“I'm not even clear as to what you also want from me”: Dynamics of power play in PhD vivas

Although the PhD viva provides a viable context for the study of power relations—given its high-stakes nature and the expectation for candidates to demonstrate expertise in their subject areas—virtually no research has explored this phenomenon. This may be due to the difficulty in accessing the data. The current study therefore seeks to fill this gap by exploring the exercise of power in a corpus of 11 video-recorded PhD vivas undertaken at a Ghanaian university. The multiple datasets collected for the study, comprising video recordings and video stimulated recall interviews, were analysed qualitatively to illuminate the shifts in power, roles, and positionings in PhD viva interactions. Findings establish shifts in the exercise of power (‘power over’, ‘power with’, and ‘power to’) that can sometimes lead to power struggles and direct confrontations. The analysis further underscores the utility of the concepts of genre chains and semiotic remediation in the study of PhD vivas. Finally, the study highlights implications for examiner practices and the socialisation of candidates into PhD viva interactions.