The PhD Journey: Navigating Challenges and Triumphs

I began my PhD in Politics at the Department of Politics, International Relations, and Philosophy (PIRP) at Royal Holloway, University of London in January 2019. I submitted my thesis in July 2023, passed the viva in October 2023, and completed corrections in August 2024. Reflecting on the last five years, I narrate my unsmooth PhD journey with many ups and downs, and how I overcame those challenges. The objective of my narration is to provide a self-reflection of my PhD journey to help students like me – first-generation university entrants, ethnic minorities, and the underprivileged.

Motivation for Pursuing a PhD

Motivation comes with social and cultural capital and as first-generation university entrant, I hardly had motivation for pursing PhD when I was doing my undergraduate (2010–2013) and postgraduate degrees (2013–2015) at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi. At the time, I was preparing for the Indian civil services examination and, to keep myself within the university system, I appeared for the All India MPhil-PhD Examination of JNU in 2015. Fortunately, I topped that examination, and this news went viral on social media as I was the first student from India’s historically oppressed (ex-untouchable) community to do so. I had broken the glass ceiling. This incident became a turning point in my life, and my professors began encouraging me to plan for a PhD at foreign universities. While pursuing MPhil degree at JNU, I started approaching prospective supervisors but hardly received any responses. A ray of hope came when an Associate Professor in the Department of Government at LSE advised me to list his name on my application form for LSE. I did this, but my application was not shortlisted. This setback discouraged me, and I abandoned my plan for the PhD. However, my plan suddenly changed in June 2018 when I was awarded funding from the Government of India. I had applied for the National Overseas Scholarships (NOS) of the Government of India, instituted for India’s marginalised communities (Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Landless Labourers, Nomadic Communities, and Differently Abled). Fortunately, I was awarded the fellowship. I rushed to the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment informing them that my application has not been accepted by LSE. They advised me to obtain an unconditional admission offer letter from any university for PhD in Political Science within one year, after which I would be allowed to avail the funding. Thus began a new journey in search of a supervisor.

Finding a Suitable Supervisor

Upon hearing that I had received a provisional award letter for NOS, one of my professors at JNU told me that it is huge opportunity to secure admission to a good university in the UK or USA. However, finding a suitable supervisor in the Department of Politics was a herculean task for me. Initially, I contacted professors of Indian ethnicity, but their responses were lukewarm. I realised that most faculty members of Indian ethnic origin were based in development studies, anthropology, and sociology. Therefore, I decided to seek supervisors outside the Indian ethnic community. One professor at UCL agreed to review my proposal but declined, stating that his expertise was not in India. He advised me to find a co-supervisor with expertise in India. I shared these developments with one of my professors, who suggested I focus only on UK universities, as PhDs in the USA typically take longer to complete. She asked me to send her my proposal, which she could forward to suitable professors in UK universities for assistance. She forwarded my proposal to Professor Barbara Harriss-White of Oxford University, who suggested three names. Among them was Professor Lucia Michelutti of UCL. When Lucia learned that my admission needed to be in the Department of Politics, she forwarded my application to Professor Oliver Heath of Royal Holloway, who interviewed me in September 2018 and asked me to submit a formal application to receive an offer of admission. Meanwhile I also received a positive response from a professor at the University of Edinburgh, which has a higher ranking than Royal Holloway. However, I chose Royal Holloway solely because of my supervisor. Of all the prospective supervisors, I contacted at UK universities, Professor Heath was the quickest to respond to my emails, often replying within a day. I was surprised by this, but it helped me to decide that he would be available whenever I would need him. This was the most important criterion for me while choosing the supervisor.

The Struggle for the Final Award Letter

The Government of India initially issued me a provisional award letter for funding. To issue the final award letter, they required verification of my admission offer letter through the Indian High Commission, police verification at all the places where I had lived, and the signing of a security bond to prevent defaulting. This process felt like a punishment. A book can be written on this which will provide insight about the working of Indian bureaucracy. To cut a long story short, from November 2018 to January 2019, I visited the Ministry of Social Justice almost daily. The government officials were reluctant for me to join in January 2019; they suggested I join in September 2019. However, after the intervention of the Minister of Social Justice, my final award letter was issued in the last week of January 2019, and I was allowed to join Royal Holloway.

Settling Down in a Eurocentric Department

When I joined Royal Holloway in January 2019, almost everything was new to me. I had joined in the Spring Term, meaning I had already missed the discussions from the Winter Term. However, one of the most challenging aspects was adjusting to the Eurocentric environment of the department. Previously, I had only read about Eurocentrism, but upon attending lectures and weekly conferences, I realised how it felt. I used to joke with my colleagues that ‘here democracy ends at the borders of Europe’. However, instead of blaming and feeling depressed, I took it as a challenge to learn something new. I saw it as an opportunity to step out of my own comfort zone and gain new knowledge.

During my professional development course, I was told that ‘a PhD is like your baby, and you have to deliver it.’ As I progressed, I began to understand the significance of this statement, and it became the mantra for my PhD journey. My fear of Eurocentric conversations ended soon with the arrival of Dishil Shrimankar, who joined as a Postdoctoral Fellow. We regularly had informal conversations and discussions, which alleviated my initial sense of alienation.

The Challenge of the COVID Lockdown

I passed my annual review in December 2019 and decided to undertake a one-month pilot study in India, which was disrupted due to the deteriorating law-and-order situation in northern India. As I was planning my data collection, the COVID-19 lockdown was imposed, which not only affected my fieldwork but also altered the direction of my thesis. However, I learned to adopt new methodological techniques for data collection. Meanwhile the most important nightmare of my life came, and it was about my health. Back in May-June 2020, I began working day and night to collect data through telephone interviews, without realising how many hours I was spending in front of a computer screen. Since we were not allowed to go outside due to the lockdown, this led to the development of dry eye disease, and for nearly a month, my vision was severely affected. This was the only time I feared that I might not be able to complete my PhD. I also felt that I might have to leave academia. This was the only time I doubted my ability to complete my PhD. Thankfully, the situation improved quickly, allowing me to complete the upgrade process.

Combating Loneliness and Societal Pressure

Loneliness is one of the biggest challenges in the UK, often leading to mental health issues. However, the experience of loneliness can vary from person to person. Before moving to London, I used to interact with many people daily. However, when I moved to Englefield Green to live near the campus in July 2019, I found myself overwhelmed by extreme loneliness, with no one to talk to. I adopted three strategies to combat this. Until my housemates arrived, I spent two months sleeping in the library. I also began each day with a call to my parents. Social media has become a powerful tool for keeping myself engaged and has helped me the most in overcoming loneliness. During the pandemic, its importance became indispensable.

Additionally, first-generation South Asian students face the unique challenge of constant societal pressure to end their education, which often demotivates them from pursuing higher studies. Historically, higher education, especially foreign education, has been the privilege of India’s upper castes. As a result, marginalised castes and communities have largely been excluded, leading to a lack of awareness and motivation among these groups. It is, therefore, common to hear extended family members asking questions like, ‘How long will you continue studying?’ or ‘Why are you studying so much? Will you study until you're old?’

To tackle these challenges, I ensured that the news of my joining PhD programme at the University of London got published in newspapers. Since prominent Indian leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Sardar Patel studied at British universities, they enjoy immense prestige among the public. The publications not only helped alleviate societal pressure on me but also raised awareness about higher education and resulted in several students availing themselves of the same fellowship.

Financial Hardship

I consistently faced financial difficulties, as my funding agency, the Government of India, provided an inadequate maintenance allowance. For some unknown reason, my department never offered me tutorship, which could have helped me manage my financial hardship. However, I went for fieldwork in April 2021, and my funding agency stopped my allowances for nearly five months. After a lot of struggles, I managed to get them reinstated. I never lost hope, as I was confident that if I needed money, my friends would be there to help. It’s important to have friends outside academia who can support you financially when needed, or at least to have confidence that help is available.

Problem of External Feedback

Most of my PhD period occurred during the COVID-19 lockdown. A significant negative impact of this was the lack of opportunities to present my findings at conferences, workshops, and seminars. Presenting papers is not only essential for feedback but also boosts self-confidence. I had one opportunity to present a paper at the University of Oxford, which greatly motivated me to complete my thesis. Although the workshop was attended by only a few people, the engagement with my paper gave me confidence that I had done something worthwhile.

Experience of Completing Corrections

I submitted my thesis in July 2023, and upon submission, my supervisor advised me to start enjoying every moment, assuring me that everything would move forward. My viva took place in October 2023, and I passed with major corrections. Initially, I thought I could complete the corrections within 3-4 months, but my teaching responsibilities as a lecturer kept me busy. I planned to finish the corrections during the winter period but was only able to complete a portion of them. Finally, I focused on the corrections after May 2024 and completed them in the first week of August 2024. During this time, I continued reading new scholarship that I was recommended to cite. My major corrections addressed four broader issues: the problem of language, as English is my second language; the need for more engagement with literature, which had left gaps in various chapters; underdeveloped data analysis; and the reframing of the introduction.

As a first-generation university entrant from the Global South, I was aware that my thesis might contain grammatical errors. To address this, I asked friends to proofread it. Additionally, software like Grammarly has been extremely useful. I diligently read the literature suggested by reviewers and engaged with more recent publications. To fix the problem of underdeveloped analysis, I presented my chapters at conferences, seminars, and workshops to gain further insights. One of my chapters, which was the weakest in terms of analysis, was significantly improved after presenting it at the University of Bath. The introduction of my thesis required reconsideration because, typically, our research proposal becomes the introduction. However, as we begin data collection, the direction of the thesis might change. Mine was changed due to Covid also. Therefore, the introduction needed substantive change.

Sustaining Oneself While Doing Corrections

Anxiety and depression are the enemies of completing the task of writing a thesis and making corrections. Financial hardship causes anxiety and depression. This is not only my experience but also that of several South Asian students with whom I have discussed their PhD lives. This hardship increases as they approach the writing stage. Many of them take underpaid part-time work that consumes a lot of their time and mental energy. Based on these experiences, I decided not to take on work outside academia. Although I could not find any work within my department, I was able to secure a teaching position in the Department of Law and Criminology, initially as a visiting tutor and later as a lecturer. This taught me another valuable lesson: one should not limit oneself to finding jobs in one’s core subject or research area but should also consider related fields.

Maintaining Cordial Relations with Supervisors

My experience suggests that completing a PhD requires maintaining cordial relations with supervisors. Their comments, whether positive or negative, need to be taken constructively. Although my supervisors rarely made discouraging remarks, I always interpreted them as opportunities for improvement. As mentioned earlier, I joined Royal Holloway primarily because of my supervisor, Oliver Heath, from whom I learned how to maintain a professional relationship. I gradually realised that he had an informal division of work with my second supervisor, Ivica Petrikova, for reading my initial drafts. Ivica used to read each line carefully, but she never got irritated with my mistakes and errors. Oliver Heath would thoroughly review my chapters towards the end, and I always felt enlightened after reading his comments. As I relied heavily on informal communication, I started having more frequent interactions with Ivica. I have often encountered PhD students who end up with strained relationships with their supervisors. My experience suggests that one should not burden both supervisors with all types of help but should always be mindful of their issues and convenience.

In summing up, a PhD is a journey that enhances our theoretical understanding, critical skills, and application of knowledge. However, it is also a unique experience that few people get to enjoy. Despite all the challenges, I relished this unique experience.

Author Biography

Arvind Kumar is a PhD candidate, and Communications Officer of the PSA's Early Career Network, with specific interest in electoral democracy and voting behaviour. His thesis- Candidate Selection and Voting Behaviour: BJP's mobilisation of marginal castes in Uttar Pradesh, India explores how the right-wing BJP in Indian democracy has mobilised marginal caste (voters) through candidate nomination. His broader research interests include Caste/Ethnic Inequality, Political Behaviour, Party Politics, Political Economy, Political Theory, Judicial Politics and South Asian Politics.