
{"id":2866,"date":"2019-06-07T12:02:16","date_gmt":"2019-06-07T12:02:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/the-road-to-scholarly-independence-is-not-a-smooth-one\/"},"modified":"2025-04-05T13:10:47","modified_gmt":"2025-04-05T13:10:47","slug":"the-road-to-scholarly-independence-is-not-a-smooth-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/the-road-to-scholarly-independence-is-not-a-smooth-one","title":{"rendered":"The road to scholarly independence is not a smooth one"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\">A few weeks ago, I realized that I had finally hit the upward swing of the independence curve that is often associated with a doctoral student\u2019s research journey.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\">Every student has their own pace; their own rate of advancement. In my case, I struggled to achieve independence early due to the vested interests I held in succeeding in the work I undertook. Some students, such as those hired by their supervisor, have a longer wait until they can feel \u2018independent\u2019 off their professors. This can be attributed to the fact that the student needs to learn more from their professor before they can step out into their own, or perhaps the student lacks the confidence to make academic judgement calls.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\">In my case, my supervisors loosely held the reins until I was ready to take them back.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\">I was able to achieve this within 16 months of beginning my PhD because I led the charge. I designed the project, gathered the literature, wrote chapters and drafts, set the pace of progress, set up my sample and scope, and I recruited most of the participants on my own. Essentially, I brought a ready-made project to the table and asked a professor to \u2018sign it off\u2019 for me.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\">Now, not to say my professors aren\u2019t helpful. They check my work for quality, point out areas they think could be improved, and occasionally, touch base to see if I\u2019m doing alright. As this is my first foray into publicly advertised research, I\u2019m still learning. I, occasionally, make a few missteps and mistakes along the way, though thankfully, nothing serious. I check in with more experienced professionals for their advice on issues like\u00a0<i>\u2018if this comes up, what should I do?\u2019 a<\/i>nd \u2018<i>someone asked me this; I hadn\u2019t considered it. What do you think?\u2019<\/i>. Sometimes, it\u2019s purely a formality \u2013 it\u2019s polite to ask before I proceed with my work \u2013 but on other occasions, I genuinely need a helping hand. Having a support network of experienced professionals, such as my professors and a clinical supervisor, is a lifesaver during times of uncertainty.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\">Yet, over the last few weeks, those moments of uncertainty have dissipated and become less frequent. I stride into the hospital, confident that I know what I\u2019m doing, and conduct near-flawless work. Sure, some things could be improved, but no researcher\u2019s work is <i>perfect.<\/i>\u00a0It can be good, or bad, or in dire need of an audit. I know without a second\u2019s hesitation that if I had to present my work to an oversight committee and justify every action, every participant, every decision, I could do so without blinking. I can stand by the integrity of my project with pride, and confidently tell the world what I\u2019ve found.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\">And, a few weeks ago, I received feedback from my supervisors that I decided was irrelevant.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\">Not that the feedback was\u00a0<i>bad<\/i>; it was good, general feedback on qualitative interview style between myself and my research assistant. My professors probably couldn\u2019t tell which interview was which (I did this on purpose, so that each interview would hold equal weight). They gave feedback such as \u2018get more in-depth answers on X\u2019 and \u2018follow up Y\u2026\u2019 except, I had to discard that feedback due to their lack of context.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\">See, without the benefit of additional context, my professors\u2019 feedback is irrelevant.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\">I did not \u2018follow up Y\u2019 in the interview on purpose, as to do so would put the participant\u2019s identity at risk. The interviews I\u2019m conducting are anonymous and de-identified during research, meaning that specific anecdotes (such as specific persons or roles in a ward) are redacted or replaced with general indicators (such as [person] and [role]). When an anecdote is just too specific, I add a line in the transcript to indicate that an anecdote was provided along the lines of X topic, but that it had to be removed for the participant\u2019s privacy.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\">Usually, participants agree with this decision, as their privacy is a key concern for my research. So, in many cases, certain topics are not followed-up on during the interview because of a very valid and important reason. In essence, my participants\u2019 safety comes first \u2013 regardless of whether my professor thinks the information would contain good data.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\">In balancing the different needs of different stakeholders engaged with my project, I am mindful of my role as project lead. This makes me proud of my achievement; that I have matured and learned enough that I can now hold this position of responsibility \u2013 to protect participants\u2019 identities, to collect good data for use in my project, and to present the data in a way that is meaningful and useful for the health system I\u2019m working with. In the end, hopefully, the resulting work will earn me a doctorate post-nominal, and I can proceed with turning this work into a career (hopefully!).<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\">Could I have had this level of independence with my old supervisors? Definitely not. With their talks of taking over my project and railroading my efforts towards self-sufficiency, their perspective would have been a poor fit and curbed my ability to achieve my goals. With this new team, their relative<i>\u00a0laissez-faire<\/i>\u00a0approach to my supervision suits me perfectly. I get to be the confident, independent researcher that I want to be, with the benefit of my professors\u2019 experience, should I need it.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\">And, on the other side, my professors get to add my name to their list of students without a significant level of intellectual burden because of my ability to go away, do my work, and come back with structured questions and specific areas I want assistance with. I consider it a win-win, all things considered.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\">Could I end up finishing this PhD on my own? At this stage, almost certainly. Would I want to? Definitely not. I appreciate and benefit from the networks that exist to support my project; I intend to use them all right up until my submission deadline to ensure that the resulting work is the best quality it can be.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\">Until then, though, the power is all in my hands.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><i>Madeleine Kendrick (<\/i><a style=\"color: blue; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MIKendrick94\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><i>@MIKendrick94<\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"color: black;\">) is a PhD candidate (Scholarship Recipient, Full-time), an Academic Research Assistant, and a Business Consultant. This story was published on December 19, 2018, on Madeleine\u2019s blog, <\/span><\/i><a style=\"color: blue; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/mkendricksite.wordpress.com\/\"><i>Research &amp; Beyond<\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"color: black;\"> (available <\/span><\/i><a style=\"color: blue; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/mkendricksite.wordpress.com\/2018\/12\/19\/scholarly-independence\/\"><i>here<\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"color: black;\">), and has been republished here with her permission.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A few weeks ago, I realized that I had finally hit the upward swing of the independence curve that is often associated with a doctoral student\u2019s research journey. Every student has their own pace; their own rate of advancement. In my case, I struggled to achieve independence early due to the vested interests I held [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1474,"featured_media":33313,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2414],"tags":[2666,2454],"new_categories":[],"new_tags":[],"series":[],"class_list":["post-2866","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspiring-researcher-stories","tag-phd-life","tag-researcher-stories"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The road to scholarly independence is not a smooth one<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A few weeks ago, I realized that I had finally hit the upward swing of the independence curve, often associated with a doctoral student\u2019s research journey. 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