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Ethical Issues in Applied Linguistics Scholarship
Edited by Peter I. De Costa, Amr Rabie-Ahmed and Carlo Cinaglia
[Research Methods in Applied Linguistics 7] 2024
► pp. 312–329

Chapter 17
Ethical dilemmas of graduate students negotiating new roles and responsibilities

The importance of mindful engagement, self‑care, and reflexivity

| Michigan State University,
| Nazarbayev University,
Ethics can be understood as a set of virtues guiding human behavior to ensure that an individual’s actions respect and positively impact both the self and greater society. In academic research, discussions of ethics are often associated with ensuring that a study’s procedures affect research participants in humane ways. In this chapter, we reflect inward and consider the importance of applying ethical principles to the broader experience of being graduate students in applied linguistics. We consider this important since graduate students engage in different activities as part of their academic and professional development, all of which have the potential to affect themselves and others both positively and negatively. We begin by discussing three specific challenges graduate students face that pose ethical dilemmas. Next, we share examples from our own experience as graduate students in the United States, illustrating how we faced and attempted to respond to these challenges in our practice. Finally, we offer suggestions and highlight resources for graduate students to adopt a stance of reflexivity as an ethical practice to engage mindfully with their work and advocate for their own wellbeing.
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Contextualizing ethics: The risks of unquestioned overwork
    for graduate students
    • Ethical challenge 1: Avoiding overcommitment to writing projects
    • Ethical challenge 2: Balancing and prioritizing multiple tasks
    • Ethical challenge 3: Setting healthy work boundaries
  • Ethics in practice: Our experiences (struggling) with multiple roles and responsibilities
    • Carlo’s experience
    • Amr’s experience
  • Commentary and reflection: Mindful engagement, self-care, and reflexivity as ethical practices for graduate students
  • Author queries
  • Notes
  • Suggested resources about graduate study and academia in general
  • Suggested resources about graduate study in applied linguistics
  • References
This content is being prepared for publication; it may be subject to changes.
References (26)
Suggested resources about graduate study and academia in general
Ayres, Z. J. (2022). Managing your mental health during your PhD: A survival guide. Springer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Berg, M., & Seeber, B. K. (2016). The slow professor: Challenging the culture of speed in the academy. University of Toronto Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Calarco, J. (2020). A field guide to grad school: Uncovering the hidden curriculum. Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Suggested resources about graduate study in applied linguistics
Casanave, C. P., & Li, X. (Eds.). (2008). Learning the literacy practices of graduate school: Insiders’ reflections on academic enculturation. University of Michigan Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cinaglia, C., & Coss, M. D. (Eds.). (forthcoming). The story behind the study: Realities and dilemmas of conducting research as applied linguistics doctoral students. Applied Linguistics Press.
Gurney, L., Wang, Y., & Barnard, R. (Eds.). (2022). Narratives of qualitative PhD research: Identities, languages, and cultures in transition (pp. 123–137). Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kayi-Aydar, H., Steadman, A., & Shea, K. (Eds.). (2023). Narratives of TESOL professionals: Experiences navigating the doctoral program. Information Age Publishing.Google Scholar
Kessler, M., & Casal, J. E. (2024). Making the most of graduate school: A practical guidebook for students in applied linguistics, Education, and TESOL. Applied Linguistics Press.Google Scholar
Yazan, B., Trinh, E., & Pentón Herrera, L. J. (Eds.). (2023). Doctoral students’ identities and emotional wellbeing in applied linguistics: Autoethnographic accounts. Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
References
Ayres, Z. J. (2022). Managing your mental health during your PhD: A survival guide. Springer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Berg, M., & Seeber, B. K. (2016). The slow professor: Challenging the culture of speed in the academy. University of Toronto Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Calarco, J. M. (2020). A field guide to grad school: Uncovering the hidden curriculum. Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Cinaglia, C. (2023). Navigating the first year of doctoral study: Developing a researcher identity and other lessons learned outside of the program handbook. In B. Yazan, E. Trinh, & L. J. Pentón Herrera (Eds.), Doctoral students’ identities and emotional wellbeing in applied linguistics: Autoethnographic accounts (pp. 148–171). Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
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Inouye, K., & McAlpine, L. (2019). Developing academic identity: A review of the literature on doctoral writing and feedback. International Journal of Doctoral Studies, 14(1), 1–31. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Larsson, T., Loewen, S., Oliver, R., Sasaki, M., Tracy-Ventura, N., & Plonsky, L. (2020). Towards achieving work-life balance in academia: Comments and personal essays from six applied linguists. In L. Plonsky (Ed.), Professional development in applied linguistics: A guide to success for graduate students and early career faculty (pp. 49–64). John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
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Montgomery, D. P. (forthcoming). Biting off just what you can chew: Setting scope and finding a research home. In C. Cinaglia & M. D. Coss (Eds.), The story behind the study: Realities and dilemmas of conducting research as applied linguistics doctoral students. Applied Linguistics Press.
Paltridge, B. (2017). Publishing from a dissertation: One book, or many articles? In J. McKinley & H. Rose (Eds.), Doing research in applied linguistics: Realities, dilemmas, and solutions (pp. 244–252). Routledge.
Pineault, C. (forthcoming). From classmates to collaborators: Reflections on peer-peer collaborative research projects. In C. Cinaglia & M. D. Coss (Eds.), The story behind the study: Realities and dilemmas of conducting research as applied linguistics doctoral students. Applied Linguistics Press.
Wang, Y., Hasim, Z., & Renandya, W. A. (2022). Publication. In L. Gurney, Y. Wang, & R. Barnard (Eds.), Narratives of qualitative PhD research: Identities, languages, and cultures in transition (pp. 123–137). Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
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