How Might the (Social Sciences) PhD Play a Role in Addressing Global Challenges?

Increasingly, the PhD is perceived as needing change. Yet, a review of efforts at such ‘reform’ suggests limited impact. This realization led me to seek a novel way to rethink the PhD. So, I addressed what to me is particularly challenging—what practice(s) could actually realize a re-visioned PhD. I created a structured thought experiment to tackle a global challenge, the climate crisis, which I did alone and then with others. Being a social scientist, I started with the factors influencing effective response to this crisis, as representative of efforts at social/societal change more broadly. After reflecting on the outcomes of the exercise which proved productive, I argue that if we, as researchers, want to reform the PhD, we would benefit from thinking more broadly about the nature of social science research, in fact, conceive of the PhD and our own work as encompassing solution-oriented inquiry. We would also expand and deepen our interactions with those beyond our own disciplinary colleagues: not just researchers in other disciplines, but those in other labour sectors and civil society—this whether the research/PhD goal is to address the climate crisis, other sustainability issues, or other meaningful goals.