Several doctoral programs will begin hosting new student orientations in the coming weeks. In the School of Leadership and Education Sciences (SOLES) (at University of San Diego), we hosted our incoming doctoral student welcome orientation last week.
For newly enrolling doctoral students there may be some uncertainty about how to get acclimated to this new life as a student (especially if you're returning to the "student role" after several years outside of this role).
Students pursuing leadership related degree programs may feel particularly uncertain simply due to the interdisciplinary focus of most leadership programs. For example, how do you foster academic relationships with professors when your interests span several academic fields? What academic associations should you join? What kind of campus involvement/presence should you have as a doctoral student? What academic journals should you read/attempt to publish in? How do you get involved in research opportunities?
All of these are great questions, and definitely questions that, as a newly enrolled doctoral student, you should be thinking about (if you haven't already discovered the answers). I will attempt to provide some general advice to all you embarking on this journey... which will at times prove to be very challenging, and at times prove to be very rewarding. However, your advisor, dean, department chair, and current doctoral student peers should be able to fill you in on the specifics.
How do you foster academic relationships with professors when your interests span several academic fields? If there was one thing that all of us current doctoral students relayed to the incoming class at USD, it was: build relationships and social capital! It will be very important for you, as a student, to take the initiative to get to know the faculty in your program (beyond just your advisor).
Consider taking a course outside of your department. For example, if you're interested in leadership and communication, take a course in the communications department. Get to know some of the communications faculty members and what their research interests are. This will be very important when you begin to form your dissertation committee, especially if you plan to have members from outside of your department. So, get in there early.
What academic associations should you join? Since leadership is such an interdisciplinary area of study there will, no doubt, be individuals in your incoming class who have interests other than yours. For example, in SOLES, we have specializations in:
- Organizational leadership/consulting
- Nonprofit and philanthropic leadership
- K-12 education leadership
- Higher education leadership
- An individualized concentration
- Education: American Educational Research Association (AERA)
- Management: Academy of Management (AoM)
- Nonprofit Organizations: Association for Research on Nonprofit and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA)
- Sociology: American Sociological Association (ASA)
- Public Administration/Government: American Society for Public Administration (ASPA)
- Communication: American Communication Association (ACA)
- Psychology: American Psychological Association (APA)
2 comments:
The suggestions provided are on task. However, observation and experience have revealed that once newly doctoral learners graduate, graduates tend to "cling" to their perspective universities and cohort members instead of networking external of their universities. Networking extends beyond setting at social functions and not communicating and listening to presentations. Thus, several clients of my firm from diverse universities have been introduced to collaborate with one another while pursing their doctoral degree. The SRI, a division of AAN (both in the works),is presently being formed to encourage doctoral/Ph.D. candidates and graduates from various institutions to compose peer-reviewed articles together on popular topics.
Wow! Thanks for the comment VisionaryMentors! That is very true! A couple of years ago I was fortunate enough to go to the Institute for Teaching and Mentoring (hosted by the Compact for Faculty Diversity). This is a conference where PhD students of color (from all over the US... with diverse academic backgrounds) basically get together and network. Outside of this conference, though, I am unaware of any other conferences that have a similar focus. But, networking across disciplines/universities is VERY important! Thanks again for the great comment.
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