Taboos in Doctoral Education across Cultures
Deadline for abstract submissions: Tuesday, 15 October 2024
The English word “taboo” originates from the Polynesian term “tabu,” which signifies “to forbid” or “forbidden” (Radcliffe-Brown, 2014). Existing studies of taboos are mostly situated in the disciplines of cultural anthropology, social anthropology, comparative sociology, sociolinguistics, psychology and discourse studies. Studies about taboos from these disciplines reminded us that taboos are bans or prohibitions that originate from and aggravate various forms of exclusions and inequalities. For example, Grandey, Gabriel and King (2020) found that women’s health experiences of menstruation, maternity, and menopause are considered taboo topics in ways that constrain their careers. Ver Beek (2010) critiqued how spirituality, as essential as it is for communities in the Global South, has been systematically evaded in development literature and practices to the effect of diminishing the effectiveness of some research and development programmes. Steiner (2004) argued that taboos deal with “the sociology of danger” and reinforce the “social mechanisms of obedience” (p. 21). Whilst taboos are often associated with threats and danger, violations of taboos can also be entry points to opportunities.
As taboos become engrained in social and institutional systems, they enter the space of doctoral education and serve to structure social and epistemic relationships. In this context, taboos may refer to the unspoken topics, avoided behaviours, or unwanted associations that doctoral students, supervisors and managers find uncomfortable or are insecure about within the scope of doctoral education and research. Taboos in doctoral education may sanction certain content or approaches to knowledge production and educational interactions. Be it language, behaviour or associations, taboos may manifest across a spectrum of activities and outcomes within doctoral education. Nerad (2015) discussed taboos among doctoral advisors, taboos among doctoral students, and taboos between advisors and doctoral students. Not aspiring to become a professor, family planning and pregnancy, imposter syndrome, and changing supervisors are examples of taboo topics in doctoral education (Nerad, 2015).
This special issue will provoke thinking around taboos in doctoral education across different cultures. It will use the concept of taboo as a unique lens to anchor criticalities and contribute to contemporary debates within the doctoral education community regarding educational equality and inclusion. We call for studies about the influences of social or cultural taboos on doctoral education and research across the international landscape. We encourage comparative analyses of taboos and violations of taboos in doctoral education across cultures, how and why taboos persist or change over time, and how the changing perceptions and practices around taboos impact doctoral education. We are interested in novel conceptualisations about how the enculturation of taboos in doctoral education impacts doctoral knowledge production, and welcome insightful qualitative and quantitative studies on how taboos can be tackled for educational equality and inclusion.
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