Scholarly Life

Getting from the beginning to the end of the process, and living to tell

As PhD candidates contemplate their futures, the dissertation looms large, both in psychic terms and in reality. It is the epic hurdle, the shoals upon which dreams get battered or — in best-case scenario — new knowledge is born. On the academic job market, the dissertation is the item of greatest interest to hiring departments, serving as the most important means of distinguishing among candidates. And for students exploring nonacademic careers, the dissertation is a proving ground, a place to test applications and assess impact.

The GSAS Office of Fellowships [Read: Fellowships news] offers individual counseling and working groups designed to help students navigate these rough waters. Its most recent of event was a December 5 panel discussion entitled “Surviving the Dissertation: Strategies for Getting from Beginning to End of the Process.” Four speakers — two completing students and two recent alumni — shared their experiences, from the early stage of choosing a topic through the research and writing stages. Cynthia Verba, the director of fellowships for GSAS, summarized their conversation and advice:

All of the speakers found dissertation topics they really liked, and all had established close and comfortable working relationships with their advisors, who played an important mentoring role. None of this happened purely by chance: The speakers knew in advance what they hoped to get out of the dissertation and mentoring experience, and they did their best to make sure that it happened. As they described the steps they took, it became clear that they were skilled at problem solving, swinging into the active mode earlier rather than later. Here are some of the things that they recommended:

• On the mentoring process. Use your advisors as much as you can; don’t feel you can only show something when it is fully formed or polished; try to find an advisor with whom you feel comfortable in doing this. Having multiple advisors will allow you to fill different needs with different people. Arranging a regular meeting schedule with advisors worked well for all of our speakers.

• On choosing a topic. Over and above the importance of choosing a topic that you like is the need for practical considerations as well: a topic that can be done within a reasonable amount of time, a topic that taps the pulse of what is exciting in the field. In the present job market, people in smaller fields should find a topic that aims for a wider audience rather than being overly specialized, and this may be important in all fields. Speakers found that it took a lot of discussion with many other people before reaching a topic that met these goals, including consultation not only with advisors, but people outside of the field. Talking through the potential topic proved helpful in solidifying it. Start writing as soon as possible; don’t get caught up in the dissertation prospectus; think of it as a “glorified outline” and proceed from planning to implementation.

• On maintaining momentum. Ask advisors and committee members to help establish deadlines that you must honor; establish further deadlines by committing to presentations. Even while teaching, try to set aside writing time. Some set daily writing goals by number of words, others just set regular time schedules. All agreed on the importance of establishing deadlines as a form of structure.

• Addressing isolation. All the speakers joined at least one writing group, in some cases, more than one. Being in a group helps with establishing artificial deadlines and provides support. One speaker found it helpful to have a second group, consisting of people working in areas close to her field and also at a similar stage in the dissertation. Even now that she has finished, she still continues to share with these close colleagues when she is writing an article or preparing for a conference. Speakers also engaged in networking, especially as their research took them to new places, leaving their support groups behind. This meant asking friends and advisors for names of contacts at the new destinations, and also joining new groups.

According to Verba, each speaker confessed that this is not an easy process, and that at times it could even be painful. But by assessing needs very thoughtfully, each was able to find effective ways of addressing the challenges.