‘Science in action’: doctoral scientists and identity construction

Traditionally, the doctorate has been conceived as an academic apprenticeship, and it is assumed that academic identity develops through sustained participation in a community of practice (COP) (Lave and Wenger 1991; Wenger 2007).

Using data from a two-year study with doctoral scientists, Sally argues that this understanding is now obsolete, on two counts. First, doctoral graduates increasingly assume a diverse range of non-academic careers and thus, the PhD ought not to be primarily considered as training for an academic career. Second, doctoral scientists are found to behave contrarily to the expectations of the COP model. Sally suggests that a game theory informed analysis better reveals doctoral scientists’ efforts to construct identities. The application of game theory in this context is novel, and Sally details its benefits as a tool of conceptual analysis over COP.