The Role of Doctoral Students in the Creation of Knowledge: A Case Study of the Social Sciences PhD in a UK Research-Intensive University

Since the publication of Sir Gareth Roberts’ Set for Success report and that of the Joint Skills Statement by the Research Councils there has been a shift in the aims, focus and structure of UK doctoral programmes. PhDs should now be completed in a period of up to 4 years otherwise academic departments risk funding cuts. This case study is based on in-depth interviews with supervisors in Social Sciences departments in a UK research-intensive university. The new ‘research training’ paradigm changes the nature of the PhD. New PhDs are seen as a lesser piece of work than PhDs produced by current supervisors. The main reasons for the perceived difference between old and new theses are the research councils’ imposed deadline and the need to spend time on various training courses, often seen as distracting students from what should be their main focus: the thesis. The conclusions of this study are that in order to comply with new doctoral degrees rules departments and supervisors are increasingly aware of how lengthy and challenging certain topics can be and tend to accept new students who suggest more ‘feasible’ theses. Supervisors have shown an ability to work within what Hockney calls ‘the art of the possible’. The chapter introduces the concepts of intrinsic value and extrinsic value of the PhD in order to contribute to the understanding of recent changes