The view from over here is different: relations between doctoral study and professional practice

In this article we use the metaphors associated with travelling, i.e. going through customs, being in transit, luggage and baggage, to interrogate the micro-processes through which doctoral study makes a difference to professional life. For the professional, original doctoral knowledge arises through reflexively combining understandings from practice with academic practices of writing a thesis. The article builds upon critical examination of the trajectories of Lorri, Karen and Marcia at different stages of their doctoral studies, with the data comprising personal narratives of their professional activities in relation to their research studies. As doctoral study is a process and not an event, these relations change in emphasis over time. This approach yields discussion of critical and sometimes painful transitions such as adapting into research 'communities of practice'; distinctions between academic and professional writing; developing 'theoretical perspectives'; methodological and ethical considerations changing ways of seeing; and relations with supervisors. In pointing to these issues, the article raises the question of how doctoral pedagogy might take account of personal stories of transformation, as the doctoral candidate moves to become a producer of knowledge.