E-Book Overview
Increasing numbers of adults are enroling in doctoral programmes, but their earlier college lives often do not prepare them for the rules of the academic game. Many have no idea what a dissertation looks like, how it gets that way, or what options are available to them.This book is a practical guide for students who need help in progressing from the decision to write a dissertation to the planning, writing and defending of it. It includes samples of proposals and dissertations that have been accepted and data drawn from a number of sources, including focus groups with doctoral students and graduates and responses to an open-ended questionnaire from doctoral students across the United States.
E-Book Content
Preface
For the past twenty-five years I have been working with doctoral students, guiding their evolution to doctoral recipients. During the time we work together, I become intensely conscious of their need to understand the culture of the university as it impacts on their progress. Concurrently, they need to be receptive to engaging in a transformative, life-changing experience, the essence of learning. As I recall my own days as a doctoral student, I remember being at a total loss to understand what was happening to me. I have discovered this is not unique. Most have no idea what a dissertation looks like or how it evolves. While most doctoral students expect to draw on their earlier collegiate experiences, nothing in the academic world prepares them for the complexity and intensity inherent in the doctoral process. I have identified the crucial issues to include in Writing Your Dissertation: Invisible Rules for Success from multiple sources: • my experience in guiding more than seventy-five doctoral dissertations to completion; • more than 200 anonymous responses by doctoral students and graduates to open-ended questionnaires; • focus groups with doctoral students and graduates; and • informal conversations with current doctoral students and graduates, including some of whom teach in doctoral programs across the nation. Increasing numbers of adults are receiving doctoral degrees (Magner, 1999), but it is a culture in which most admit a lack of knowledge of the rules. They frequently search for explicit information about what this complex, highly interactive, academic, social, and political process involves. Access to knowledgeable sources of information is limited, yet essential for emotional and intellectual survival. This book serves as a practical guide for students to progress in planning, writing, and defending their dissertations. When students seek to understand the rules of the program, they are frequently referred to the university Bulletin or told to see their advisor. There is little explicit documentation of what occurs in a doctoral program. What is particularly missing from these sources is information about the human xi
Preface
element, the social interactions which are the hallmark of doctoral programs, and probably the most problematic for most doctoral students. Recognizing the need to address this gap, I have developed a comprehensive guide to many dimensions of the doctoral process, particularly focusing on the writing of the doctoral dissertation. While the primary goal in writing this book is to help current doctoral students to survive and flourish in their programs, I have also become aware of the need to consider major reforms in the doctoral process. This has been supported by recent publications (e.g.: Kennedy, 1997; Lovitts, 1996; Menand, 1996; Olson and Drew, 1998). For current enrollees, survival is probably the key issue, but from a long-term perspective, I think we in the academic world need to reflect on what is expected of students, and find ways to create more supportive settings for students and the academic communityat-large. While the primary audience for Writi