Ask Doctoral Advising

Seventh doctoral commandment: ask questions

An advisee who felt he had not accomplished anything during his first quarter in dissertation recently sent me an email to complain about it. The advisee told me that he had gotten feedback twice during the quarter from his mentor, and each time the advisee had responded to the feedback by making quick corrections and turning the work around within hours.

Basically my advisee wanted to know, “Is That All There Is?” to the dissertation. (Cue Peggy Lee.)  He did not feel that he had worked very hard. I agreed with him; he had not worked very hard. It appeared that his mentor had done more work so far on the advisee’s dissertation than the advisee had. READ MORE

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Let’s Get Personal

Perhaps one of the most difficult pieces of being an adult and in a doctoral program is being an adult in a doctoral program, yes?  Oh for the life of a traditional-aged school experience, where, for most, life’s responsibilities were limited in comparison.  Today, you’re older, wiser, and steeped with professional and personal responsibilities.  And some how, you reached the conclusion that despite those responsibilities, there was still room to add the demands of a doctoral program.  Fairly incredible if you think about it. 

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Fear Factor: Job Search Edition

Here’s what I’ve decided: job searching freaks most people out. Rare is the person who hears terms like “job search,” “resume writing,” or “networking,”  and thinks, “Great! What fun!” Most people conceal this fear and anxiety pretty well, but the it’s there, regardless of how good they are at masking it, ignoring it, or joking about it. 

Why the fear?
Job search anxiety has a lot of sources. For some people, the discomfort is due to a feeling of incompetence – they don’t feel like they know how to effectively search for open positions or write a resume or interview well. Other people are overwhelmed by the sheer amount of work involved in executing a job search. They’re afraid they’ll put forth a lot of effort that won’t yield results. Others feel like they don’t have any marketable skills, and worry that a job search will confirm these suspicions. Many people are afraid of failure or rejection, both of which are part of most job searches. Finally, some job seekers feel hopeless in the face of a poor economy, which leads to fears about not being able to provide for themselves or their family. READ MORE

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Organization Learning, Individual Learning, and the Doctoral Purpose

Have you ever stopped to think about how your contribution fits into your organization’s learning?  Admittedly, until recently, I hadn’t.  I suppose when you are surrounded by many, many, MANY bright and talented people, you easily forget an organization is learning too.  And that can be frustrating, can’t it? 

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Sixth doctoral commandment: learn from the feedback

Too often (and once is too often) I see learners who become quite upset over the feedback they receive on their comprehensive exams or their dissertation chapters. Those learners do have a choice: they can choose to ignore the feedback and make the process more difficult, or they can learn from the feedback (even embrace the feedback) and improve their writing skills.

I have told more than one advisee to grow a thicker skin and to change their attitude about the feedback. We can all improve our writing – no matter how well we write. Writing comprehensive exams and dissertations requires everyone to step up their level of writing. Everyone gets feedback on their comps and their dissertation chapters. The question is what do they do with that feedback? Do they acknowledge that the feedback is a fair comment on their writing or do they become defensive and refuse to accept the suggestions offered for improvement? READ MORE

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Building a Library for Your Future Success

A learner recently asked me what he should do with his books after each course: should he keep them or sell them? READ MORE

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Dissertation Committee Nomination Made Easy (Well…Easier)

Often, a learner will express frustration with the committee nomination process, which can be daunting for a number of reasons, not the least of which is persistence when one receives rejection after rejection.

One day, it dawned on me that an organized approach might make the task a bit simpler.  Now I tell my advisees to follow this plan when READ MORE

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Set Your Career Resolutions for the New Year!

After watching unemployment top 10% in November, many people are more than ready to say good-bye to 2009.  Even if you are part of the 90% who remained employed this year, the ongoing bad news about the economy may have prompted you to spend some time thinking about what you would do if you lost your job, or what you could do to feel more secure in your current position. 

As we head into 2010, now is a perfect time to take action and make some career development resolutions.  To help you to get started, the Career Counselors in Capella’s Career Center suggest giving some thought to the following career development activities.

Nourish your network
Commit to reconnecting with your network of contacts, and to developing new professional relationships.  Make some phone calls, set some lunch dates with former colleagues, and consider doing some informational interviews with experienced professionals in careers of interest to you. Increase your involvement with your professional association. If you’re not a member of any professional associations, determine which associations are most relevant, and join the local chapters. Check the dates of upcoming conferences and workshops for your professional associations and mark them on your calendar.  Volunteer for one of the association’s committees as a way of developing relationships with other members. Consider submitting a presentation proposal.  Presenting at conferences is one way to increase your exposure and establish your expertise in your field.  Use online social networking tools like LinkedIn to build your network and share your expertise with others who may be new to the field.  Join Capella’s LinkedIn user group to connect with thousands of other learners, alumni, staff, and faculty. READ MORE

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Learners on the Doctoral Journey: Understanding and Managing Fear

While engaged in learning, individuals experience a wide range of emotions: joy, delight, interest, wonder, disappointment, frustration and fear. While all emotions need to be managed, fear may be the most significant barrier to adults realizing their full learning potential. In a series of blog posts, Lori shares information—and asks you to offer insights and strategies—to understanding and successfully managing fear that may occur throughout the doctoral journey. Acknowledging that fear exists is key to making peace with it. Her goal is to provide a medium for us to share our perspectives on learner fear and liberate ourselves in doing so.

This blog topic may be of interest to all learners who occasionally experience self-doubt and fear about their ability to achieve the doctoral degree.

 By the end of this series of blog posts on learner fear, you will be able to:

• Identify at least one non-productive fear that you may be experiencing

• Know the impact of fear on your learning

• Understand the sources of learner fear

• Develop strategies for better managing fear so that goal achievement is more efficient and certain.

 Last month we examined the sources of learner fear. This month, we will explore strategies to mitigate it.

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December 31, 2010

It is always at this time of year we stop and reflect on what has occurred in our lives over the past 12 months.  What have we accomplished?  What would we have done differently?  This is the time that we resolve ourselves to make the changes that will bring our goals closer to us in the upcoming year.  I am no different than most – I spent 2009 wanting to achieve many things.  I hit some goals and missed many others, so my focus is now on the new year.  My New Year’s Resolution is going to be a bit different this year, however…

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