Routes into Heritage Series for Sector Entrants: Level Up! The Experience of Doing a PhD. Amy Hondsmerk
Sector entrants! It is the beginning of the academic year, and many are starting on new pathways through work/education. This month we are exploring people’s educational routes and people’s alternative routes into heritage. We hope this will give the reader an insight into all the many ways others have broken into the industry. Getting that first break can be frustrating but also an exciting journey it’s good to see how others have navigated it or are navigating it.
With the museum and heritage sector careers often requiring academic qualifications, although less-so as a consequence of ongoing reflection and activism, it may be that many professionals and students are considering either continuing in, or returning to, education, especially at higher levels. If you’re considering doing a PhD either now or in the future; whether to learn new skills, advance your knowledge, or to pursue a particular interest, you might find it helpful to learn more about the processes and experiences of studying for a doctorate in museum studies. Hopefully, by reflecting on my own journey, I’ll be able to give you a little insight into the PhD experience.
Amy why did you decide to do a PhD?
Initially, I hadn’t intended to undertake a PhD. In fact, I said as much to a friend of mine whilst I was doing my masters. I recall now that they gave me a look that told me they clearly didn’t believe me and, well, they were right.
The decision to apply came for a number of reasons. First, I had dived into a research area that I found particularly interesting whilst undertaking my final project for my masters, that I felt had considerable potential beyond what I was able to cover in the word limit. Second was that my master’s supervisor (and later my director of studies for my PhD) was able to direct me to a few possible sources of funding, as I wasn’t in a financial position to self-fund at that time.
Finally, doing a PhD, especially with the possibilities offered by the placement system that my funding group has in place, would allow me to gain experience in specific areas of interest and would help me advance my skills more broadly for a future career in museums, whilst also pursuing research in an area that held interest for me. I will also admit that I wasn’t entirely sure what I wanted to do straight out of the masters, and the PhD has certainly helped me work out what I do, and don’t, want to do in terms of my career.
What is it like doing a PhD?
Before you decide to do a PhD, you have to keep in mind that you will be committing at least three years (full time) to finishing it. Essentially, a PhD is a long-term project that you’re undertaking, so I highly recommend you tackle on a topic that you know you are interested in and are able to weather the inevitable periods where you find your research hard. All researchers have ups and downs throughout the process! There’s also a bit of a culture in academia that can often seem to encourage working long hours, but don’t let this put you off. Work-life balance is important and many researchers choose to treat the PhD as a 9-5 job. With a little self-discipline it’s entirely possible to finish without infringing upon your free time.
A lot of people have an idea in their head of what PhD researchers do and that image usually involves a lot of time spent in the library and thinking deep thoughts about research-related things, and then writing a lot of complicated articles and books about those things. To an extent, that image isn’t wrong. There will be a significant amount of reading to do around your topic, and academic language can often be hard to get your head around – a barrier academia is slowly recognising. At the end of the day, the goal is to have a final thesis which presents your contribution to your chosen topic and any additional, and perhaps more practical, outcomes. However, there is much more to doing a PhD than simply writing your thesis and trying to tick off academic milestones.
Personally, I’ve found the other opportunities that the PhD had opened up to me incredibly useful. There’s plenty of free training courses that you can apply to in everything from management to presentation skills, many of which have formally recognised qualifications that you can complete. Teaching, whilst highly encouraged for those thinking of continuing in academia, is also a good way to pick up some additional skills for researchers intending to go into industry. I have also been able to gain experience in event management as part of a conference organising team, and in working with management by acting as my university’s student representative, representing my peers in meetings with the directors of my funding group. That’s not to mention the other skills that the process of completing a PhD help you develop, many of which you may not even realise you’re doing, like project management, working as part of a team, acting on your own initiative, fostering partnerships, and communicating advanced concepts to a variety of audiences.
My research, designing videogames for museum interpretation.
So, what do you actually do?
My research sits somewhere between museum studies and videogame studies. I’m interested in exploring how museums can use videogames more effectively, for interpretation in particular, by delving deeper into theory and study in both fields and seeing where you can draw parallels between what videogames are capable of, and what contemporary interpretation practice and exhibition design techniques are trying to achieve. It’s an area that, up until quite recently, hadn’t received much academic attention although museums themselves have been increasingly experimenting with videogames for some time. And yes, this does mean that I sometimes get to play games for research purposes.
Another part of my research is to explore the avenues for training, and identify tools, that would enable museums to become game-makers as one of the primary barriers for museums using videogames more widely is the cost of development, equipment, and maintenance, which can often be too high for smaller institutions. As such, when considering placement options, I decided to put my research into practice by testing both the identified videogame mechanics that overlapped with interpretative techniques, but also by evidencing that a game could be made on a low budget. Therefore, I have recently spent six months on placement with a museum, collaboratively building a short game for one of their future exhibitions, designed to help players/visitors become active interpreters of the collection and exhibition themes. The game itself was made on a free, open-source software, and I ran training with museum staff to teach them the basics of using the software, building their skills and hopefully enabling them to maintain this game (and design their own) in future!
What next?
For me, I went into the PhD knowing that I likely wouldn’t pursue a career in academia, so much of my focus, especially in the second half of my PhD (which, unfortunately, was disrupted by Covid) has been focused on gaining experience and skills for a sector-based career. In terms of my research area, it has actually been a really interesting time to be working on the digital side of things. With the pandemic forcing most work online, there’s been more interactions between museums and the videogame industry that I’ve been able to incorporate into my work. I’m also reasonably well-positioned in that my experience is in an area that is gaining momentum in museums so I’m hoping that I’ll be able to transition into a role that works on digital/playful interpretation in the future!
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