New Publication: Doing Doctoral Research at a Distance

Katrina McChesney (University of Waikato, NZ), James Burford (University of Warwick, UK), Liezel Frick (Stellenbosch University, South Africa) and Tseen Khoo (Deakin University, Australia) are pleased to share a recently published book, which will be of interest to FLANZ members. Doing Doctoral Research at a Distance: Flourishing in Off-Campus, Hybrid, and Remote Pathways has been published in 2024 in Routledge’s popular Insider Guides to Success in Academia series (series editors: Pat Thomson and Helen Kara).

Whether officially enrolled “by distance” or not, increasing numbers of doctoral students work on their research from home; study online or away from campus some or all of the time; engage in hybrid or flexible modes that blend on- and off-campus study; travel away from their institutions to collect data; complete their doctorate while also working and/or maintaining caring responsibilities; and more!

The COVID-19 pandemic has further amplified this trend, forcing many previously on-campus students into distance study due to lockdowns and border restrictions. Post-pandemic, being a full-time, on-campus student is less and less the normal or only way of undertaking a doctorate, with wider social trends towards flexible and remote working (see also this paper by the book’s authors, which asks: “Are we post-distance now?”).

This new book is a student-facing advice text intended for doctoral students from a range of research fields and geographical contexts who are undertaking off-campus, hybrid, and remote pathways. Offering guidance about the entire off-campus doctoral journey, the book addresses contexts of distance study; key information to get off to a flying start; organising time, space and plans to get work done; juggling employment, family and other commitments alongside distance study; doctoral identity and wellbeing; working with doctoral supervisors at a distance; accessing research culture at a distance; and managing the bumps along the road of the distance doctorate.

The book is informed by the authors’ 2022 research, which surveyed 521 self-identified distance doctoral students across 42 countries about their experiences. The book is also grounded in scholarly literature on doctoral and distance education as well as in the authors’ own experiences as past distance doctoral students themselves (McChesney and Burford) and as supervisors or researcher developers supporting off-campus doctoral students (all authors). Direct student voice quotations appear throughout the book, as do practical activities that students can use to reflect on and take agency over their distance doctoral experiences.

Written for doctoral researchers, this book offers strategies to help those working at a distance to flourish. It is ideally suited for those contemplating distance study, distance doctoral students who are starting their off-campus journey, and supervisors and others who are working with distance doctoral researchers.

Critics’ reviews:

• “This text reads like a warm conversation with a friend who is taking you on a tour of a foreign town. As the friend highlights what you can expect, you also get loads of helpful, practical advice to guide you on your journey. I especially liked that the book is peppered with quotes from students all over the world who are themselves doing their doctorate from a distance.”
• Professor Sioux McKenna, Director of the Centre for Postgraduate Studies, Rhodes University, South Africa

• “This book is useful for all doctoral students as no one is fully ‘present’ on campus anymore. All of us are dealing with a pandemic-altered world where hybrid and remote ways of work are the new normal. This book is solidly grounded in the research around doctoral success and will help you navigate myriad practical, social and emotional problems … some of which you have no idea about yet!”
• Professor Inger Mewburn (AKA The Thesis Whisperer), Director of Researcher Development, Australian National University

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