A PhD student’s guide on how to start your academic journey
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Maria Pilar Lorenzo
Maria Pilar Lorenzo is a Ph.D. candidate at Ghent University's Centre for Higher Education Governance Ghent since November 2020. She holds an MSc degree in International Politics and an Advanced MSc degree in Cultures and Development Studies from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, and a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of the Philippines. Her recent awards include those from the STAR Scholars Network (Rising Star, Emerging Scholar Award) and the National Research Council of the Philippines (Academic Poster Competition).
How I got into academia
Prior to pursuing graduate studies, I was a development professional, educator and volunteer in organizations that worked with and for the youth. After gaining substantial experience from NGO work, I began immersing myself in academic work to help me situate better the development practices that we engaged in. I started synergizing the academic knowledge I gained from the fields of International Relations, Development Studies, and Public Administration with my initial training in Education. This kind of academic exposure fits well with my dissertation topic about the regional governance of higher education.
While pursuing graduate studies, I also started doing research work for academic organizations and gained further training on academic writing through short programs and workshops I attended. Alongside this, I submitted the papers I wrote for graduate courses as think pieces to policy blogs, news outlets and think tanks. All these opportunities have formed my interest in the academic world and helped me prepare for the start of my doctoral research.
I am also keen to help translate the complex knowledge that is generated into policies and other forms of actions to increase impact and reach. In the research context of the Philippines, for instance, there is still much scope to explore on how to improve the conditions (e.g., institutional support, funding opportunities, work conditions) of researchers and scholars.
What my experience as a PhD candidate entails
Concerning this question, I can only speak about my field and the preliminary stages of my PhD journey, as I am still in the first half of the process. However, I think a crucial aspect is for PhD candidates to craft a good proposal, though this can be difficult because it takes time for ideas to mature. Based on my experience, what is helpful is to search, read and analyze a lot of papers, tap into different sources of information and connect the dots.
We need to learn not only to read but to read systematically and scientifically. I say ‘systematically’ because as doctoral researchers we are inundated with a lot of materials, and we could be easily overwhelmed with the volume of readings. For my doctoral topic on higher education regionalization, for instance, I need to grasp the pertinent literature on higher education, regionalism, higher education regionalism, Southeast Asia and ASEAN, and the Philippines – all these as only the minimum. The reading process has to be done ‘scientifically’ as well, in the sense that we need to be able to extract the key arguments, connect the evidence to the patterns that emerge, identify under what conditions the arguments could be sustained, evaluate the limitations of the study, link the study to other studies, and so on.
Our understanding from reading can also be enhanced by resorting to other sources. Apart from written accounts, there could also be some other helpful sources like oral history, videos and podcasts that could be used, depending on the topic. All this we try to do to the extent that is possible, given the resources that we have access to.
Tips for our readers who might be interested in similar paths
While in the previous section I talked about the expectations from the student’s side, I think it would be opportune to also bring up another significant nodal point, the ‘external’ side. This refers to the (co-)supervisor and the research institute where the doctoral research is embedded. Finding a (co-)supervisor that is fit for the candidate’s PhD goals and research topic is especially important as the doctoral research is developed and carried out under the supervision of the adviser(s). Having a supervisor(s) whose expertise largely intersects with one’s dissertation topic is crucial. A bonus is also work style compatibility.
Another key step is to constantly connect to and communicate with other researchers and academics. It helps a lot if we try presenting our proposals/papers, asking for feedback, learning from others’ research engagements and making meaningful connections. By doing so, we may perhaps also gain friends in the process.
All in all, the PhD journey is definitely a challenging but also a rewarding experience. Bear in mind that every doctoral research presents a novel contribution to the field, and that is something that one can be proud of and happy about.
Published 26th July 2022
Edited by Alessia Biondi and Sabah Iqbal