Reflections on the iHuman Early Career Researcher Methods Symposium, November 2022

Reflections on the Ihuman Early Career Researcher Methods Symposium, November 2022
Written by Dr Natalie Wotherspoon, Mildred Blaxter Post-Doctoral Fellow, Funded by the Foundation for the Sociology of Health and Illness.

Imposter syndrome is something I have often heard mentioned amongst early career scholars at academic conferences. This may take the form of anxieties about appearing inept, concerns that we do not belong and the niggling feeling that we might not be good enough to be successful in academia. iHuman generously sponsored the Early Career Methods Symposium, hosted at the University of Sheffield on Tuesday 22^nd November. The informal and formal networks fostered by early career events such as this cannot be overstated. They provide a useful place to experiment, network and build confidence. Presenters ranged from doctoral researchers to academics with five years of post-PhD experience. Those of us who presented benefited from feedback by experienced academics, Dr Louise Kay, Dr Lauren White and Dr Katherine Davies. They provided insightful comments and facilitated critical discussion of each presentation. We were able to draw from their respective expertise in education, health and sociology. This included their experiences from an array of research projects and varied methods.

The event helped some researchers to hone their methods for PhD confirmation review. For example, Clare Childs presented her project on home-school relations in the post-pandemic context, exploring ways to research how schools gain parental engagement and support for ‘education recovery’. Others presented papers to be published, with Dr Lijaozi Cheng reporting her findings from a multi-site ethnography on the concept of liminal health status in China. An interesting recurring theme which ran throughout the symposium was adaptability. Many of the researchers had needed to be inventive and resourceful when conducting their fieldwork during the social restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Stimulating discussions were had about the benefits and drawback of digital methods. There were also conversations about ethical concerns that arose when researching during lockdowns. I presented a paper reflecting on my experiences of combining historical archival data with contemporary methods of inquiry in health research. On leaving the symposium I had clearer ideas, further reading materials and the seed of an idea for a new project. I left perhaps feeling less of an imposter…