Jul 25 2012
Dissertation Work = Managing others somewhat?
This summer has been going by so quickly, with the unusually hot weather and ample work to be done. My dissertation proposal/research things are going. A new aspect I’ve telling people about is there is more management and organization of my committee from my end.
Professors, as we all know, are typically overworked and overcommitted. This makes getting my work done a bit more difficult, because it really isn’t their #1 priority. I’m not saying they don’t want me to be successful but something has to give eventually. I also tend to be more independent and not as aggressive with getting help, so I think it’s even easier for me to fall off their radars. From my current epiphany, I realized that I need to take more control over my situation and managing, per se, my de facto committee. This means reminding them of things and trying to develop a way in which we can be organized and not have to keep repeating information.
For myself, this is a little difficult. For my part-time job, I thought it was difficult managing people who are essentially my age or a teensy bit older. However, I feel like we’re on the same level. To try to “manage” my committee is a bit more intimidating. They’re significantly older and obviously have more prestige/rank than I; I also look very young (I am mistaken as a high school student quite frequently).
The only way I can gather to do things is to be forward but polite. Thus far (I’ve only been using this approach for a week), it seems effective.
I’ve had to do that too when it came to my thesis. My experience is that professors like it when you hand solutions to your own problems, because then they only have to carry out what you ask them to do, instead of help you find a solution. And being polite always helps.
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Aleksie Reply:
July 31st, 2012 at 2:22 pm
That makes me feel better; one thing I’ve observed with grad school is it’s difficult to determine if it’s you/someone else/nature of the system.
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