PhD Attrition and Success

One of the searches that bring people to my blog, again and again, is anything to do with PhDs and librarians and/or library science. I’ve written before about the pros and cons of getting a PhD and things to think about when considering a PhD program. I’m going to add a few more thoughts into the mix with a blog series on PhDs and librarians. Today, I’m going to talk about attrition rates and what it takes to get through a PhD program. (Note: Most of what I’m saying just as easily applies to an EdD. I’ll be talking a bit about PhDs vs. EdDs in a future post.)

Only 41% of doctoral students successfully complete their degree within 7 years.

Only 57% of doctoral students successfully complete their degree within 10 years. (That’s the typical max time you’re allowed to complete the degree.)

— Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) 2008, PhD Completion Project.

Consider these numbers seriously. Yes, you’ve always been academically successful before, you love to read, you’re a responsible student–guess what? Most doctoral candidates, including those who will remain ABD (“All But Dissertation”) for their lifetimes, are in the same boat. Graduate students, particularly those who have already successfully completed one graduate degree, have been bred to be academically successful. The PhD is a different animal from the master’s, particularly if you’re working full-time while completing it. In most cases it’s an exponential rise in length, rigor, and difficulty. If you embark on that journey, you will be faced with the possibility of defeat at some point. The fear of failure may be the only thing that gets you to not quit (that’s what moved me on more than once). You’ll have to fight and claw your way through it, sometimes. Take the time to absorb that, if that’s something you’re ready to face.

Now. To balance that, I must say that many librarians tend to sell themselves short. As a group, we’re often humble to a fault, don’t always celebrate our accomplishments, and probably don’t shout our value enough. So don’t talk yourself out of a PhD because of a false lack of confidence. Don’t assume you’ll fail, but look realistically at the determination and sacrifices it will take to succeed. Read blog posts and articles by grad students, think about what you want from a doctorate, and most of all talk to someone who’s been through it–preferably someone in a field similar to your interest and preferably someone still in the program (or a recent graduate). Here is a great post to read about what it will take to succeed: A Survival Guide to Starting and Finishing a PhD.

Here’s a bit about my experience.

It took me five years to get my PhD. That’s actually less than the six to seven years I’d anticipated, particularly surprising since I was working full-time for four of those years. Part of my speed is because I was fortunate to have an early idea related to my dissertation topic, and thus was reading for my literature review for four years.* Even then, earning my PhD was incredibly difficult. I’d already been in graduate school for eight consecutive years earning my master’s degrees. Coming home to homework for that many years was an exercise in discipline, delayed gratification, and an inactive social life. I read statistics textbooks at family gatherings. I put off travel. I gave up on art and just-for-fun reading for years. It strained my emotional and mental health to a nearly unsustainable point. (I should write a blog post about grad students and mental health, and how my learning community helped me survive.)

Still, getting through the coursework was the (relatively) easy part. The dissertation was something else again. I was fortunate to be able to work on my dissertation full-time, but even then it was difficult to constantly sustain all that effort. You have to plan, schedule, and execute the research itself while continually running into methodological issues, problems with the research questions, and having intense doubt about your work. All the while keeping up with the literature in that area and writing up what you’re doing. Then, once you actually have some data (hurrah!), crunching all the statistics, questioning your methods, looking up others, and re-crunching them. Then you spend a lot of time looking at that data. The euphoria of having results wears off once you realize you have to interpret it all and find some sort of meaning, and then write about it. And, well of course then there’s the experience of the dissertation defense itself.

But. Despite the battle it was at times, earning my PhD was one of the most intensely rewarding experiences of my life. I truly enjoyed both of my master’s degrees, but due to the nature of the disciplines, those degrees were more about acquiring knowledge than about constructing knowledge or solving problems. My doctoral coursework was full of debate and discussion and “ah-ha” moments that I hadn’t experienced since my undergraduate days. I bonded with classmates over our passion for higher education. There were huge amounts of reading, but it was fascinating. My brain was delighted to work so hard–it felt good, like an endorphin release from a good workout.

So. That was my experience. Talk to others, research graduate programs, and think early on about starting a support group with fellow classmates. Weigh the sacrifice and risk against the rewards. And best of luck, regardless of whether you enter a doctoral program or have enough sense to move on with your life! 🙂

Coming up in this blog post series:

• Reasons (for academic librarians) to get a doctorate
• Deciding the degree (PhD/EdD) and the field (Library science or…?)

Related (previous) posts:

• MLS, MA, PhD, EdD… Academic Librarians & Degrees
• To PhD or Not to PhD

*I highly recommend this strategy. Start your doctoral program with a potential topic in mind–it doesn’t have to be a research question, just a particular area of interest. Write each class assignment you can around that topic, keeping up with professional literature in that area. This is the grad student version of a faculty research plan.

More Tips to a Successful Defense

Related posts about PhDs, academic librarians, & research:

• To PhD or Not to PhD…
• MLS, MA, PhD, EdD… Academic Librarians & Degrees
• Disseminating Research (Academic Publishing)
• Research as a Conversation

The best advice I received about defending my dissertation came from my former classmate Baaska (now Dr. Anderson!). She told me not to think of the defense as an exam, but as valuable feedback about your research. She was right! Not only was my defense enjoyable and interesting, it underscored to me that my committee was interested in my research and cared about helping me make it the best it could be. This makes sense–most faculty not only care about their students’ success, they also want to ensure that you reflect well on the program. All the revisions they suggested made my dissertation a stronger document–it was less a “dissertation defense” and more a brainstorming editory session.

The second best advice I received was from my chair, who continually reminded me that perfectionism is the enemy of completion. Yes, it’s important to be prepared and have a solid document to send to your committee. But your dissertation will never be perfect, and waiting to get it “just right” before submitting it to your committee is a recipe for remaining ABD (all but dissertation). My advisor’s advice was to send it to committee, take their helpful suggestions, make copy edits the Graduate Reader suggests, and when you find mistakes along the way and it’s too late to change them? Note those edits and save them for when you turn the dissertation into presentations and/or publishable articles.

In my post on prepping for the dissertation defense, I forgot to add a key preparation: attending other students’ defenses. These are open to the public, so I suggest attending them as early and as often as you can. I wasn’t in the country enough to attend any this year, so I was glad I’d already attended two doctoral defenses and one proposal defense in my first few years as a doctoral student. Another great reason to attend these early in your program is getting an inside look at how different faculty members work together, giving you an idea of who works well together and who makes a great dissertation chair / advisor.

The best last-minute preparation I did was re-reading my dissertation. I read the whole thing once, and the results and discussion chapters twice in the last two days before my defense. This kept the results fresh in my mind, and alerted me to potential weak areas so that I could anticipate questions. I also reviewed my statistical analyses to keep my methodology fresh in my mind.

The second-best preparation was practicing my presentation. I had just twenty minutes to present, so I had to be brief. Practicing made the presentation smoother and more to the point–plus I could go on auto-pilot when I got a little nervous. I practiced it alone twice and presented it to my ever-patient husband four times. I almost never practice presentations more than once–I love presenting, but I hate listening to myself practice–but for this, I made an exception! It paid off–I was calm, and I got to enjoy the presentation because I was relaxed and prepared.

I ordered custom regalia from Josten’s, complete with the upgraded PhD blue velvet (ooo!), light blue piping for Education (aaah!), and perhaps most importantly, POCKETS. Now at future commencement ceremonies, I’ll have a place to hold my keys and my phone–pretty swanky stuff. I also can’t wait to get my graduation announcements–after three graduations with the standard school-issued kind (yawn), I wanted something more meaningful and creative. So I collaborated on a design with my friend Scott–we were in the art program together at Hardin-Simmons as wee undergrads, isn’t that cool? Now he has a letterpress company, check out his awesome portfolio at Red Circle Letterpress. I’ll post a photo when I have them in-hand, but for now all I’ll say is: there may be a tiara and star involved in the design.

In the meantime, I’ve been enjoying these super-fancy cards that the wondrous Phillips-Diaz clan sent me! I keep a few in my wallet–ostensibly to hand out as a business card, but honestly I just pull them out and look at them to remind myself that, yes, I AM A DOCTOR. This is going to take some getting used to…

My next assignment: during NaNoWriMo (national novel writing month) I’m writing a book chapter based on my dissertation (Scarecrow Press’s upcoming Leadership in Academic Libraries Today) and to crank out a novel that’s been percolating in my brain.

Posts about my doctoral journey:

• The Doctoral Experience Thus Far
• Backup Plan
• The Big “D” — Dissertation
• Focusing on the Focus Statement
• Method in the Madness… Writing About Methodology
• The Neverending Cycle of Edit
• A Dissertation Toolkit (the books that helped me finish!)
• The Five Stages of Proposal
• Proposing (Dissertation, not Marriage)
• Submitted for IRB Approval
• In Which I Obtain Results
• Formatting Data
• Lieutenant Commander Data Analysis
• Prepping for the Defense
• What’s Up, Doc?

What’s Up, Doc?

So it’s a week since my dissertation defense, and I’m happy to report that yes, I PASSED! *cheers, dancing, & celebratory Tex-Mex foods* The only reason I didn’t update this blog sooner is because my committee requested minor edits–and when you’re working with one week until the submittal deadline, minor edits mean a major amount of time! I just turned in my final dissertation copy and a bunch of forms to the Graduate School office, then paid my LAST FEES EVER in order to graduate. (We also ordered my regalia, which is a whole nerdy fun post in itself for later.) And that’s it–that means that I have officially GRADUATED–the commencement ceremony on December 14th is purely for the Pomp & Circumstance.

Seventeen years ago, I entered college as a wee freshman… all of seventeen years old. Half my life later, I’m finally leaving college. Spring 2013 will be the first long semester in which I haven’t been enrolled in college since Spring 1995.

Celebrations have been had, and continue to be had, and honestly will be ongoing through December 14th because, holy heckfire, this is a big deal. And yes, I did in fact wear the promised tiara after my successful defense–and for the entire weekend afterward. We got lots of questions about my sparkly headgear at theaters and restaurants–was it my birthday? was this a bachelorette party?–which was tons of fun.

And now the really important part. The text below is the acknowledgements page from my dissertation. You all have been fantastic throughout this process, thanks for letting me share my ups and downs here with you.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The EDHE faculty, my fellow classmates, and my amazing colleagues at the UNT Library have helped me to learn more in this process than I ever dreamed. Particular thanks to my major professor Dr. Cutright and his focus on “getting it done” rather than getting it perfect, and to my committee for the time and thought they have graciously provided. Huge thanks to my learning community partners Annie and Baaska, who pushed me to think more critically, produce more rigorous research, and with whom I had many a healthy session of stress-induced venting.

Tihleigh, you’re a cheerleader, a snarkily raised eyebrow, queen of geeks, a connoisseur of coffee, the ultimate networking maven, and one of the smartest people I know. I’m convinced someday you’ll reveal your secret identity as Oracle, but for now that’s a secret between you, me, and the three other people who will read this. Your penchant for connecting people and ideas has strengthened my research, and your support (and Runt’s) has meant worlds.

Claire, my Crumpet… you were my ninja apprentice, then my Fat Couch study-buddy and roomie, and you have become this amazing woman who made her dream get published. You bring joy and magic everywhere you go (yes, just like glittery unicornses). I have never been as productive as when we sat with mirrored laptops in my library, each typing with purpose. I am so grateful to have someone with which to discuss the joys of editing and fluid sentence structure. Thank you for being our framily—and for driving me to Sonic a billion times late at night for studying fuel.

Shout-outs to my long list of wonderful and supportive friends who encouraged me throughout this process, particularly those who shared the trials of grad school (Jaime, Amanda, Lilly, Julie, Velma). Amos Moses, my little sis, your hugs and understanding helped me get through this process with my sanity intact.

Sheepish thanks to my understanding in-laws and extended clan, all of whom have somehow agreed to remain on speaking terms with me, despite my continued pleas of “I have to get this studying finished” for the past twelve years and three degrees. Particular thanks to the educational pioneers in my family, Aunt Carol (Dr. Cockrum) and my cousin Victoria (Dr. Brockmeier, aka “Doc Brock”). You both inspired me, encouraged me, and showed me that I could do this.

Thank you to my parents, who instilled me with a healthy dose of self-efficacy, culture, and an appreciation for lifelong learning. Mom, you started my path to geekery with The Hobbit, Star Trek, and Star Wars: A New Hope, without which I wouldn’t be watching old Next Generation episodes to unwind after a day of “dissertationing.” You inspired me with your quest to complete your baccalaureate degree—I am so proud of you! Dad, you patiently explained how things work, always fueling my curiosity. Despite my protests at the time, I am grateful that you taught me independence by showing me how to change the oil and the tires on my car… so I have independently chosen satisfy my curiosity in academia, and pay someone else to do my car maintenance!

None of this would have been possible without the support, patience, and belief of my husband Alex, who knew more than I did that I needed this journey. He listened to my passionate nerdy dialogues about higher education, provided hugs whenever needed, stayed up late to talk to me across half the world and eight time zones, gave me the financial support to complete my dissertation fulltime, and never judged my once-a-semester meltdowns (a week before finals, like clockwork). Thank you for being my advocate, my travel partner, my get-a-grip friend, my love, my personal trainer, my best friend, and my fellow dreamer.

Prepping for the Defense

Thus far, this week has been a roller-coaster of emotions that could rival the Texas Giant. Calm confidence to nagging doubt to apathy to sheer terror… and back again, wheeee! Add this week to the previous four years of working at this degree, and now my husband could qualify for his own PhD in Spouse Assurance and Counseling.

In order to share this experience (whee!) and organize my own strategy, here’s a list of what I’m doing to prepare.

• Reviewing the Material
• Prepping for the Q & A
• The Presentation
• General Preparation

Reviewing the Material

Re-reading my own dissertation is, oddly, one of the hardest things I’m doing. Half the time I’m too nervous (or to attention-jumpy) to concentrate, which makes it go very slooowwwlyyy. Also, having lived with the first and second chapters in some form for about 9  months has made me completely and thoroughly sick of those chapters–I find my brain trying to edit for wordiness or simply to change up sentences I’ve read a fillion times. Well, Starr’s Brain, the time for edits is over–please concentrate on the content. Please. I’m begging you.

By contrast, reading chapters 4 (results) and 5 (discussion, implications, conclusions) is rewarding. It’s the outcome of my hard work–look, results! Results that mean things! Yay!

Prepping for the Q & A

Oh, the dreaded committee questions. You can’t predict what they’ll ask, but you can take a good stab at it (re-reading the dissertation and finding things that need editing certainly provides likely questions, arg). I also mined some great books on the dissertation process for common questions. And, as he did with my prep for the proposal defense, Alex will be asking some questions of his own after I practice my presentation for him.

Here are my key strategies for Q&A prep:

• Write a list of common Qs and Qs you think are likely (your proposal defense might help you anticipate even more of these)
• Write answersto each of these
  • keep them brief
  • stay focused on the main research questions–don’t bring up tangental data you gathered
  • don’t memorize the answers–use them as brain prompts
• Have a partner ask you each of these Qs (preferably a day or more after you wrote the answers)
  • have them listen for brevity–you may be talking more than you need to
  • have them assess how confident you sound
  • have them throw out some unexpected questions, so you can practice answering calmly on the spur of the moment
• When answering, mind these rules:
  • be calm, take the time you need to answer thoughtfully
  • be honest; if you don’t know an answer, say so (but calmly); if you forgot a reference, offer to look it up and send it to the committee after the defense
  • be respectful; don’t attack your committee or act defensively, even if you’re being baited or insulted (rare, but it can happen–though not with my awesome committee!)
• REMEMBER: 
  • it’s almost unheard-of to fail a defense based on your answer to a single question.
  • committee members ask Qs because they want to 1) get more information about something they didn’t understand, 2) make sure that you understand concepts in your dissertation, 3) judge your confidence as an independent researcher… and rarely 4) to show their own depth of knowledge.
  • take your time, and let committee members finish their questions (or lectures) before you continue. Why is this so important? Defenses typically aren’t scheduled for more than 2 hours, so the more you let them talk, the less talking you have to do. The less talking you do, the less likely you are to talk yourself into a problem. I repeat: LET THEM TALK.

The reason I practice answering questions isn’t to memorize my answers. It’s to practice how I answer: calmly, thoughtfully, confidently, without revealing any weaknesses in my study or my own knowledge. And it’s to get used to the idea of being on the uncomfortable end of the firing squad, which helps me in turn to remain calm. Yes, having my answers straight in my own mind ahead of time is important, but since I can’t predict what the committee will ask, it’s not the key preparation.

In fact, during my proposal defense there were few actual questions (shocker!) and more a litany of the tremendous amount of edits I needed to incorporate. (Ah, the fun of learning academic humility over and over again.) Rather than defending my document, my main job was to say, “Okay, let me be sure I’ve noted this correctly…” Since this is a dissertation defense, I expect there will be more defending and explaining my rationale, but just goes to show: you can’t ever predict the tone of your defense.

The Presentation

This is the least-anxious part for me, thanks to my academic librarian experience and having presented at umpteen conferences. Hooray for my day job paying off! I’m not saying it’s not going to be nerve-wracking, but at least PowerPoint slides and talking points are my comfort zone. I’ve got 20 minutes to focus primarily on my results and implications (since the committee got my intro, literature review, and method at the proposal defense).

I’ve got about 24 slides, and the first seven will be quick click-throughs to provide a review of the first three dissertation chapters, especially my method (and ensure that the audience attending my defense won’t be completely lost). Then I start with response rate and respondent demographics, and move on to the actual research question results from there. The hardest part is being concise.

I just finished my slides and speaking script yesterday, so today I’ll run through the presentation twice with Alex. First, I’ll wing it roughly without looking at the time (Alex will time me). This usually gives me a sense for what isn’t flowing well, and gives me a lot of edits to the speaking script. Alex also gives me feedback on my timing and mannerisms, and anything that didn’t flow or make sense for him. I tend to read a lot from my notes during the first read-through–my aim is to use the script as an occasional glancing reference for the actual presentation.

I give myself plenty of time between the first and second run-throughs. Alex will ask me the list of questions in the meantime, and then I’ll take a break (Big Bang Theory, anyone?). By the second proposal run-through, I felt confident. Since I have an extra day to prep for the dissertation defense, though, I’ll probably run through it again on Thursday.

General Preparation

I’m defending at noon, and I’ll probably be too nervous to eat much, if anything. Alex and I will bring water bottles for during the defense, and a few protein bars to give me a boost either just before or just afterward. (Or while the committee deliberates my future behind closed doors, if my stomach can take it.)

I’ve already planned what I’m wearing (SUPER-IMPORTANT, at least for me, heh heh). I’ll try it on and coordinate all my jewelry either today or tomorrow, so I don’t have to think about these BIG FASHION DECISIONS on Friday morning. Yes, which shoes I wear is a huge deal–I want to wear something with a heel because I feel more confident when I feel, ahem, “tall.” (Yes, 5’3″ is tall for me–hey, if it’s a psychological boost I don’t fight it, I work it!) But then, comfort is important, too–I don’t want to be in pain or fidget during my 20-minute preso.

I’ll print my handouts (4 copies for committee members, 1 for me, and about 10 for my anticipated audience) either this afternoon or tomorrow morning. I’m doing 2 slides per handout page, printing front and back (black and white), and adding a page that defines the 6 “preparation methods” I surveyed on, and another page listing the theoretical construct for my study. My goal is to make it easy for my committee to refer to key pieces of information on my study.

For myself, I’m also printing:

• a full copy of my dissertation (I debated using my iPad, but Technology Can And Will Fail in these crucial moments)
• for the same reasoning: my presentation slides, one slide per page–I can present without power, if necessary!
• table showing my research Qs, primary variables, and data analysis for each (a method cheat-sheet)

Aaaand I’m hoping there’s time Thursday for a detour to Party City to buy a glitzy fun tiara. I promised I’d wear something fun, ridiculous, and celebratory to all post-defense activities on Friday (heck, possibly for the next two months!), and a tiara was the resounding vote.

And now I need to get my currently-apathetic-self off of WordPress and run through that preso for the first time. *grumbles incoherently* 

The Home Stretch (Dissertation)

I have a million half-written blog posts (both drafts in WordPress, and notes in my mind). I have a billion emails to answer. I don’t think I’ve spoken with my poor parents, other family members, or friends on Skype in… I don’t want to think about how long. But in the words of Robert Frost, “But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep.”

I promise, I’m alive and kicking. I love and miss you all. I will return to my regularly-scheduled life. But first: I have to push through my final dissertation draft edits, and submit it to my committee. (Then I get three weeks of waiting around and biting my nails–er, I mean preparing my presentation–before my dissertation defense on October 19th.)

In the meantime, I leave you with a list of things that have fueled my dissertation:

• Sharpie gel highlighters
• a highly nerdy and unhealthy curiosity about everything (this both spurred me to get a PhD and causes me to neglect my dissertationing due to internet-related distractions)
• coffee
• the patience, love, and understanding of my best-friend-husband
• music (including but not limited to: Feist, Infected Mushrooms, David Guetta, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Collective Soul, and CAKE)
• the patience, love, and understanding of my family and friends (and their willingness to have relationships with me thru email, Facebook, and Twitter!)
• UNT Library‘s awesome distance-learner services & online resources
• my truly awesome major prof, Dr. C. (and his sense of humor!)
• repeated viewings of Star Trek: TNG & Friends (as decompression, as comfort, as background noise)
• my trusty laptop (and in airports and hotels, my iPhone and iPad)
• a large helping of self-efficacy thanks to my parents
• BOOKS. soooo many books!
• graphing-paper notebooks, mechanical pencils, and rainbow-colored pens
• numerous colors, sizes, & styles of post-it notes (primarily as bookmarks for the umpteen-kajillion books and articles I’ve referred to)

And there you have it. Just add water, a few years of courses, several student loans, and minus a few braincells, and *POOF!*: dissertation. (Or… something like that.)

Also, I’m taking suggestions as to celebratory head-gear after a (PLEASEOHPLEASEOHPLEASE) successful (*crosses fingers, prays, tosses salt over shoulder, knocks on wood, etc.*) dissertation defense. Thoughts? I was originally thinking a purple glittery cardboard crown with “Princess, PhD” written on it in silver (and RHINESTONES!!1!), but then I saw these inflatable unicorn horns… and these caps (PhDiva, anyone?)… or I could take a traditional doctoral tam & Bedazzle it… Please, comment below and/or take bets on what I’ll wear!