I haven't posted here before, but the posts have been a source of strength and I wanted to share my story. I am a firm believer that the UK doctoral system needs reform. It's cost me a lot of pain and all the strength I could muster to get through it. It all started to go wrong when, research council funded, I realised my supervisor was ignoring pretty much everything I wrote, waving it all through with praise but never engaging substantively with any of my work. He was head of postgraduate studies in my department, and head of department, too. I had tried to arrange to get a second supervisor in the department but couldn't find anyone appropriate. My superviosr then started to behave in a way that was weird and inappropriate: for instance, saying he wanted to share a room with me at a conference he had arranged for us both to attend. During the conference, he embarrassed me by (especially after drinking) by pretty much letching over me to the point that I found out later many people were picking up on it and talking about it. No one thought that I was encouraging it, it seems, but it was a mixture of intimidating and embarrassing in the extreme.... An opportunity thankfully came up to leave the country for the scond year of my thesis on an exchange - I ended up staying away from my university as much as possible after that, and inished up mostly from a distance. It took me four years to get to my first submission, with literally no negative feedback at all about anything I'd done, with my supervisor reading it all and offering some stylistic suggestions. But nothing really substantive about what could be improved. Before the first viva, he'd told me I had nothing to worry about and that I would 'pass with flying colours'. I was relieved - he may have been creeping me out beyond all measure, but he was a professor and a supposedly highly experienced academic, so I believed it would at least pass, and I could start to put it behind me. He'd messed up the appointment of an external examiner - the person who he'd always earmarked turned out to be ineligable, because he'd already examined my Masters dissertation. I suggested someone as an external who I knew and respected, given he couldn't suggest anyone who seemed appropriate. I figured that at least I'd get some actual feedback after all this time. I'd been working on an almost completely new body of primary material (humanities subject) and there was almost no directly relevant secondary lit on the subject, the whole experience was both lonely and stressful...
Anyway, in 2008 I received a message a week before the viva was due. A warning that the examiners had 'serious concerns' with the thesis. Basically that I could expect to fail. Both examiners said that what I'd done just didn't resemble in any way what's needed for a PhD- it's wasn't analytical enough (it was basically a work of documentation). They saw it had taken me bloody ages to do, but in their report they said I didn't seem to have

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.... that I didn't seem to have a clear idea at all about what was expected in a thesis...!
It took me two years to do the rewrite whilst working full time as a university teacher. I was very well supervised by a secondary supervisor. I had the second viva a month ago and the recommendation to the exam board is apparently an unconditional pass.
The whole thing has taken me six years....

congratulations! i agree with you that the system here is crap and in dire need of review. am still enduring my supervisors lack of interest and hoping to have a decent viva and put this education system behind me.

am well proud of you! well done for sticking it out and not letting someone who doesn't think you can define you!

well done! (up)

What a nightmare!!! Has your initial supervisor said anything so far or he's completely out of the radar?

DG

What a nightmare on so many levels.
Much much respect for your perseverance. What a well earned doctorate - inspirational to those of us who follow. (up)