharing his personal story, the challenges he faced and the joys he found along his PhD journey, he offered us a unique opportunity to reflect on what we think is most important to us in academic life.
Rodrigo started his PhD at the UMCG in the area of Health Psychology. After two years, however, he came to the conclusion that this PhD did not suit him. Beyond the regular adversities associated with doing a PhD, such as becoming an independent researcher while maintaining a good work-life balance, he faced additional stressors. He had a complicated relationship with his supervisor and research team, and he did not feel passionate about the topic and the methods used in his research. He took the decision to abandon his project, his supervisors and the faculty, and to begin with a new PhD and a new supervisor, researching the LGBTQIA+ community and young people at the Faculty of Behavioral and Social Sciences.
Changing PhD, however, was not a smooth process, it presented Rodrigo with new challenges. His previous supervisor was not much enthusiastic about the idea of Rodrigo dropping his PhD and taking on another one in a different faculty. He succeeded in transitioning to his new PhD with the help of his new supervisor. Since his funding for PhD lasted for four years, after having spent two years in his new PhD position, there was no money left. During the last months of his PhD he worked in a bar to make ends meet.
During the session, Rodrigo also talked about the many aspects he appreciated in his second PhD. He worked in a culturally diverse team, with like-minded people who were all members of the LGBTQIA+ community or other marginalized groups. They all stood for social justice. This made building relationships within the team more easy. He started to supervise master students and because his supervisor introduced him to a lot of people, he built a professional network. By the end of his second PhD, he did not define himself as Psychologist but, rather, as a Social Scientist.
Rodrigo reflected on the differences between his first and second PhD. His first PhD had a positivist approach to knowledge production, it was monodisciplinary with a culturally homogenous and straight environment, where the team members had a lot of independence and a wide work-life gap. In contrast, his second PhD had an interpretivist approach, it was interdisciplinary with a multicultural and queer environment, where Rodrigo received closer guidance and he experienced a narrower work-life gap. Because he felt personally involved in the research project that aligned with his personal identity, this PhD suited him better.
At the end of the session, Rodrigo suggested us to reflect on some of these questions regarding our academic life: What is the role of the research topic and my personal relation to it? What is the role of the supervisors and team, and my relationships with them? And of particular interest to this group, what is the relevance of the research methodologies and epistemic approaches? How much do I personally align with my work? How emotionally involved am I with my research project? Is personal involvement in the research topic important for me? How important the research is for my personal identity? Is the social climate of the work environment important for me?
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