This paper presents initial findings of my PhD project which focus on how Master’s thesis supervisors understand the Master’s thesis as a form of assessment and how this corresponds to the discourse of  policy papers such as academic regulations. The supervisors’ understanding seems to evolve around the theme of acquiring academic identity/becoming an academic viewed as a transformation process, and supervisors draw heavily on narrative and metaphorical language in order to express this conception of the thesis. This understanding and type of language are not mirrored in policy papers, with the exception of the concept of autonomy (selvstændighed), which seems to have multiple meanings. The method used is semi-structured interviews with Master’s thesis supervisors, and I point to some methodological challenges connected to interviewing in an academic setting as a PhD student. The nature of these methodological challenges is heavily interwoven with the themes of my initial findings, and I argue that both the Master’s thesis as a form of assessment and the research interview appear to function as an arena for a game of identity: a game which includes negotiations of hierarchical positions, of acquiring identity, of challenge and of enduring being tested.  Finally, I identify some of the methodological challenges associated with interviewing in academia, and suggest some strategies for overcoming them.