The Third Degree

Dear New PhD Student Dear New PhD Student   This is an exciting time for you as you embark on your journey towards a doctoral degree. As your supervisor, I thought I should write to welcome you and give you a few handy hints that may help both of us to survive this long journey. We both have much to learn. Although we have exchanged emails, we do not know each other well. I feel at the outset, we have to display the good in us, and hide the crazy. Over the next three years this balance will switch, as we each reveal our true selves.   My role is to guide you through the minefield that is the modern research process. You will learn how to identify gaps in knowledge, critically review literature, pose useful research questions, devise testable hypotheses, acquire the necessary ethical approvals, collect and analyse data and so on.   But remember I am not your sister, nor your mother, nor am I your counsellor – I am not your friend either. Some supervisors regularly socialis...

In Loco Parentis?  Did I Foretell A Trend?   I belong to some pretty ‘fun’ social media groups for academics and lecturers. They discuss real issues; course design, delivery styles, student interaction, and student “issues”. My crazy insomnia keeps me up most nights, and these groups being a tad more ‘North American centric” give me plenty of entertaining fodder to keep me company in my sleepless mode.   As I reflect on their discussions (and they are good discussions) and my own lecturing experience (both online and off) over the past close to three decades, it draws me towards a single conclusion about the enhanced “neediness” of students, and not just because of the pandemic.   Friends and colleagues who teach way more than me also have commented on that particular trajectory. They regularly highlight issues and behaviours that, even ten years prior, would not have emerged in the classroom, and most certainly, not in the lecture hall.   But that...

Is the Library Still at the Centre of the Student Journey?   Years ago I spent some time at Canterbury University. I was being lured to do my PhD there. And, an interesting lure it was too. One of the “pushed-pull-factors” was the Library. My potential primary supervisor went to great pains to not only highlight that Canterbury has one of the best and biggest University libraries in the southern hemisphere; he even took me for a tour of the facility so I could see for myself. It was an impressive library. I found it interesting that an academic was pushing the library so hard, but then again, it was core to the foundations of scholarship. Books, journals, prior dissertations, unpublished manuscripts, even internet access; all important contributors to the student journey, especially for a research student.   But, times are ‘a-changin’ … it’s all “e” now. “C” has made sure of that, at least for the foreseeable future. Librarianship has done a fantastic job of stayin...

Teaching, Facilitation, & Supervision Style |  Interview with TTD Cofounder Dr Craig J Selby   Craig has a strong involvement in not only the business direction of The Third Degree, but in the active facilitation of webinars and support services for postgraduate research students. We thought it was about time we ask what makes him tick as an educator! How did you get into the academic life?   It was 1993. I was still a university student.   The previous year I had volunteered to be part of a Masters research project – five interviews across two semesters exploring my experience of University. I was younger than my peers, so I guess I made for an interesting case study. The researcher was also on staff at the University, in a learning support role.   Early in 1993 I got a telephone call from her; there was a very part time position available in the department to work on a project for international (Asian) students. She thought I’d be a great...

Pipped to the Post on Authorship Pole Position? Late last year, during a webinar on copyright issues, I was asked by one participant, when it comes to journals, should my supervisors name go first? They naturally assumed that it should, and that they would play second fiddle to the more experienced academic. But, that's not always (or even usually) the case. Academic authorship and pole position in a journal article, book chapter, or even a book is a hotly-contested topic, especially as it's both a perceived power-play with some, but also seen as an entitlement for others. The ethics of authorship alone can be a myriad of challenges.  From an academic standpoint, there are several scholarly articles circulating that give insights as to how to assign positioning in authorship. If we turn to the cartoon world, there are plenty of cute cartoons which wish to solve the same problem (although, doubt that they do). I picked up on the following narrative by Myers, George, and Green (o...

East & West | Differing Research(er) 'Styles'  Even in education, Asian and Western students have different approaches to their postgraduate studies. Whether it’s the number of working hours or the support from the community, each has their own beliefs and expectations when striving for excellence. Based on a mental health survey conducted on researchers, cultural background is commonly related to how each researcher approaches work-related stress. While Western researchers have the need to seek professional help, Asian researchers are viewed as more self-reliant.   So, is social support the primary difference between these researchers? Or does the research culture as a whole contribute to one’s well-being and output? How are you creating a positive work environment for your research?   Sneha Kulkarni compiled the key insights from this survey and discussed why a positive research environment should be better acknowledged. Do researchers in Asia and the West...

Bad Supervisors?  Where Is The Professional Accountability? Sorry, this is not a ground-breaking, thought-provoking analysis post, and not an all-out-bitchfest either; but a topic which continues to be raised day-after-day by research students - issues with Supervisors, and their apparent lack of professional accountability. It's simply a topic that still needs discussion (much like common sense, sadly). I know I am wading in to a very touchy subject; but truth is, this is one of the reasons I started The Third Degree - concerns over quality of supervision and the impact that has on research students progress. The supervision experience (for student, as well as supervisor) isn't exactly all  'strawberries and cream'; sometimes its 'sh1t and stones' too.  The need to both improve for some, and standardise for others, the supervision experience, is important. Be it enhanced training for supervisors, the increased adoption of student-supervisor contracts, or simply...