The Prosperous PhD

A go-to resource for the PhD journey, The Prosperous PhD sets doctoral students on a path of healthy progress that helps them avoid the all-too-familiar pitfalls of program burnout and withdrawal.

With over 140 pieces of insightful wisdom from expert supervisors representing 45 institutions across eight countries, this book provides diverse perspectives to address themes of “Fostering Relationships,” Seeking Balance,” and “Focusing on Growth,” among others. The advice points to attainable goals for any graduate student with concrete strategies to help achieve them. These lessons are taken a step further through dozens of detailed exercises that help graduate students apply the book’s principles and better their lives.

The Prosperous PhD encompasses the gamut of graduate student experiences, tribulations, dilemmas, and decisions from choosing a supervisor and a topic to writing up a dissertation to finding life balance, navigating departmental politics, and becoming an autonomous, happy researcher. Readers can study the book from start to finish to gain a holistic picture of the doctoral journey or select individual chapters to find the perfect piece of advice for their particular stage or challenge.

Created by a team with extensive experience on both sides of the doctoral journey as PhD students and supervisors this book is a student-friendly, practical guide that will propel readers towards a more prosperous PhD.

Author Biography

Judy Wearing is the lead learning architect at OpusVi Inc. She holds two PhDs, the first in biology from the University of Oxford and the second in education from Queen’s University.

Christopher DeLuca holds a PhD in education from Queen’s University where he now serves as a professor and director of the Assessment and Evaluation Group in the Faculty of Education. Stephen MacGregor is an assistant professor of educational leadership, policy, and governance and the director of experiential learning at the University of Calgary’s Werklund School of Education.