30.11.11
Nicknamed Mick after the Dickensian character for whom something would turn up, Iain Macmillan finds in his long and extraordinarily long life that something – or someone – does turn up. A job with the great Scottish playwright James Bridie turns up. In wartime Paris, the sophisticated Yvette turns up – but is she all she seems? Back in Scotland, a tawny owl turns up – the start of a wonderful love story. And, without ever planning it, a distinguished career in the law turns up, leading to the presidency of the Law Society of Scotland and a seat on the bench. But the figure looming over Iain Macmillan's witty and engaging autobiography, out now, is someone who didn't turn up, but was there all the time.
Faces of Scotland
A month of character studies by Islay McLeod
14. The baker
Why my wife
was left
holding the baby
Andrew McFadyen
A PhD is often described as a personal journey. As a part-time student at Edinburgh University, mine has been longer than most. If I include the time spent working on my Masters, it has been almost 10 years of reading, research, writing and editing.
Along the way, I have lived in three different countries, switched careers twice and been lucky enough to have a new daughter. Last Tuesday, I finally graduated. I have photographic evidence to prove it and a copy of the Scotsman with my name in it.
Here are five things I learned from my PhD:
1. When I began my PhD I had no real concept of what it would involve. I suppose I thought it would be like taking on a new hobby. At the time I had an energetic three-year-old and a new baby. My promises to my wife that the thesis wouldn't stop me helping her with the children turned out to be barefaced lies. While I was juggling my new academic commitments with my job at the BBC, she was quite literally left holding the baby. A PhD will steal time from your family and take over your life.
2. For most people, a PhD is the biggest piece of work they will ever produce. My thesis runs to over 80,000 words and 302 pages. I wrote most of it at home on my bed, with books and papers strewn across the duvet. As you can imagine, I got a lot of satisfaction from seeing the newly printed hardback with my name embossed on the spine in gold letters. But I know it was a collaborative effort. It is really important to have a supportive supervisor and I was very lucky in the people I worked with.
3. When I began the process I thought I was a good writer. After all, it was what I did for a living. This now seems incredibly foolish, but it took me a long time to appreciate that writing an academic paper was not the same as churning out a script for Reporting Scotland. It requires much, much more detail. But I believe that the storytelling skills I brought from television eventually helped me to produce a better thesis. Journalism and academia can learn from each other.
4. My research was about the role of Donald Dewar and the Labour Party on the creation of the Scottish Parliament. As a result, I put in a Freedom of Information request for the minutes of cabinet discussions about devolution. The then justice secretary Jack Straw's decision to ignore a ruling from the information commissioner and refuse publication caused a row in the press. At the time I was actually working for the Labour Party at Holyrood. Not all publicity is good publicity.
5. Edinburgh University holds its graduation ceremonies in the magnificent McEwan Hall. I noticed during the ceremony that the words 'Perseverance, Intelligence, Imagination and Experience' are inscribed on the wall. All of these qualities are necessary to gain a PhD, but perseverance is by far the most important. Winston Churchill's policy for prosecuting the war was 'keep buggering on'. This is the most important piece of advice I can offer to anyone who is doing a PhD. KBO.
Dr Andrew McFadyen has a PhD in political science from Edinburgh University. His thesis is on the role of Donald Dewar and the Labour Party in the creation of the Scottish Parliament. He is a freelance journalist and writer
