The dataset presents ethnographic material collected during Becoming in Academia, an artistic intervention conducted in 2020 and encompassing 14 PhD students at Aalto University, divided into two separate groups. Data collection The data was collected during 12 group interviews of 1,5 hours and during 12 workshops of 2,5 hours each, conducted face-to-face or via Zoom from March until September 2020. It includes audio- and video recordings, participants’ reflections the form of written text, recorded speech and drawings, and the researchers’ field notes and photographs. The data is stored on Aalto Network drive. Data organization We collected data from each interview and session, and this data was complemented with the participants’ reflections between the sessions. For the analysis, the data was pseudonymized. During the analysis, meaningful exchanges and insights were identified and coded. After this, we went back to the data to analyze it further. Presently, the data has been used in two articles: • Lafaire, A., Kuismin, A. Moisander, J. & Grünbaum, L. (submitted to Culture and Organization, fall 2020) ‘I realized it’s ok not to know’: Fostering learnings for well-being in doctoral education through empathy and art-based methods. • Lafaire, A., Soini, A. & Grünbaum, L. (submitted to Gender, Work & Organization, spring 2021) In lockdown with my inner saboteur - a collaborative collage on new perspectives on self-compassion during the ongoing pandemic. Keywords: artistic intervention, ethnography, PhD students, academia

2020