Aligned to the following RDF domains: B1, B2, D1

Particularly recommended for: Early-stage researchers, Mid-stage researchers, Late-stage researchers

About the workshop

How do you manage and maintain your motivation levels throughout the long period of your doctoral studies? Do you have days, or even weeks, when you struggle to get motivated to push on with your research project? What insights do you have about what motivates you and what doesn’t? Do you feel challenged by people around you who may not be as motivated as you?

This workshop is designed for doctoral students in all years of study and aims to build our understanding of motivation. What motivates us? How do we know? And how can we manage and maintain our motivation levels, particularly during those times in our studies or research when we have little or no contact with others? It can often prove more challenging to motivate ourselves than motivate those around us.

We will invite you to explore motivation and firstly, build some insight into your own identity (who you are and what has shaped you) to better understand what are known as our intrinsic (internal) and extrinsic (external) motivators. We will explore a number of models, starting with Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and moving through some research evidence that enables us to explore some commonly held myths about what motivates people within organisations (e.g., Hertzberg’s Two-Factor Theory) to Pink’s work on Autonomy, Mastery and Drive. Through group conversation, we will draw on our own experiences of feeling motivated/demotivated and build some insight into what intrinsic and extrinsic motivators we hold.

We will invite you to explore how through greater understanding and insight, we can:

manage and maintain our motivation levels more effectively, particularly when we feel challenged or are struggling
differentiate between our intrinsic and extrinsic motivators and draw on these to better effect
develop strategies and techniques for managing our motivation levels more in the moment
identify the conditions we may need to create for ourselves, or require others to create for us, within which we can feel more motivated and perform at our best
equip ourselves more effectively to engage in motivational delegation when we are leading, managing, or working with others

Preparation required

None

Facilitator(s)

Sarah Williment, Farleigh Performance.

Accessibility

Please contact us at doctoraldevelopment@bath.ac.uk if you have any special requirements.

Understanding and Maintaining Motivation