About the Project

This project, which runs from May to August July 2024, aims to:
(1) reveal Part Time Postgraduate Research (PT PGR) students’ experience of research culture;
(2) identify how their experience could be improved, and;
(3) identify what PT PGRs contribute to their university (i.e. the institution at which they are studying part-time). 

It is funded under Research England's Enhancing Research Culture initiative and is based in the Information School, University of Sheffield. 

Barnacle & Usher (2003) referred to PT doctoral students as “The forgotten cohort”: there is no evidence that the situation has improved since 2003. University services may be primarily framed with FT students in mind. Gains from the period of remote/hybrid learning 2020-2021 have been lost as the focus turns once more to on-campus attendance. PT PGRs have different needs and characteristics e.g. working remotely and needing to draw on people and resources outside their university to form a research culture. These differences, leading to an inequitable research experience for PT students, are evidenced in the literature. 

Deem & Brehony (2000) identify a number of characteristics of PT PGR students. They are older: HISA (2023) statistics for 2021/22 UK doctoral students confirm this: 32% of FT student were aged 30+, whilst 83% of PT students were 30+. They are likely to have financial, caring and/or family commitments and be the support for others (Bates & Goff, 2012). PT students are very likely to be employed and may already have a strong professional status. Additionally PT students are often geographically remote from campus. 

Being at a different life-stage, PT students often have different motivations from FT students for pursuing a PhD, focused on personal development rather than an academic career (Gardner & Gopaul, 2012; Murphy, 2007; Turner, 2021). This hinders formation of connections with peers (Zahl, 2021): a connection made more difficult by the different timescales of PT & FT students’ PhD trajectory. PT students may be less motivated to engage with training: it does not match their lifestage, existing expertise or aspirations, and does not take account of their need for attendance in hybrid mode (Bates & Goff, 2012; Murphy, 2007; Turner, 2012). This makes “access to research cultures more serendipitous and more difficult to sustain” than for FT students (Deem & Brehony, 2000). 

However, the value of PT students, with their workplace connection, has also been identified (Barnacle & Usher, 2003; Murphy, 2007), although this value may not be recognised by their host universitites.

The project focuses on Library & Information Science (LIS), where PT PGR students are primarily working in professional LIS jobs 

References at https://tinyurl.com/PTforgottenbid