LEARNING ALONG THE WAY: AN INTERVIEW WITH EWOUT HASKEN

By Rex Panneman & Thomas van Gaalen

From a small attic office above the University Library, Ewout Hasken delves into the history of family businesses. Ewout has just finished his first year as a PhD researcher under Bas van Bavel within the wider SCOOP project (SCOOP is an abbreviation of ‘Sustainable Cooperation’). On October 6, we ascended several imposing staircases to knock on the door of his office and talk about life as a PhD researcher.

“Most weeks consist of coming to my office, reading, thinking and talking to other people,” says Ewout regarding his usual working weeks. “Of course, I talk with my supervisors about my research. I also often meet with other PhD students to see what they are up to.” Moreover, Ewout often visits seminars of the Economic and Social History research group. He did not have any teaching responsibilities during the first year of his PhD.

According to Ewout, a PhD researcher requires a different planning strategy compared with a Bachelor’s or a Master’s student. Students usually plan their work loosely and do most of the writing in the days just before the deadline. “For writing a paper for a course it is really a good strategy. For a PhD I am not really sure.” Compared with the usual Master’s course, the scope of a PhD project is much larger both in terms of time and research content. For this reason, a PhD necessitates a more detailed and long-term kind of planning.

Ewout conducts his research within the ambit of SCOOP. “The project tries to answer the question why certain societies are better at coping with big problems, such as climate change.” More specifically, the project looks at the role of three social areas: family, community and association. Since Ewout’s doctoral thesis focuses on family businesses, his research is expected to generate insights that are relevant to the SCOOP project and its leading researchers. “Hopefully”, says Ewout, “it can help to answer their questions.”

Although SCOOP is theoretically rooted in Bas van Bavel’s model for sustainable societies, Ewout explains that his individual project is granted a lot of creative freedom. ‘‘It is not something I am actively pursuing to incorporate,” Ewout says regarding van Bavel’s model, “but it forms a starting point to my research.” This open-minded approach has allowed Ewout to drastically change his research topic over the first year of his PhD. This was partially the result of reading considerable amounts of literature during his first PhD-year. After this detailed review of the literature, ‘family businesses’ proved too loose a concept to analyze comparatively, as had initially been the plan. Now, Ewout is focusing on the reception of family businesses, specifically aiming to understand their increased appeal during economic crises. As Ewout predicts, family businesses are regarded by the public as “capitalism with a human face”, thus evoking a more sympathetic response than their faceless counterparts.

Wrapping up our conversation regarding family businesses and his first PhD-year, we ask Ewout whether he has any advice for prospective PhD-researchers. “Take notes”, Ewout says, showing us several spotless books that he read thoroughly during his first year – only to find he now had to read them again due to his lack of notes the first time around. Ewout also stresses that students should always pursue a PhD they like, although this does not necessarily mean that one should immediately exclude other options. “Also look for PhD positions in areas that are less familiar to you”, Ewout says. “You might like them.” Finally, Ewout stresses that it is important to realize that you will always have room to learn new insights after your RMA. “You learn a lot along the way.”