WARNING: This episode contains moderate rage.

Things get spicy as we continue our deep dive into babyfication - aka infantilisation - in academia. This time, we’re joined by our fabulous friend Charlotte, who brings her unique insight as a local authority practice-based PhD researcher.

Together, we unpack what it means to be "babyfied" in academic spaces in the UK, from the way PhDs are conceptualised by universities and how we're dubbed by senior staff as "[financial] loss leaders".

Some of the keywords and abbreviations we used:

ESRC - Economic and Social Research Council who fund PhDs in these disciplines

GTA - Graduate teaching assistant

Local Authority - local government responsible for providing services in the area of the UK that you live in

PGR - Postgraduate researcher aka a PhD or research masters student

RTSG - Research and Training Support Grant

REF - Research Excellence Framework

Learn more about Doctoral Local Authority Fellowships here: https://www.nihr.ac.uk/nihr-doctoral-local-authority-fellowship-dlaf-guidance-notes-round-4