Faculty offer clues to clearing the 'all-but-dissertation' hurdle

Careful planning and constructive thinking can help students avoid dissertation procrastination.

By Jamie Chamberlin
Monitor staff

Many faculty wince when they spot one of their brightest former students who is still struggling with his or her dissertation--after six, seven or even eight years. And those students--known as "all-but-dissertation" students--are discouraged themselves. They have invested ample time and money in their graduate training and are simply treading water until they finish their dissertations.

In most such cases, delusions about being able to write the perfect dissertation, frustrations over suggested revisions and running out of money before they finish have caused students to procrastinate. But such factors don't have to be major hurdles if students plan ahead and learn to think about their dissertation differently, say faculty and recent doctoral graduates.

Those who have survived the dissertation process offer these tips to students to help them prepare for their biggest research project to date, calm their anxieties and stay focused until their dissertation is completed:

* Start early. The time for students to begin planning their dissertations is the first year of graduate school. They can get hands-on experience by getting involved with research projects and forming relationships with faculty. Through such contacts, they'll start gathering topic ideas and developing the support system they'll need at the dissertation stage.

* Be honest with yourself. Before diving into a dissertation project, students should assess whether they are ready for the challenge. Often students need to take a statistics refresher course or polish their writing skills before they start. Psychologists John Cone and Sharon Foster suggest taking stock with the "Research readiness checklist" asking such questions as "Have you taken two or more graduate-level statistics courses within the past three years?, "Do you have at least 20 hours a week to spend on the project?" and "Have you been involved in empirical research as a graduate student?" to highlight areas where students may need more work. (The full checklist appears in Cone's and Foster's book "Dissertations and Theses from Start to Finish," APA Books, 1993.)

* Prepare a budget. A dissertation is a major financial responsibility, so developing a budget and exploring funding options early is essential, say faculty and recent doctorates. Students must plan for research costs, travel costs and unexpected expenses such as replacing broken equipment. And they need to figure out how they will support themselves while they're immersed in their work, budgeting for food, rent and other necessities. Many universities offer dissertation grants and fellowships to their students, and government agencies and private foundations offer national grants and fellowships of all types and sizes (see chart).

* If necessary, apply for financial aid. Decisions about financial support will likely affect how long it takes a student to finish his or her dissertation, say faculty. While some students hope to get a job to help support them during their dissertation, most faculty warn against taking a faculty position or other full-time job because it can create more time conflicts.

"Being an assistant professor is hard enough already...students get caught up in the demands of the situation and they get farther and farther from their dissertation and it gets harder and harder to go back," says Jacquelynne Eccles, PhD, professor of psychology at the University of Michigan.

Also, keep in mind that when students leave a university before finishing their dissertations, they lose their support systems and their priority in the minds of their professors, says Daniel Wegner, PhD, professor of psychology at the University of Virginia. If you've secured a faculty position but have not yet finished your dissertation, a better option is to contact the university and delay your hire for a semester, says Eccles. "If you don't have funding, it's maybe a good year to borrow money and finish up," she says.

* Avoid internships, as well. Trying to complete a dissertation during an internship is also difficult, says Edward Bourg, PhD, professor of psychology and director of professional training at California School of Professional Psychology (CSPP). CSPP redesigned its training programs to ensure that students have a strong start on their dissertation before their internship. Too many students were getting absorbed in their internship work and letting their dissertation gather dust, he says.

"If a student has to choose between figuring out how to help a client who is suicidal, or working on their dissertation, they are going to choose to help their client," he says.

* Pick the right help. Selecting a chair and a dissertation committee is another area where careful planning is crucial.

"The chair holds a lot of the power over the student's ability to successfully complete their dissertation," says Cory Fitzpatrick, a fourth-year graduate student at CSPP who was careful to pick a chair who was supportive, not controlling. For example, a chair may be the principal investigator on the project a student is working on to gather their data, which can place the student in a precarious situation if conflicts arise, she says. "Realize that you are entering into a really important working relationship and give your decision on whom to chose as your chair a lot of thought."

Faculty take the decision to chair very seriously, says Eccles, which is why a student must have solid research skills and working relationships.

"Faculty are quite protective of their time," says Eccles. "If it looks like a person has a long way to go, and they don't have a personal relationship with them, faculty may turn the person down."

When assembling the committee, its important for students to select faculty that work well together, says Eccles. Students' committee meetings can become a battleground for departmental politics if they don't first investigate possible faculty conflict.

"The interplay between committee members can occasionally be horrendous," agrees Stuart Tentoni, PhD, health center counseling coordinator and clinical professor of educational psychology at the University of Wisconsin­Milwaukee. "Some committee members are in the room only to prove to each other why they are there--often at the expense of the student."

* Keep a narrow focus. Even students who get off to a good start may stumble midway though their dissertations because they've launched a project that is too broad, says Eccles, who has helped many overloaded authors pare down their projects to a manageable size. Wegner advises students who are puzzled about the length, breadth or structure of their study to use archived dissertations in their school's library as a model.

* Accept the criticism. Some students become overwhelmed by the feedback they receive from their committee members and dread the thought of rewriting.

"I think everyone hopes their dissertation first draft will come back with a big gold star saying 'Don't change a thing!'" says Mitch Prinstein, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in clinical child psychology at the Brown University School of Medicine. "But that never happens. There is usually enough red ink that it looks like it's bleeding. That is part of the learning experience."

Authors lose their sense of objectivity with their own work, he says, so students should think about revisions as a constructive step forward, not a huge hassle.

And while it's important for you to write well, your dissertation doesn't have to be a masterpiece, says Wegner. A more effective strategy is to think of the project as a learning experience--a kickoff to future studies, says Wegner.

"Many people look back at the dissertation as their goofy first try," he says.

* Prepare in advance for the oral defense. Once students are finished writing their dissertations, they need to prepare their presentations with people who can identify problems with their analyses or the organization of their results, says Tara Kuther, PhD, assistant professor of psychology at Western Connecticut State University, who earned her doctorate last year at Fordham University.

At Fordham, they have formal "progress report" meetings once a student collects data and before he or she gives the defense. Such meetings give students a chance to gather opinions and criticism, says Kuther. Students whose schools don't have such meetings can work with their chairs or attend practice sessions a program may offer. At UVA, for example, the psychology department hosts research lunches where students practice their presentations.

* Keep cool. For some students, the worst part of the dissertation is overcoming a fear of public speaking. To combat students' nerves, Eccles likes to remind them of their biggest advantage.

"They are the expert in the room, they know more about their dissertation than anyone else."

And while intense questioning can make a student panic, an interrogation from committee members isn't necessarily unfavorable--it can be flattery.

"If it's a particularly good student, he or she will get a lot of grilling because the faculty knows them and will feel quite comfortable engaging them in intellectual debate," Eccles says.

Further reading

* Bolker, J. "Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day: A Guide to Starting, Revising and Finishing Your Doctoral Thesis." (Owl Books, 1998).

* Cone, J. and Foster, S. "Dissertations and Theses from Start to Finish." (APA Books, 1993).

* Schlachter, G. and Weber, R. "Money for Graduate Students in the Social Sciences 1996­1998." (Reference Service Press, 1996).

* Van Leunen, M. "A Handbook for Scholars." (Oxford University Press, 1992).



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