News

Last week, the DEAR Centre published the final output from the Pre-Application Doctoral Communication (PADC) project (www.warwick.ac.uk/PADCLink opens in a new window), titled: ‘She says she would like to know more about me’: minoritised applicants’ inclusion, exclusion and subjectivity formation in the pre-application stage of doctoral admissions.

With this publication, 7 papers have now been shared from the project - in addition to our report, and briefings! These papers have sought to:

First, map & conceptualise the phenomenon of pre-application doctoral communications https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00131911.2024.2306950Link opens in a new window

Then examine the involvement of particular actors, including:

• two papers about supervisor actions https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02671522.2024.2349989Link opens in a new window & https://journals.co.za/doi/10.47588/jngs.2025.23.02.a1Link opens in a new window
• one on professional services staff & directors of PGR https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14703297.2026.2617864Link opens in a new window
• one on the experiences of PGRs themselves https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02671522.2026.2735575Link opens in a new window

We have also explored the sources of information that applicants draw on to negotiate application/supervisor search, including:

• Youtube videos https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14703297.2023.2279580Link opens in a new window
• University webpages https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13603108.2024.2387081 . We even made our own Youtube video to speak back into the space! https://youtu.be/eAMezgpbMSA?si=WE7U5Iaw4qJGs-dbLink opens in a new window

This project means a lot to project PI and DEAR Centre Co-Director Dr James Burford. It was the first project he began when first arriving in the UK, and it emerged from a very practical concern and some confusion about what to do with the emails received from prospective doctoral applicants. How to respond? How to act fairly? How to help others think more about these questions too?

DR Burford is grateful to everyone who made this work possible: collaborators Prof Emily F. Henderson, Dr Sophia Kier-Byfield, Dr Dangeni, Dr Ahmad Akkad Evan Zheng, Susan Deeb, Matt Phillips & Julie Mansuy; those who shared their experiences and expertise; and the many people who engaged with and extended the project at various events.

Across the project we have accumulated a conceptual view of PADC as being bound up with ideas about doctoralness, including autonomy and independence. PADC is also a moment of subject formation for applicants and supervisors alike.

The overarching contribution of this work is clear: if we are serious about widening participation in UK doctoral education, we cannot focus only on formal admissions processes — complex and intricate as those processes also are. We also need to attend to the informal selection and gatekeeping processes that take place before an application is ever submitted.

The Centre is very grateful for the Enhancing Research Culture support for this project.