Tell us a bit about yourself, the topic of your thesis and your current position.
I'm a qualitative sociologist by training with a huge curiosity about how science and technology shape our societies. My research brought me back to Turkey where I did my master's degree. Even after finishing the PhD, I still find it hard to summarise my research in a single sentence but I'll try! Here we go: my research explored how the expansion of reproductive genetic technologies impacts on reproductive governance and family making in contemporary Turkey. After the PhD, I stayed in Higher Education, doing teaching and working part-time for LSE Careers before joining the LSE PhD Academy's Business Engagement initiative. Since April, I have been a postdoctoral fellow here at LSE.
What skills did you gain during your PhD and how do you feel they have helped you in your professional career within and/or beyond academia?
I learned a lot during the PhD! It helped me find my voice as an academic writer and gave me confidence about my own thinking. But that's only part of it. The most valuable outcomes were probably that I learned how to establish relationships with a wide range of people, managed to carry through a multi-year project, and found out how valuable good listening/interviewing skills can be beyond academia!
Looking back, what advice would you give to yourself at the beginning of your PhD?
That it is absolutely OK to not opt for an academic career and still do a PhD (I say this even though I am currently doing a post-doc but it's important for me to keep non-academia doors open for myself). I developed serious doubts about staying in academia during the 1st year of the PhD and have found out that there are great opportunities offered by the PhD Academy and LSE Careers to explore alternative futures.
Looking back, what advice would you give to yourself at the end of your PhD?
That the thesis would eventually fall into place! I didn't have my central argument and the connecting thread uniting all the chapters until very, very, very late in the writing process. It was nerve-racking but in the end it finally did make sense. So, have trust and patience is what I would tell myself.
Is there anything you wish you had done during your PhD which you didn’t?
I actually didn't do a lot of things one is supposed to do during the PhD (article publishing and teaching being things which I only started doing after submission). And that's because I at times felt that all my mental energy is sucked up by the thesis. So I am a bit hesitant to create the impression that we should always do more. But...internships and work shadowing are great ways to gain additional exposure and I wish I had made more of an attempt to take an internship break during the 3rd year.