Serian Carlyle
@serianc.bsky.social
PhD student at UCL SSEES working on youth film in the late Soviet Union. She/Her.
I absolutely agree with this in that - if you're thinking about doing a PhD, you need to be okay with that even if it's just the PhD. The odds are, there will not be an academic job at the end.
However, we also need to be very clear on the realities of the PhD. It is not a good early graduate job.
However, we also need to be very clear on the realities of the PhD. It is not a good early graduate job.
I don’t know — in a way it makes it easier to say look, you might as well do this for the next 3.5 years, it’s a fun early graduate job and you should get some good bits and pieces for the CV, but it’s not going to go anywhere. All my PhD students are P/T, funded or retired: it feels more ethical.
Something so bitterly ironic to have transitioned to the position that PhD students do indeed deserve a "living wage", at the point where institutions are faced with never being able to recruit any of them for a permanent job afterwards.
February 5, 2026 at 10:01 AM
I absolutely agree with this in that - if you're thinking about doing a PhD, you need to be okay with that even if it's just the PhD. The odds are, there will not be an academic job at the end.
However, we also need to be very clear on the realities of the PhD. It is not a good early graduate job.
However, we also need to be very clear on the realities of the PhD. It is not a good early graduate job.
We have until the 12th February to respond to the government's proposed changes to the right to settled status. You can respond as much or as little as you want, and it is really vital - it includes things like whether victims of domestic abuse maintain their rights.
www.gov.uk/government/c...
www.gov.uk/government/c...
Earned settlement
The government is consulting on how the current settlement system should be reformed and how those reforms should be implemented.
www.gov.uk
February 4, 2026 at 11:03 AM
We have until the 12th February to respond to the government's proposed changes to the right to settled status. You can respond as much or as little as you want, and it is really vital - it includes things like whether victims of domestic abuse maintain their rights.
www.gov.uk/government/c...
www.gov.uk/government/c...
Reposted by Serian Carlyle
PS. Not too late to tell the government what you think about their proposed changes to Indefinite Leave to Remain - the public consultation is open until 12th Feb.
www.gov.uk/government/c...
www.gov.uk/government/c...
February 3, 2026 at 3:34 PM
PS. Not too late to tell the government what you think about their proposed changes to Indefinite Leave to Remain - the public consultation is open until 12th Feb.
www.gov.uk/government/c...
www.gov.uk/government/c...
One of my goals for the year is to read 2 physical books that I own, so I'm making my way through this.
You would think this would be a very achievable goal but I haven't managed it the last few years.
You would think this would be a very achievable goal but I haven't managed it the last few years.
February 3, 2026 at 4:14 PM
One of my goals for the year is to read 2 physical books that I own, so I'm making my way through this.
You would think this would be a very achievable goal but I haven't managed it the last few years.
You would think this would be a very achievable goal but I haven't managed it the last few years.