Identity, tools, hurdles & supervisions: a PhD journey of an older, non-native

English speaking PhD student

Inge (Ignatia) de Waard

What drove me to it?

• Hitting a (glass) ceiling (“is this were I will spend the next 10 years?”)

• A pledge once given to my granddad (“en dan ga ik een doctoraat doen”)

I just had to…

What formal schooling did I have?

• No formal credits at the time of acceptance, but experienced (passion)

• Just doing it: mobile learning projects since 2006, organised MOOC 2011, 2012 on mobile learning.

• Took up Master’s: Master in Education track @Athabasca University, Canada

A high school adult, winging it

High schoolProfessional experience

Just Do It

Hindsight

Understanding the benefits of collaborating, sharing and being open to new information/feedback

Lacking structure (writing, academic speaking) and theoretical background (methodologies, evaluation tools, theories)

Build on strengths

Attract & learn new skills

First, and more steps

• Keep an eye out for PhD scholarship calls, mostly Jan/Feb: send a proposal(example of a proposal here)

• Identifying a subject: passion!

• Write a probation report (& mini viva) – 10 months into your research (example here) + progress reports (every 6 months).

Write proposal and

application

Identify your subject

Pilot study –probation

report + mini viva

Main studyWrite thesis

chapters

Rewrite, rewrite, rewrite

Viva (oral examination)

Language

• English is my 4th language: exercise (in international settings, with high quality language apps)

• Extra layer: academic language (academic language guide here)

• Students with money use professional language editors. We can do it!

The importance of side-kicks/PhD-peers

• Finding PhD role models (similar age/method: Jacqueline Bachelor)

• Identifying partners in crime (Ronda Zelezny-Green, Michael Sean Gallagher: co-writing, support)

Organise: 4 things that make PhD life easier

• Choose research that inspires you: intrinsic motivation and passion

• Build a PhD thesis in the cloud (chapters that will be part of actual thesis) for easy access

• Keep shared notes of supervision meetings (e.g. progress reports)

• Use bibliographic tools/reference managers (e.g. Mendeley which is free, or Endnote paid software)

Supervisors: your core team

• Guidance (subject matter, steps to take, additional training)

• Filtering out your own BS (needed)

• Knowledge by experience (framework, methods, connecting to people)

• Keeping you on target (thank you Mike Sharples & Agnes Kukulska-Hulme)

The supervisors

My experience:

• Year 1: • weekly supervisions: clear actions, feedback => result: get probation report /

pilot study started (ethics clearance)

• Presentation opportunities (1000 £ / year)

• Year 2 & 3:• bi-weekly supervisions: support and guidance setting up main study (data

collection & analysis), methods

Different supervisors, different experiences: mutual understanding, give-&-take (research papers, visibility, academic rigor)

Post-graduate opportunities

• Conferences (your discipline, high impact… network, write papers, learn to speak in public), e.g. Work-In-Progress (WIP)

• Workshops (career development early researchers, field specific ws)

• Lectures (on- and offline)

• Review papers (Just Do It)

Unforeseen circumstances influencing PhD

• Moving to another country

• Change in identity

Moving with family to UK

• Becoming the Other

• Isolation (partner): voluntary work in charity shops (Red Cross, Oxfam).

• Country specific differences: e.g. cost of child care (toddler/pre-school: 700 pounds per month for 3 days/w); high rental cost

• Family costs covered by scholarship fee?

Identity change

Established Practitioner

PhD studentEarly/senior researcher?

Beyond the PhD?!!! AAAHHHHH

• Where to go next? A team/network that suits your persona, a job that makes you tick, with opportunities, fitting your life (family/balance)

• How to find a job? In academia: your network (social media), funding

• What to do? Get your stars out (CV, strengths), Work Out Loud (open science rules: e.g. blog, slideshare, academia/researchgate)

Give me the hard data!

• Fee: 14000 GBP per year (3 years, with exceptional grant extension for personal/health reasons)

• Additional 1000 GPB per year for travel/attending conferences (posters and/or doctoral consortiums for early work, short/full papers later on)

• Thesis: approx. 75000 words (all in) depends on department

• PhD-structure templates per discipline (humanities, social science…)

• Viva: supervisors + 1 internal + 1 external examiner (normally UK-based) – different from other EU doctoral defence.

Last hurdle

PhD Comicsby Jorge Cham(also great procrastination)

Questions, networking…

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E-mail: ingedewaard (at) gmail.com

Blog: ignatiawebs.blogspot.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/Ignatia

Publications: http://www.ingedewaard.net/pubconsulpres.htm

Presentations: http://www.slideshare.net/ignatia

linkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/ingedewaard

Talk to me right here, right now!