The Deliberate Doctorate: A Value-Based Journey to Your PhD

An accessible resource for any student pursuing a PhD.

The Deliberate Doctorate is an uplifting and honest guide to using personal values to navigate the universe of possibilities encountered while pursuing a doctoral degree. It sets the decision to pursue a PhD within each student’s individual context: their supports, overall wellness, and long-term plans. Enriched by the author’s experiences as a PhD student, associate professor, and supervisor, this book is alive to the typically unexamined hierarchy of the academic PhD experience. It explores everything from navigating power dynamics with supervisors and committees, networking with intention and purpose, and staying true to your values in the sometimes-toxic academic workplace. This is the guide everyone with a PhD wishes they’d had!

At the time she embarked on her PhD, Dr. Leela Viswanathan had already spent a decade as a community planner and policy analyst. She is currently an adjunct associate professor in the School of Urban and Regional Planning in the Department of Geography and Planning at Queen’s University and the founder and principal of Viswali Consulting. She lives in Kingston, Ontario.