Competitive doctoral cultures can turn belonging into a performance

Updated Sep 07, 2026

Doctoral belonging can involve navigating expectations about productivity as well as building social connections. Benjamin Mulvey and Ewan Wright explore that relationship among international doctoral researchers in Hong Kong.

What the study reports

The paper draws on 74 interviews with current and former Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme awardees. Participants described competitive, individualised academic environments and expectations around measurable output and self-promotion. Many felt pressure to adopt practices that also contributed to their sense of isolation.

The authors interpret these experiences alongside cultural, national and linguistic boundaries within universities and wider society. Responses were uneven: some participants benefited from the academic environment, while others distanced themselves from values they found uncomfortable. The account is not that all students experienced or accepted the same culture.

This review uses the accessible abstract and selected publisher passages, including methods and conclusions. The complete interview analysis was not checked. The sample concerns a particular fellowship and setting; it does not establish UK prevalence, a universal causal mechanism or an intervention effect.

Questions for doctoral schools

A useful local question is whether students feel able to participate without continually proving their productivity or independence. Discuss that alongside supervision, peer relationships and experiences outside the university.

Use responses to investigate the research environment with students. Avoid assuming that a low belonging score identifies its cause or predicts withdrawal. For small doctoral cohorts, agree reporting thresholds before breaking comments down by department or background. The student comment analysis governance checklist provides prompts for that discussion.

Reference

Mulvey, B., & Wright, E. (2026). Navigating neoliberal ‘regimes of belonging’ as a doctoral student. Studies in Higher Education, published online 3 August. DOI: 10.1080/03075079.2026.2711405.