Hi sleepy,

Although this topic is now highly tangetial to this thread, thanks a bunch for the help :-) Much appreciated. am filing for a couple of years later.

Hmm, i do have a top female scholar as my sup, but am afraid my research has nothing to do with women... i work with young people (teens) and their digital literacies etc and social networking sites and other youth/internet stuff...

hmmm...

Will try of course, and fingers crossed! tx

Magictime - did you ever think that maybe you might pick this stuff up once you start your phd? Or ask your supervisor, as he will know your specific areas best, rather than just a general chat that is offered here?

Oh and just as a note - the Willy Fogg thing, as well as being funny, was written whilst i was between supervisors for 6 weeks. So no, I didn't have anything to do. I was also in the middle of my 2nd year - now I'm at the end of my 3rd. which is why i can say funding doesn't matter. Nice to know that you're the official forum stalker of old threads though.

Hmmm, is there any way you could think about, given the nature of your work, the way you are introducing academia to young people including young women? does depend on the precise research (the social backgrounds of the young people you are involved with... are any from deprived areas or does that not factor into your work?)

Bug - just to pick up on Sleepy's point: if funding bodies are looking for someone with the potential to attract young women to research careers, surely there must be a fair amount of mileage in the fact that you're an expert in modes of communication used by girls at the age where they're beginning to choose a career path? (If nothing else it suggests an ability to connect in an appropriate way with young women at that crucial stage).

Sleepy - yes, of course I expect to pick up all sorts of things over the next few years, but I don't see why that means I shouldn't ask for advice on this forum meanwhile. I'm not at uni at the minute - I finished my MA last year - so chatting on this forum is about the best I can do as regards staying 'in the loop'. And there are certain questions I'd be a bit uncomfortable about putting to someone in my dept - 'does this funding you've given me look a bit pants?' being one of them!

Sorry if that Willy Fogg stuff offended you. You asked me to come back in a couple of years and look at how stupid my old posts were - how could I resist looking for a stupid old post of yours?! I wasn't trying to be nasty (or to 'stalk' you!), I was just kidding. Hence the smilies and generally conciliatory tone of that post.

I'll admit my claws came out with that last sarky comment, which isn't like me, but like I say - being patronised really does wind me up. Sorry if I've offended you, I hate getting drawn into this sort of argument.

Hi again,

I feel a little foolish coming back to the parallel line running thru this thread :-) but what you both say is very useful. While gender does not in any way feature in my work (my focus is on age, and literacies development acc to age through the teen age span, and the role of cultural mediation, and general stuff about interpretation and such), yes 'larger' questions indeed are to do with competencies to deal with complex media environments, media forms designed to manipulate, and so on. While I admit there isnt a gender thing happening in this, I'm guessing there is a way in which to frame it via participation, civic, collborative learning and similar...

hmm thnaks magic and sleepy, gr8 help :-)

And PS: not wanting to get myself into this, but make up and be friends now you two? (Bug smiles over her specs and pretends she is a granny sitting and knitting in the idyllic countryside)

Imagination running riot....

Ahhh I just finished watching all three of the Anne of Green Gables series and am in my philosophical-lass-sitting-by-the-brook mode now... so Magictime change the image!

:-) Trust that the mood in this room is now all cool!

No probs Magictime - though this thread itself is a taste of what's to come in academia - get ready to defend yourself over the most innocuous of things ! :p

Hey magictime! To get back to the original question, I really don't think it will make the slightest difference in the long run. Funding is so hard to get at the moment, particularly in some fields, that is a brilliant achievement to obtain funding at all. At the end of your PhD you will most likely be judged on publications and attendance/presentations at conferences (as well as the obvious stuff like your topic and who you have been working with- supervisors, collaborators etc). So I really wouldn't stress. I am funded by a random one-off external scholarship which was based entirely on academic achievement, with very little regard for the actual PhD proposal etc....I guess it says a lot about my academic achievements but not so much about my actual choice of topic and the proposal! I did get an offer of departmental funding as well but of course I took the external scholarship so that the department could offer the funding to someone else. Anyway, I honestly don't give it a second thought! Good luck with your PhD! KB

Hey!

Due to the recession etc etc etc at the moment it is very difficult to get funding from anywhere! Nobody will care where you get your funding from....You will do your PhD and you will be judged on this! I know loads of peeps who have got funding off random bodies... and it did'nt do them abit of harm. Must charities at the minute are rejecting grants as they just do not have the money!!!!!!Take your funding and be happy you have it.

Hey Magictime, I'm self funded, and I really don't expect employers to judge me on that - I expect to be judged on my potential to publish at a high level; on my ability to gain academic fiunding (the application process for which is entirely different ball game at the relevant level); on my teaching experience and abilities, and on my personality.

I understand you are nervous and want to gen up as much as possible before the PhD starts - I took almost a year out between supervisors and the waiting game can be so frustrating - but there really is very little you can do right now. I'd say the best use of your time would be to relax as much as possible, sleep, take a holiday, do all the things you won't be able to do much of during the three years of your PhD, rather like expectant parents do! Because believe me, you will long for the chance to do those things in two year's time! And you will benefit from the break when the PhD starts, I really regret not relaxing etc more during my year off.