"为什么选丹麦？因为我不会选其他任何地方来读博了。" Bryndis Woods 女士为《卫报》撰文，述说自己在丹麦读博的所思所感，呼吁英美高校和科研院所为博士生提供更多支持和帮助、营造更友好的学术环境。小伙伴们，你怎么看？
（小编不知The Guardian网站受限，故微博所附链接无法打开，特此贴出全文与大家分享~）
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By Bryndis Woods
I can usually predict when a particular news story is going to clog up my Facebook news feed. Last month, it was Philip Seymour Hoffman's passing, the Olympics, and the Oscars. But in January, I was surprised to see one news article popping up again and again: an article by Michael Booth entitled Dark lands: the grim truth behind the "Scandinavian miracle".
I found the article funny, refreshing, and ultimately very truthful, though some found it offensive. Booth himself was not prepared for the massive response he received. I agree with Booth's assertion that the global media has viewed the Nordic region through rose-colored glasses of late, and that there is a darker side that warrants attention; issues like alcoholism, depression, and xenophobia.
But I would not want to be a PhD student anywhere else. Here's why.
I'm half-American, half-Icelandic and was born and raised in the US. After completing my BA at the University of Michigan, I moved to Iceland where I graduated with my MSc in environmental economics from the University of Iceland in 2012.
At that point, I accepted a PhD position at the University of Iceland in collaboration with a Nordic research consortium called NORD-STAR. As an interdisciplinary researcher, I needed to get up to speed in certain subjects.
When the University of Iceland didn't offer the courses I required, my employer helped me (financially and logistically) move to Denmark to complete them, during which time I developed a collaborative research project with colleagues at Aarhus University. About a month ago, my husband and I moved back to Denmark where I will complete the remainder of my degree.
I am a PhD student. I pay about £400 per year in "registration fees" because there is no such thing as tuition fees at the University of Iceland (as of now, Iceland, Norway and Finland offer free tuition for everyone while Sweden and Denmark charge tuition for non EU/EEA citizens).
I teach only when there is an opportunity and I agree to it, and I am compensated for doing so. I am paid a living wage (full disclosure: I supplement with grants). I'm encouraged to work collaboratively across national and disciplinary borders. I'm encouraged to travel and network. My employers do a great deal to foster a sense of community among all researchers regardless of rank.
My work environment has never felt cut-throat; colleagues are happy to help one another and everyone's success is celebrated. No one expects me to work on weekends or holidays. Graduates often continue in academia, but I've seen many make the transition out of academia, and there is support from colleagues in either case.
I suspect that for PhD students in the US and Britain, my experience is atypical. But it is precisely this that gives me insight into the taxing nature of academia in the US and Britain. Like so many others, my sister, who is a PhD student living and working in New York City, is underpaid and struggles to make ends meet.
Layering personal anxieties on top of the stressors that already exist in a high-pressure environment is a recipe for students to work themselves too hard and stretch their mental health to the limit.
I believe the US and Britain have something to learn from the Nordic countries in terms of creating a more friendly and supportive environment in academia. It's about more than understanding the well-known problem of a cycle of debt that often forces PhD students to accept low-wage, low-security jobs with few or no benefits after graduation.
It's about encouraging a balanced lifestyle, where students have the time to let their ideas marinate and discuss them with others. It's about fostering a community of team members rather than competitors. It's about encouraging collaboration beyond the scope of one's own city, state, country or discipline.
It's about ditching the assembly-line production of academics and opening students' eyes to the possibilities that await them in academia and beyond. It's about creating an environment conducive to happy, healthy researchers that is more likely to produce good research.
In this regard – at least – the Nordic countries have got it right.
Bryndis Woods is a PhD researcher at NORD-STAR |
