‘Untold’ doctoral stories: can we move beyond cultural narratives of neglect?

This article examines the stories of 24 social sciences doctoral students in three universities, one in Canada and two in the UK, who experienced challenging roads to completion. While their stories confirm earlier findings, they also provide insight into how students' agency and personal networks of relationships may be critical, both as resources and constraints. We argue that these ‘untold stories’ of student agency coupled with supervisor narratives of students ‘not measuring up’ can contribute to a culture of institutional neglect. Pedagogies emphasizing an ethic of care and relational rather than regulatory practices are essential if these conditions are to change.