Saturday I attended a dissertation writing workshop and I thought it was pretty helpful. That might be because I haven't started writing my dissertation, but whatever, I'll share anyway. In general the woman leading the workshop was very encouraging. She mentioned impostor syndrome, pointed out that people who get to the dissertation stage have had a whole series of successes, and so should avoid negative beliefs about themselves. Basically, don't attribute problems to anything about your own value as a person or an academic.
Time Management
1. Time management strategies usually focus on getting organized enough to do everything you want to do. This doesn't work because there just isn't enough time to do everything you would like to do. Accept this and prioritize.
2. Academics have too many interests. This is good because all those interests grow into new projects, new teaching techniques, new grants, but it makes it easy for academics to get distracted. People outside of academia don't have many interests. (This part I disagree with, but I can see how statistically this could be true.)
3. Manage your guilt: Often we can't sit down to complete one project because it generates guilt about other projects/tasks that you should be working on. This is often framed as commitment or assertiveness issues. But it's normal to have trouble when you are deciding between two things you might actually want to do. This is not a reason to doubt your commitment or ability to choose.
4. Remember the 80/20 rule. Focus your efforts on small amounts of time, but use those times to work effectively.
Planning
1. Plan separately, plan briefly, and plan for starting (don't try to plan comprehensively because your work won't go exactly as you plan anyway.)
2. Plan for 45 minute units-she had a long explanation for this. Basically even though it may feel like you are just getting into a groove after 45 minutes, your productivity will actually be going down. Apparently your focus and attention can still be increasing but your actual cognitive abilities are slowing down at that point. This led her to all sorts of interesting observations about how her writing clients get into trouble when they have too much time available. She said she never worries about clients who claim they are busy, have kid, or other obligations.
3. Plan for the number of hours per week you will work(more hours isn't better, prioritize your tasks.)
4. Plan for your dissertation work week. When will the week start? When will your day off be? How much time will you work each day?
5. Plan for time off, preferably a whole day off. Do something restorative. The number one restorative thing you can do is spend time in nature. Other options include exercise, art, or reading for pleasure. If you can't take a whole day off, do something extravagant.
6. Plan a cutoff time for your dissertation work each day. This makes sure you don't lose touch with reality. It confronts the feeling that you are always working and at the same time never getting anything done. It will gradually move you towards starting earlier because you will know that there is a real stop time and so be more likely to get started in a timely fashion.
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Dissertation Tips, Part 1
Sunday, February 04, 2007
Up to my neck in grading
Saturday I spent the morning at a local trade conference and the afternoon at a dissertation writing workshop. The writing workshop was actually very good and maybe I'll blog some of the advice here later. But all this meant that I got no grading done and the papers need to be turned back by Tuesday. It's really difficult to read 20 essays and think of original comments when they all have the same general problems. 20 more tomorrow and I'll be done.
Why is grading so unpleasant? Do some people like grading? Does the fact that I find it so unpleasant mean that I'm not meant to be a professor? If the students were different in some way would it be more fun? If I were different would it be more fun?
Now I have to sleep.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
What makes a good disseration advisor?
Profgrrrrl posted today with a dilemma about how to work with a slacking student. I tend to agree with her commenters that most of the responsibility for project management should belong to the student. I have been struggling with this lately because my thesis project is closely tied to my adviser's ongoing research. I asked to work on this project because I wanted to learn more about how to setup and run as social science research project. I didn't feel ready to tackle the big project I had in mind for my dissertation. Now I find that the project is so cooperative that I can't move ahead because I'm waiting for others to do their parts. Oh how I long for a project that really feels like my own.
I'm planning to change my focus somewhat for my dissertation (if I move ahead with it). Here are my ideas so far about what I need from my adviser.
I will handle most of the project management stuff, but I might need to ask some questions while setting all of this up.
My adviser will be willing to give me direction on project management when I ask for it.
My adviser will respond in a relatively timely fashion to my writings and contributes feedback and comments on substantive issues.
Are academic bloggers more cynical than other academics?
This morning one of my professors said "Watch out about listening to academic bloggers, they are probably people who have had negative experiences, so they might not be the best people to be getting advice from."
This came up because for whatever reason the six other people in my class can never get there on time and so I was making conversation with him. He mentioned that he was hosting a job candidate and that the candidates had to give two separate talks, one for the department (there were several possibilities) and one for the major. Joint appointments complicate job searches because you have to be approved by two (or more) different disciplines, and being interdisciplinary, I'm concerned about this process.
I mentioned something how I'm always trying to understand these processes in order to maximize my chances. Then I revealed that I read academic blogs and he responded that maybe bloggers weren't the best people to listen to.
Are bloggers more disgruntled than others? I'm probably the most disgruntled blogger that I know, but in general I haven't found people to be less successful or more dissatisfied than the people I know in RL.
Respect and Privilege
This weekend a male friend of mine commented about things he doesn't like about women. Now he was talking to three women who are is good friends, so I think he felt safe to express his feelings.
We were walking along a trail near his house and he commented that it really bothers him when women assume that a man alone might be a threat. He wants women to be OK with looking him in the eye and saying hello. I explained to him that women are conditioned to think of themselves as victims and to be mistrustful of strange men. It would be logical if women where a little more confident and men were a little more scared because men are frequently crime victims as well, but things get twisted around in the cultural washing machine.
Then he went on to his second theory, that the reason women don't get ahead more in business is that they don't look people in the eye and give them a confident handshake. The problem with this theory is that even when women do those things they aren't treated in the same way as men. Women who are confident and outspoken are labeled bitches. Where can we point the finger of blame? Can young female professors be blamed for acting uptight when they are constantly challenged and disrespected in ways that male faculty never are? Are women in business treated differently because they act differently or do they act differently because they are treated differently?
I love my friend, but can you say "white male privilege?"
Thursday, January 25, 2007
work, work, work
Nothing important to report, just being a good grad student, nose to the grind stone and all that. Putting your nose to the grind stone sounds like it should hurt. Right now I'm avoiding writing a wiki post for my class. I'm finding that the normal requirements of classes are irritating to me, even when it's a topic that is interesting to me. I tend to feel resentful when I have to read and write about stuff that relates more to the professor's own book/dissertation than my own. (Not very realistic, I know.) If the class focuses too much on the professor's own research I tend to feel like they are coasting on presentations that they have done a thousand times, rather than really putting an effort into thinking about what would help the students learn. I guess I have the doctor who isn't a good patient syndrome. (Ok, I'm not a doctor yet, but I do have a lot of teaching experience.) When my work schedule is so heavy anything that doesn't directly relate seems irrelevant. I know I have to get over this because I will probably miss out on some really important learning experiences if I get too closed minded.
I'm working on campus 30 hrs a week this quarter. Truthfully my jobs might not take up all that time every week, but some weeks they will. If I'm enrolled in 12 units of classes and research and those units are supposed to involve 2-3 hours of outside work for every "class" hour, that would add up to another 36-48 hours a week. Realistically most weeks I have to spend some time running errands and doing paperwork in order to get my degree. Could anyone really keep up with these calculated commitments? I usually "work" 12 hours a day on weekdays, trying to not work after 9PM or before 9AM, but as I said some of that time involves errands, travel, eating lunch while reading, etc. I probably don't do more than 5-10 hours of work each weekend. So by my calculations I'm officially supposed to be working 66-78 hrs each week and I'm really only working 55-60 hrs. No wonder I have impostor syndrome.
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Professionalization
As I mentioned earlier, I need to decide whether I want to pursue a PhD or get out while the getting is good. At the moment I'm kind of obsessed, so what do I do? Research!
Flavia's post discussing her transition into a tenure track position led me to a google search on "grad school infantilization," which led to some very interesting resources for grad students in search of advice.
Jonathan Sterne's site has a whole series of articles related to navigating graduate school and an academic job search.
"Over The Hoops And Through The Hurdles" by Pamela Oliver, of U. of Wisconsin, is subtitled "Surviving the Graduate Program in Sociology at the University of Wisconsin," but contains many excellent tips for grad students in other programs.
" I believe the reason graduate school is fundamentally unpleasant is that it entails inherently self-contradictory demands. Structurally, it is school, it is infantilizing. You are structurally a child, and adult teachers are ordering you around. I went straight through school, and when I hit graduate school at age 21, I was already too old to appreciate being treated like a child (Many of the people who work for a while before coming back to school find the infantilization even more intolerable, although others find that work experiences make them more motivated and tolerant of the structure of grad school. It probably depends on how bad your job was.)"
My job before returning to grad school involved little pay or respect, but a significant amount of responsibility and independence. I returned to graduate school because I wanted to be respected for my knowledge and experience. (I know, what was I thinking?) I also spent 8+ years struggling to learn how to teach well and so was not impressed with many faculty members lack of pedagogical knowledge.
To the rescue comes Dr. Virago with "To professionalize or not to professionalize." What's funny is that I didn't even know that "professionalization" was what I wanted. At least there are some other people out there that think it's not crazy to want to plan ahead if I'm going to invest numerous years in an academic career. It seems that professionalization isn't on the radar of most faculty member here at Big Ag U. I have been taking classes, writing papers, and getting A's, but I still have no clue what my professors think of my writing and ideas. If they gave me some real criticism, I would at least know that they were taking me seriously. I understand that grad students are supposed to be self directed, but the occasional discussion of how to get through the process wouldn't take that much time and would be amazingly helpful. Maybe that is part of the "game" here at Big Ag U., you have to figure out how to get through the process even though no one will give you a straight answer about how. It also worries me how few grad students from our program are presenting at the upcoming national conference, which is taking place within driving distance of the U. this year.
All this reading has inspired me to get moving on my grad student networking plan. Here are the things I need to discuss with other grad students: identifying helpful/relevant committee members, writing, getting funding, publishing, presenting at conferences, and on and on. Now I just have to lure some supportive/friendly/available students in with refreshments and/or entertainment.
