What are interdisciplinary doctorates? Insights from the French environmental sciences, by and on PhD students
Chassé, Pierre
What are interdisciplinary doctorates? Insights from the French environmental sciences, by and on PhD students - 2021.
11
Growing incentives towards interdisciplinarity in academic research bring about changes in research practices beginning at the PhD stage. PhD students choosing interdisciplinarity risk being left to their own resources when faced with related methodological and epistemological challenges. This article reports on a project conducted by three PhD students practicing an interdisciplinary approach in environmental sciences. It describes the results of a questionnaire sent to PhD students in environmental sciences in France, with inputs of a conference they organized on interdisciplinary PhD projects. Results from the questionnaire illustrate a wide diversity regarding the definitions, motivations, and benefits of interdisciplinarity, as well as the methods applied to collect and analyze data. We also suggest avenues for better integration of interdisciplinarity in the PhD process. Notably, a pragmatic approach to interdisciplinarity could help PhD students to get rid of doubts regarding their scientific legitimacy. Moreover, we suggest that PhD students develop a reflexive attitude in order to identify the methodological and epistemic implications of interdisciplinarity. However, this stance needs to be backed by some changes within the academic framework in order to alleviate the difficulties of PhD students and favor innovative research practices to tackle contemporary socio-environmental problems.
What are interdisciplinary doctorates? Insights from the French environmental sciences, by and on PhD students - 2021.
11
Growing incentives towards interdisciplinarity in academic research bring about changes in research practices beginning at the PhD stage. PhD students choosing interdisciplinarity risk being left to their own resources when faced with related methodological and epistemological challenges. This article reports on a project conducted by three PhD students practicing an interdisciplinary approach in environmental sciences. It describes the results of a questionnaire sent to PhD students in environmental sciences in France, with inputs of a conference they organized on interdisciplinary PhD projects. Results from the questionnaire illustrate a wide diversity regarding the definitions, motivations, and benefits of interdisciplinarity, as well as the methods applied to collect and analyze data. We also suggest avenues for better integration of interdisciplinarity in the PhD process. Notably, a pragmatic approach to interdisciplinarity could help PhD students to get rid of doubts regarding their scientific legitimacy. Moreover, we suggest that PhD students develop a reflexive attitude in order to identify the methodological and epistemic implications of interdisciplinarity. However, this stance needs to be backed by some changes within the academic framework in order to alleviate the difficulties of PhD students and favor innovative research practices to tackle contemporary socio-environmental problems.
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