Reactions to my project

Researching the institution in which I work at supporting teaching across a range of disciplines (albeit limited to Becher and Trowler's 'hard' categories, mostly applied), brings me into contact with lots of academic staff. The most common reaction when I tell people that I am researching the process of doing a PhD at Sydney is laughter – caused by surprise, I think. It probably not surprising that comments are often sceptical - these range from “How can you be objective?” through “Are you sure that your sample will be big enough to be meaningful?” and "Of course, it's very different where we are" (sometimes meaning you'd need to have a better idea than that to get a candidature up in my faculty). Most are respectful, and some are interested in my methods - ethnography has a certain credibility in the scientific world even if the degree of reflexivity that this project involves seems odd to them. More thoughtful responses have included “How interesting – that’s a great idea”, “That’s an area that I’ve often thought would be interesting”,  and “There’s a lot of work to be done on that”. I have even been asked to talk about the benefits of journalling to PhD students in a school in the engineering faculty. Some people have thought it is a very brave thing to do, to work in the institution that both employs you and in which you are enrolled. I'm not sure that I have felt any fear about this aspect of the project, but then I'm luckily not inclined to paranoia.