Background
I'm a 35 year old male of Maltese Nationality, married and the proud father of two children. Previous to my PhD I read for an undergraduate degree in Psychology and Sociology, followed by a Postgraduate Certificate in Education and a Masters degree in Sociology which consisted of a 50,000 world dissertation titled Education and Old Age: A Critical Analysis of the Maltese University of the Third Age. Since 1999, I have been employed as a lecturer in social gerontology at the European Centre of Gerontology at the University of Malta.

I got interested in ageing during my undergraduate years in the 1990s when I realised how, despite the demographic transitions taking place in the second half of the twentieth century, the study of ageing, especially from a social standpoint, remained such a Cinderella subject. I remember being dismayed by the dominant medical discourse, with few academics daring to question the quality of life of individuals living through their third and fourth ages. This motivated me to take a closer look at the work of sociologists - notably Malcolm Johnson, Chris Phillipson, Sara Arber, and Alan Walker - who focused on the social aspects of later life. In a couple of months I found myself strongly hooked on the subject.

PhD experiences
Title: Social Class Dynamics in Later Life : A Case Study of Class Structuring and Action Among Older Persons in Malta.

University of Bristol, May 2007.

Click here to view the abstract

I chose this topic partly because of my working class background and attendance at a (Maltese) elite secondary school which influenced me to look at everyday life from a rigid class lens, and also because of the influence that Chris Phillipson’s publication had on the development of my academic self.

I studied part-time. The University of Malta awarded me a partial scholarship. I might be ‘mature’ by British standards but in fact I never stopped studying. I achieved my PhD degree at the age of 35 because my financial circumstances never allowed me to read for my degrees on a full-time status.

For me the greatest thing about the PhD is threefold. First, having the freedom to study a topic of your choice for so many years without having to be accountable to anyone. Second, for someone who likes to explore new perspectives and issues spending the first twelve months or so in the library was something akin to a holiday. Okay, I admit, it beat any holiday hands-down. Third, taking part in academic forums where you have the opportunity to present your work to others, as well as listening to other candidates’ concerns, whilst receiving and providing positive feedback.

On an academic level, the analysis of data was a major challenge. This took me some 18 months to complete and gave me many sleepless nights. My greatest fear was that my data was useless and that it would be impossible to generate any meaningful themes from it. On a personal level, I was already married when I started the PhD and my son was born bang on in the middle of the PhD journey so I was always guilty, extremely guilty, that I was not giving quality time either to my son or wife.

I was given two pieces of advice while doing my PhD. First, halfway through the PhD my supervisor reacted to my strong sense of perfectionism by saying: Your PhD will not be your Magus Opus. Better things are to come afterwards. Second, when I became too unsure and insecure of myself my wife use to tell me: Just stop brooding and DO IT. Two pieces of advice I’d give to others contemplating doing a PhD are: first, impossible is a world found only in the dictionary of fools - meaning that never doubt your ability in reading and finishing a PhD. Second, on a more realistic level, you have to accept that in order to read for a PhD there is a high probability that something has got to give. Make sure that what you have to drop are not the most things you hold dear in your life. In my case, I stopped going to football matches. In the end, this was worth it.

My Viva went very well. In the end, my examiners were very fair and professional, and I accept without any reservations whatsoever their evaluation of my thesis. For those about to do their Viva, I’d make the following suggestions. Apart from meeting your supervisor some 45 minutes in advance so that you calm your nerves, make sure that you have an academic rationale for all choices you made in your dissertation - that is, you must have nothing in your thesis as the result of coincidence. Most of the examiners’ questions, at least in my case, revolved around a ‘why’.

Post-PhD

I am lucky in the sense that I was already employed as a lecturer, albeit on a contract basis, and that the PhD qualification was needed to secure my tenure. Currently I hold the position of Lecturer in Social Gerontology at the European Centre for Gerontology, University of Malta, where I lecture on various topics according to my areas of specialisation ( Research Evaluation, Social Rehabilitation, Practice Placement I & II, Welfare and Older Persons), as well as supervising undergraduate and Masters’ theses. 

BSG/NOGS
I have been a member of BSG for seven years now, since I found employment as a Lecturer in Social Gerontology at the European Centre of Gerontology at the University of Malta. I knew about this society from my student days but could never afford to become a member. The BSG is held in very high esteem in Maltese academic circles.

To be allowed to become a member by such a serious academic society as the BSG fitted in well to my ambitions in developing an academic career. However, since I am based in Malta, and therefore it was not possible to attend any BSG/NOGS activities and conferences, I always look forward very much to receiving Generations Review and the Ageing & Society journal as these give me a good window on the most recent gerontological developments in both Britain and internationally.

BSG/NOGS already does a lot. But my 2 cents in this matter is that perhaps one session in the BSG conference could be some kind of showcase of recently acquired PhD dissertations. 

Future plans
My ambition is to publish my thesis as well as try to publish a number of articles in refereed journals so that I further develop my academic career. However, another strong ambition of mine is to contribute to the improvement of the quality of life of older persons by working with NGOs. In other words, I plan to re-immerse myself in grass-root activism, something which I am sad to say I had to neglect due to family- and PhD-related pressures. Moreover, I would be very interested in having some lecturing and research experiences in Britain.