Objectives:
- Clarify how advisors think of Ph.D. student development – what do they value in the early years of the Ph.D?
- Humanize the advisor’s perspective through discussion of imposter phenomenon of faculty
- Make explicit the non-linear “failure”-filled path faculty took to success.
Pre-class work
- Review Section 2 of How to make the most of your Ph.D.. Answer:
- Are there any expectations that your advisor has communicated to you that aren’t on this list?
- What is one advisor expectation that you’ve improved on so far? What strategy helped you meet this expectation?
- What is one advisor expectation that you want to improve in? What is your current strategy for this expectation?
- Read What triggers imposter phenomenon among academic faculty? A critical incident study exploring antecedents, coping, and development opportunities
- On page 3, the authors state: “Rather than exploring imposter phenomenon as an experience to be avoided, we posit it as a formative part of career learning and development that shapes how faculty develop their professional identity.” Do you agree or disagree with this statement, and why?
- According to the findings, what is at least one way in which imposter phenomenon is experienced differently (e.g. triggered, perceived, coped with) among faculty with different identities?
- What questions would you like to ask the faculty? (theme: their experience as Ph.D. students, their experience as faculty, their expectations of their Ph.D. students).
In class
- [10min] Socialize
- [20min] Discussion of pre-class reading:
- Were you surprised that faculty experience such high rates of importer phenomenon?
- The paper argued that faculty’s identities (e.g. race, gender, etc.) impacted how they dealt and experienced imposter phenomenon – do you agree/disagree with their characterization?
- What were your takeaways?
- Remainder of class: panel discussion
- [5min] Answer in-class survey:
- What is one thing you took away from class today?
Question Bank
- Expectations:
- What are your expectations for students in their first year?
- Do you think of the Ph.D. as a job? Why or why not?
- What makes a successful Ph.D. student? How do we get there?
- How do you gauge whether your student is moving at a reasonable pace?
- Advice about research:
- What are your tips for developing greater research maturity and ability to lead research projects?
- How do you start collaborations with colleagues on spontaneous research topics of interest?
- How do you know when you should give up on a project?
- At what point do you feel like a student has accomplished/done enough to graduate? How does this factor in with the student’s personal goals (going to industry or academia)?
- Student advising styles:
- How do you connect with students who you suspect might be experiencing imposter phenomenon?
- What kind of relationship do you expect with a student you are mentoring? How do you approach topics on career advice, identity issues, day-to-day issues?
- How have/would you approach conversations where your student is considering dropping out?
- What is an expectation that your advisor had (or didn’t have) of you when you were a Ph.D. student that impacted the way you advise your students now?
- Life after the Ph.D.:
- When you were a graduate student, were you worried about your academic job prospects?
- What is the most important thing to take away from your time as a Ph.D. student?
- How did your doubts about yourself during your Ph.D. change when you were a faculty?
- How have you navigated the pressure or tension between growing in your career as a faculty member at Harvard and trying to correct some of the systemic issues in academia affecting individuals of minoritized backgrounds/identities?
- What is a key difference that you feel is most significant and influential to your life between being a Ph.D. student and being a faculty member?
- Did you consider going to industry instead of staying in academia? Why or why not? What made you ultimately decide to stay in academia?
- How do you balance research and life? What do you do for fun?
- Faculty experiences during Ph.D.:
- Do you/did you use social media/academic Twitter? Why or why not?
- What is one thing you wish you knew when you started your Ph.D.?
- If you were a first-gen, low-income student, how did you justify taking a path that seems so difficult and financially risky, especially when the tech industry seems so stable and lucrative? How did you justify this path with all the other financial and personal obligations you might have?
- What, if anything, do you regret most during your time as a Ph.D. student?
- What are unwritten rules about the Ph.D. that you wish didn’t exist?
- How do you find the pressures affecting you as a Ph.D. student are different than those of our generation? How are they the same?