A journey of deceptions and leaps of faith: personal reflections about undertaking a Doctor of Philosophy research project

Abstract

[Abstract]: In my reflections on undertaking my Doctor of Philosophy research project, I describe it as an emotional, intellectual and spiritual adventure. Marked by deceptions, it has demanded personal committment, endurance and persistence to manouvre past these deceptions. However, with leaps of faith it has been one of the most valuable and enriching experiences, with opportunities for many life changing encounters and personal growth. I also acknowledge a lot of valuable support that has been sourced from both informal and formal exchanges of ideas, experiences and interactions with a community of researchers involving supervisors, colleagues undertaking the same journey, early career researchers and past students met on line. I draw on motivational constructs consisting of achievement motivation by Ames and Archer (1988), Ames (1992), Elliot and Dweck (1988) and Meece, Blumenfeld and Hayle (1988), self-efficacy by Bandura (1994) and intrinsic motivation by Deci and Ryan (1985) for theoretical support. Motivational writers have also boosted my morale when parts of the journey became a challenge.