Inger Mewburn

Born in Hobart, Tasmania, and raised in Melbourne, Victoria, Mewburn completed her schooling at Croydon High School in 1988.

Mewburn's undergraduate degree was from RMIT University and she was awarded her doctorate from the University of Melbourne in 2009 for her thesis, "Constructing Bodies: gesture speech and representation at work in Architecture classrooms."Mewburn, Inger. (2009) "[https://minerva-access.unimelb.edu.au/handle/11343/35264 Constructing Bodies: Gesture, Speech and Representation at Work in Architectural Design Studios]." University of Melbourne, Australia. Her dissertation was awarded the John Grice Award for Best Thesis in the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning.Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning. (2010) "Dean’s Honours Awards 2009: Recognizing Student and Teaching Excellence and Innovation." [https://msd.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/2731880/Atrium-14.pdf Atrium 14]: 22.

Mewburn was a Research Fellow at RMIT University from 2006–2012, and worked with research higher degree students and their supervisors as a research education and development scholar. Since 2013, Mewburn has been Director of Research Training at the Australian National University.

She undertakes research on post-graduate research within higher education, and is an influential voice on social media on this topic.{{Cite web|title=In Conversation with Dr Inger Mewburn|url=https://www.pearson.com.au/insights-and-news/people-and-leadership/inger-mewburn-higher-education/|access-date=2020-06-27|website=www.pearson.com.au|archive-date=2020-06-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200629172925/https://www.pearson.com.au/insights-and-news/people-and-leadership/inger-mewburn-higher-education/|url-status=dead}} In 2010, Mewburn started The Thesis Whisperer blog. Her work on this blog, grounded in her academic research, has earned her global recognition as an expert on topics in doctoral education and academic cultures. She is frequently invited to work with cohorts of research students around the world. Mewburn is committed to sharing her knowledge to help others during their thesis process.{{Cite web|last=Scientist|first=Mademoiselle|date=2015-09-22|title=Mademoiselle Spotlight Feature: The Thesis Whisperer/Dr. Inger Mewburn|url=https://mademoisellescientist.wordpress.com/2015/09/22/mademoiselle-spotlight-feature-the-thesis-whispererdr-inger-mewburn/|access-date=2020-06-28|website=Mademoiselle Scientist|language=en}}

Mewburn regularly writes for and provides expert opinion on doctoral issues to peak publications and higher education forums such as Nature,{{Cite journal|last=Gould|first=Julie|date=2019-12-05|title=Working Scientist podcast: The PhD thesis and how to boost its impact|url=https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-03773-0|journal=Nature|language=en|doi=10.1038/d41586-019-03773-0|s2cid=213915724|url-access=subscription}}{{Cite journal|last=Kwok|first=Roberta|date=2020-03-30|title=You can get that paper, thesis or grant written — with a little help|journal=Nature|language=en|volume=580|issue=7801|pages=151–153|doi=10.1038/d41586-020-00917-5|pmid=32231285|s2cid=214696310|doi-access=free}}{{Cite journal|last=Fleming|first=Nic|date=2019-10-08|title=Don't miss your PhD deadline|journal=Nature|language=en|volume=574|issue=7777|pages=283–285|doi=10.1038/d41586-019-03020-6|pmid=31595080|bibcode=2019Natur.574..283F|s2cid=203929284|doi-access=free}} The Conversation,{{Cite web|last=Mewburn|first=Inger|title=What's up with universities – Whackademia or just grumpy old academics?|url=http://theconversation.com/whats-up-with-universities-whackademia-or-just-grumpy-old-academics-7602|access-date=2020-06-12|website=The Conversation|date=14 June 2012 |language=en}} The Guardian,{{Cite news|last1=Thomson|first1=Pat|last2=Mewburn|first2=Inger|date=2013-12-02|title=Why do academics blog? It's not for public outreach, research shows|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/blog/2013/dec/02/why-do-academics-blog-research|access-date=2020-06-12|issn=0261-3077}} Times Higher Education,{{Cite web|date=2017-11-19|title=Academia and the gig economy: how to survive in the post-golden age|url=https://www.timeshighereducation.com/blog/academia-and-gig-economy-how-survive-post-golden-age|access-date=2020-06-14|website=Times Higher Education (THE)|language=en}} Campus Review,{{Cite web|last=Smith|first=Loren|title=An ANU Associate Professor on the traps of success|url=https://www.campusreview.com.au/2018/10/an-anu-associate-professor-on-the-traps-of-success/|access-date=2020-06-14|website=Campus Review|language=en-AU}} and the London School of Economics Impact Blog.{{Cite web|date=2011-08-15|title=Running a successful academic blog can make you feel like a rock star: authenticity and narrative are essential for forging your own digital identity|url=https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2011/08/15/digital-identity-blogging-thesis-whisperer/|access-date=2020-06-12|website=Impact of Social Sciences}}{{Cite web|date=2012-02-27|title=The Elsevier petition is the academic equivalent of the Hollywood writers strike, and I applaud the senior members of our community who are providing leadership and showing the way.|url=https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2012/02/27/5824/|access-date=2020-06-12|website=Impact of Social Sciences}}{{Cite web|date=2013-12-12|title=Academic blogging is part of a complex online academic attention economy, leading to unprecedented readership.|url=https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2013/12/12/academic-attention-economy/|access-date=2020-06-12|website=Impact of Social Sciences}} She has mentored and supported the establishment of other scholarly development blogs, which are influenced by her successful model; these include the DoctoralWritingSIG{{Cite journal|last1=Guerin|first1=Cally|last2=Carter|first2=Susan|last3=Aitchison|first3=Claire|date=2015-07-03|title=Blogging as community of practice: lessons for academic development?|journal=International Journal for Academic Development|volume=20|issue=3|pages=212–223|doi=10.1080/1360144X.2015.1042480|hdl=2440/93693|s2cid=145162332|issn=1360-144X|hdl-access=free}} blog, Mademoiselle Scientist and The Research Whisperer.{{Citation|last=Khoo |first=Tseen |title=Right Back Where We Started from |date=2014 |work=Being “In and Out”: Providing Voice to Early Career Women in Academia |pages=57–67 |editor-last=Lemon |editor-first=Narelle |place=Rotterdam |publisher=SensePublishers |language=en|doi=10.1007/978-94-6209-830-5_6 |isbn=978-94-6209-830-5 |editor2-last=Garvis |editor2-first=Susanne}}

In 2015, Mewburn ran a massive open online course, How to Survive Your PhD. The bulk of the content was organized around the emotions experienced by most PhD students: Confidence; Frustration; Loneliness; Fear; Curiosity; Confusion; Boredom and Love.{{Cite web|title=How to Survive Your PhD|url=https://www.edx.org/course/how-to-survive-your-phd|access-date=2020-06-28|website=edX|language=en}} The course was designed to cater for students' families and supervisors, as well as the students themselves. Mewburn said that it was "... really heartening to see mums, dads, partners and even children of Ph.D. students are so interested in learning about the emotional parts of the journey."{{Cite journal|last=Mewburn|first=Inger|date=2016-05-01|title=Interview with Dr Inger Mewburn|url=http://openurl.ingenta.com/content/xref?genre=article&issn=2055-2823&volume=2&issue=1&spage=7|journal=Journal of Arts Writing by Students|language=en|volume=2|issue=1|pages=7–11|doi=10.1386/jaws.2.1.7_2|url-access=subscription}}

Mewburn's research has focused on the process of becoming an academic. In 2010, Robyn Barnacle and Mewburn published an influential paper showing that scholarly identity is distributed and is performed through both traditional and non‐traditional sites of learning.{{Cite journal|last1=Barnacle|first1=Robyn|last2=Mewburn|first2=Inger|date=2010|title=Learning networks and the journey of 'becoming doctor'|journal=Studies in Higher Education|language=en|volume=35|issue=4|pages=433–444|doi=10.1080/03075070903131214|s2cid=145398249|issn=0307-5079}} In 2011, she built on this work, and on material published on her Thesis Whisperer blog, to argue that PhD student ‘troubles talk’ in everyday interactions form an important aspect of identity formation.{{Cite journal|last=Mewburn|first=Inger|date=2011|title=Troubling talk: assembling the PhD candidate|journal=Studies in Continuing Education|language=en|volume=33|issue=3|pages=321–332|doi=10.1080/0158037X.2011.585151|s2cid=143893315|issn=0158-037X|url=http://researchbank.rmit.edu.au/view/rmit:15401|url-access=subscription}}{{Cite web|date=2011-11-22|title=Whingeing Wednesdays and bitch buddies|url=https://thesiswhisperer.com/2011/11/22/whingeing-wednesdays-and-bitch-buddies/|access-date=2020-06-28|website=The Thesis Whisperer|language=en}}

In 2013, Mewburn and Pat Thomson published an influential paper on why academics blog. They positioned this activity as a community of practice primarily written for other academics.{{Cite journal|last1=Mewburn|first1=Inger|last2=Thomson|first2=Pat|date=2013|title=Why do academics blog? An analysis of audiences, purposes and challenges|journal=Studies in Higher Education|language=en|volume=38|issue=8|pages=1105–1119|doi=10.1080/03075079.2013.835624|s2cid=143337179|issn=0307-5079}} In 2017, Deborah Lupton, Mewburn and Pat Thomson edited a book on the digital academic, which bought together accounts of using digital media and technologies as part of academic practice across teaching, research administration and scholarship.{{Cite book|title=The digital academic : critical perspectives on digital technologies in higher education|others=Lupton, Deborah, Mewburn, Inger, Thomson, Pat|year=2017|isbn=978-1-138-20257-3|location=Abingdon, Oxon|oclc=975372928}}

In 2019, Adrian Barnett, Mewburn, and Sven Schroter published a paper analyzing the submission of manuscripts and peer reviews, to understand the amount of work undertaken outside of standard working hours.{{Cite journal|last1=Barnett|first1=Adrian|last2=Mewburn|first2=Inger|last3=Schroter|first3=Sara|date=2019-12-19|title=Working 9 to 5, not the way to make an academic living: observational analysis of manuscript and peer review submissions over time|journal=BMJ|volume=367|language=en|pages=l6460|doi=10.1136/bmj.l6460|issn=1756-1833|pmc=7222960|pmid=31857333}}

Over time, Mewburn's research has come to focus on the challenge of employability of PhD students in Australia.{{Cite web|date=2018-07-31|title=Women in Innovation: Dr Inger Mewburn - Startup Stories & Profiles, Women in Innovation|url=https://cbrin.com.au/women-in-innovation/dr-inger-mewburn/|access-date=2020-06-28|website=Canberra Innovation Network|language=en-AU}} In 2016, Rachael E Pitt and Mewburn published an analysis of advertisements for academic positions that sought to understand what graduate attributes universities were seeking from PhD candidates.{{Cite journal|last1=Pitt|first1=Rachael|last2=Mewburn|first2=Inger|date=2016-01-02|title=Academic superheroes? A critical analysis of academic job descriptions|journal=Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management|language=en|volume=38|issue=1|pages=88–101|doi=10.1080/1360080X.2015.1126896|s2cid=155694016|issn=1360-080X}} In 2019, Mewburn published Becoming an academic: How to get through grad school and beyond. One reviewer commented that Mewburn's approach allowed her to engage with "...topics that are only discussed in conversations hidden in the office kitchenette."{{Cite web|last=Le|first=Ai Tam|title=Becoming an Academic: 4 reasons why you should read Inger Mewburn's new book|url=https://www.echer.org/becoming-an-academic/|access-date=2020-06-28|website=ECHER|date=10 September 2019 |language=en-US}}

In 2018, Mewburn, Will J. Grant, Hanna Suominen and Stephanie Kizimchuk used machine learning and natural language processing to analyze the content of non-academic Australian job advertisements to understand what proportion of positions would be suitable for PhD graduates. In 2020, Mewburn, Chenchen Xu, Hanna Suominen and Will J. Grant launched the PostAc tool, a real-world instantiation of her research that aims to help research degree graduates find employment. It aims to make the market for advanced research skills more visible to job seekers.{{Cite web|last1=Dean|first1=CECS|last2=dean@cecs.anu.edu.au|date=2020-01-17|title=PostAc launch event: life after academia|url=https://cecs.anu.edu.au/events/postac-launch-event-life-after-academia|access-date=2020-06-22|website=ANU College of Engineering & Computer Science|language=en}}{{Cite web|title=Large 'hidden job market' for PhD graduates unearthed|url=https://www.campusreview.com.au/2017/12/large-hidden-job-market-for-phd-graduates-unearthed/|access-date=2020-06-26|website=Campus Review|language=en-AU}}{{Cite journal|last1=Xu|first1=Chenchen|last2=Mewburn|first2=Inger|last3=Grant|first3=Will J|last4=Suominen|first4=Hanna|date=2019|title=PostAc : A Visual Interactive Search, Exploration, and Analysis Platform for PhD Intensive Job Postings|url=https://www.aclweb.org/anthology/P19-3008|journal=Proceedings of the 57th Annual Meeting of the Association for Computational Linguistics: System Demonstrations|language=en|location=Florence, Italy|publisher=Association for Computational Linguistics|pages=43–48|doi=10.18653/v1/P19-3008|s2cid=196205914|doi-access=free}}

• {{Cite journal |last1=Barnacle |first1=Robyn |last2=Mewburn |first2=Inger |date=June 2010 |title=Learning networks and the journey of 'becoming doctor' |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03075070903131214 |journal=Studies in Higher Education |language=en |volume=35 |issue=4 |pages=433–444 |doi=10.1080/03075070903131214 |issn=0307-5079|url-access=subscription }}
• {{Cite journal |last1=Mewburn |first1=Inger |last2=Thomson |first2=Pat |date=October 2013 |title=Why do academics blog? An analysis of audiences, purposes and challenges |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03075079.2013.835624 |journal=Studies in Higher Education |language=en |volume=38 |issue=8 |pages=1105–1119 |doi=10.1080/03075079.2013.835624 |issn=0307-5079|url-access=subscription }}

• {{Cite book |title=The Digital Academic: Critical Perspectives on Digital Technologies in Higher Education |date=2017 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-138-20257-3 |editor-last=Lupton |editor-first=Deborah |location=Abingdon |editor-last2=Mewburn |editor-first2=Inger |editor-last3=Thomson |editor-first3=Pat}}{{Cite web |last=Frawley |first=Jessica |date=2018-03-05 |title=Book review: the digital academic: critical perspectives on digital technologies in higher education edited by Deborah Lupton, Inger Mewburn and Pat Thomson |url=https://eprints.lse.ac.uk/88891/ |access-date=2024-12-04 |website=LSE Review of Books |language=en}}
• {{Cite book |last=Mewburn |first=Inger |title=How to Be An Academic: The Thesis Whisperer Reveals All |date=2017 |publisher=NewSouth Publishing |isbn=978-1-74223-507-3 |series=A NewSouth book |location=Sydney, N.S.W}}
• {{Cite book |title=Postgraduate Study in Australia: Surviving and Succeeding |date=2017 |publisher=Peter Lang |isbn=978-1-4331-4161-4 |editor-last=McMaster |editor-first=Christopher |location=New York |editor-last2=Murphy |editor-first2=Caterina |editor-last3=Whitburn |editor-first3=Benjamin |editor-last4=Mewburn |editor-first4=Inger}}
• {{Cite book |last=Mewburn |first=Inger |title=Becoming an Academic: How to Get through Grad School and Beyond |date=2019 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |isbn=978-1-4214-2880-2 |location=Baltimore}}
• {{Cite book |last1=Mewburn |first1=Inger |title=How to Fix Your Academic Writing Trouble: A Practical Guide |last2=Firth |first2=Katherine |author-link2=Katherine Firth |last3=Lehmann |first3=Shaun |date=2019 |publisher=Open University Press |isbn=978-0-335-24332-7 |location=London}}
• {{Cite book |last1=Mewburn |first1=Inger |title=Level up Your Essays: How to Get Better Grades at University |last2=Firth |first2=Katherine |last3=Lehmann |first3=Shaun |date=2021 |publisher=NewSouth Publishing |isbn=978-1-74223-680-3 |location=Sydney}}
• {{Cite book |last=Firth |first=Katherine |title=Writing Well and Being Well for Your PhD and Beyond: How to Cultivate a Strong and Sustainable Writing Practice for Life |date=2023 |publisher=Taylor & Francis Group |isbn=978-1-000-93612-4 |location=Milton}}{{Cite journal |last=Mazhar |first=Aysha |date=2024-11-09 |title=Writing well and being well for your PhD and beyond: how to cultivate a strong and sustainable writing practice for life: by Katherine Firth, Abingdon, Routledge, 2023, 200 pp., £21.99 (Paperback), ISBN 9781032310817 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00131911.2023.2265259 |journal=Educational Review |language=en |volume=76 |issue=7 |pages=2092–2093 |doi=10.1080/00131911.2023.2265259 |issn=0013-1911|url-access=subscription }}
• {{Cite book |last1=Mewburn |first1=Inger |title=Be Visible or Vanish: Engage, Influence and Ensure Your Research Has Impact |last2=Clews |first2=Simon |date=2023 |publisher=Taylor & Francis Group |isbn=978-1-000-84193-0 |series= |location=Milton}}

• 2020: Special commendation for leadership, Australian Council of Graduate Research.{{Cite web|title=ACGR Awards for Excellence|url=https://www.acgr.edu.au/about/awards-for-excellence/|access-date=2020-06-12|website=ACGR|language=en-US}}
• 2019: Admitted as Vitae Senior Research Developer Fellow.
• 2017: Grant from the Discovery Translation Funds, Canberra Innovation Network, to develop the 'PostAc' application (AUD$150K).{{Cite web|title=Awarded Projects DTF 2.0 {{!}} ANU Connect Ventures|url=http://www.anuconnectventures.com.au/investment/discovery-translation-fund-2-0/awarded-projects-dtf-2-0/|access-date=2020-06-14|language=en-US|archive-date=2020-06-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200614055902/http://www.anuconnectventures.com.au/investment/discovery-translation-fund-2-0/awarded-projects-dtf-2-0/|url-status=dead}}
• 2017: Vice Chancellor’s award for innovation and excellence in service, Australian National University.{{Cite web|title=Vice-Chancellor's Award for Innovation & Excellence in Service 2017 recipients - Staff Services - ANU|url=https://services.anu.edu.au/human-resources/achieve-recognise/vice-chancellors-award-for-innovation-excellence-in-service/vice-0|access-date=2020-06-14|website=services.anu.edu.au|language=en}}
• 2015: Grant from the Australian Commonwealth Department of Industry, Innovation and Science for "Tracking Trends in Industry Demand for Australia's Advanced Research Workforce: Pilot Study" (AUD$90K; with Will J. Grant).{{Cite web|last=Director (Research Services Division)|title=Tracking Trends in Industry...|url=https://researchers.anu.edu.au/projects/23714|access-date=2020-06-14|website=researchers.anu.edu.au|language=en-US}}
• 2014: Grant from the Australian Commonwealth Department of Education, Skills and Employment for "INSIGNIA: An open badge system for research training and supervision at ANU" (AUD$40K).{{Cite web|last=Director (Research Services Division)|title=INSIGNIA: An open badge sys...|url=https://researchers.anu.edu.au/projects/16919|access-date=2020-06-14|website=researchers.anu.edu.au|language=en-US}}
• 2010: John Grice Award for Best Thesis in the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning, University of Melbourne.

{{Reflist}}

• [https://thesiswhisperer.com/ Thesis Whisperer blog].
• A/Prof Inger Mewburn ([https://twitter.com/thesiswhisperer @ThesisWhisperer]) on Twitter.
• [https://www.facebook.com/thesiswhisperer/ The Thesis Whisperer] on Facebook.
• [http://postac.com.au/ PostAc] website.

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Category:Living people

Category:1970 births

Category:University of Melbourne alumni

Category:Academic staff of the Australian National University

Category:Natural language processing researchers

Category:RMIT University alumni