Ask Doctoral Advising

All of us take different paths to the choice of our dissertation topic.  Mine began early.  I share this journey as food for thought for blog readers who are just beginning their programs and do not have a clue what they will research when the time comes.  Others already well into their programs may gain some insight from this tale as well.  Whether a light bulb goes on for you or you merely find this story an affirmation of your own journey, I hope you enjoy it.

In 1983, I enrolled in an M.S. program at a state university known for its excellence in teacher education.  My degree program, Information Media, was often called Human Resource Development or Training and Development.  This field fascinated me and I was eager to learn as much as I could about teaching adults.  What prompted me to pursue this particular program was my curiosity about adult students who were in my classes at the community and technical college where I taught, and the differences between them and the younger students began to emerge early in my first quarter of teaching.  Earlier, as I finished my coursework for my vocational license, I was briefly introduced to adult learning theories; however, I wanted more, as I was truly able to relate the experiences I was having in the classroom with what I was learning about adults and how their learning approach differs from younger students.

In my first HRD course in the fall of 1982, I encountered the work of Malcolm Knowles.  The hook had been “cast and set.”  The more I learned about adult learners, the more I wanted to know.  One day I casually mentioned to my instructor who, by that time I had begun to know pretty well, that I should pursue a doctorate in adult education following the completion of my M.S.  Ruminating aloud, I offered that it would probably take until 1990 for me to complete doctoral studies and I would be 45 years old! He countered: “And how old will you be in 1990 if you don’t pursue the doctorate?”  What could I say?  He had me.  From then on, my path was set.

Beginning in 1985 when I took my first doctoral course, I began considering topics for my dissertation.  Why so early?  Again, a wonderful professor who took an interest in the papers I was writing about my experiences with adult learners and the problems they faced when they returned to school inspired me.  A path for me began to emerge.

By the time my coursework and preliminary exams were completed, I had a solid direction for my topic and was able to go right to work on it.  While I cannot say that it went smoothly, nor did I expect that it would, it only took three years.  Now, working with Capella learners, I occasionally encounter a new learner who is convinced that the dissertation is nothing more than a long research paper and can be accomplished in a couple of quarters.  Even the process at Capella, with its improvement over the traditionally slow processes surrounding dissertation, is still very rigorous and demands the highest levels of scholarship.  It takes TIME and MONEY to complete a doctorate.  These factors have not changed much since I was in my program.  While I was determined to complete my program as quickly as possible, it still took five years.  I had peers who spent five years, even longer, on the dissertation alone.

The bottom line: I find it interesting that my dissertation research found that TIME and MONEY were the two most significant barriers adults faced while pursuing education.  As the old saying goes, the more things change, the more they seem to stay the same.