I Received My Dissertation Committee's Buy-In, Now What's Next?!

If you follow the Instagram page @TheStudentForLife you will see that I listed that I received approval from my committee to collect data for my dissertation research study. But I will be completely transparent, the imposter syndrome and nervousness hit me so hard before my scheduled time to meet with them all. In a moment like that, I immediately started questioning why I was doing this to myself and I should just not do the meeting.

But then my Chair got on the meeting and asked me how I was feeling, pretty sure she heard the nervousness in my voice. She told me not to work myself up and that I worked hard to get to this point and to present my plan to my committee. She also told me how they were probably some of the nicest people to have on my committee, which turned out to be true. One member was so excited and supportive when discussing my topic and the theoretical framework behind it my study, and it made me feel better. The other member acknowledged that I'd be working mostly with my Chair, but never hesitate on reaching out to them if I have a question or want insight. The support, along with constructive and positive feedback, they provided meant a lot because I see, hear, and read about how students have terrible encounters with their Chair and committee members making the PhD process miserable for the student.

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How did I prep for this call? Well, I had to make a presentation of an overview of my study, but provide detail surrounding data collection and analysis, focusing on some of the following:

- Recruitment method (social media)

- Sampling method (purposeful sampling)

- Data collection method (interviews and field notes)

- Data analysis method (thematic analysis)

Once the presentation was approved by my Chair/supervisor, it was sent to my committee along with my proposal and the meeting room information. I practice my presentation and reviewed my research proposal to try and be as prepared as I could be (still blanked out on the difference between single and multiple case studies when with my committee, but that's okay).

So what exactly happened during my conversation with my committee? Well it as I mentioned, it started with a pep talk from my Chair to calm my nerves, then one member got on the call. This member broke the ice by stating they accidentally deleted their inbox and anything in the trash folder and had to reach out to me to resend my plan/proposal and my presentation. This was a moment where my Chair and one of my committee members showed that they make mistakes, they're human and have off moments like the rest of us. However, once the final member joined, they all did brief introductions, and then I got started with my presentation. It was to only be kept to 15 minutes, but I think I hit the 7 or 8-minute mark, which allowed for a more in-depth conversation with my committee on their thoughts, suggestions, and feedback. I was put on the spot to explain the difference between single and multiple case studies, and I legit froze and felt like everything I've been learning and reading just went out the window. BUT the committee members stated they were very impressed with the presentation, and really liked one of the theories I chose for my framework and felt it was very appropriate to utilize and contribute to, even though I was told to remove it by my Chair based on comments on how she didn't see it fitting for the study. My suggestion, if you think a theory is fitting for your study and you provide rationale along with peer-reviewed literature support, stand your ground.

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At the end of the call, I made note that I had to revise 2 or 3 questions, but received full approval to move forward. Even with everything going on in my work and professional lives, I received this as a win and a huge milestone. So what's next? The recruitment phase, and interviews with approved participants. This is where I feel like a legit researcher during this recruitment and data collection phase, it's scary but so exciting because I worked hard to get to this point. But I still have to write Chapters 2 and 3, which is not as exciting but I'm just blessed to be at this stage and putting in this hard work.

What has also helped keep me on track is making a dissertation writing/research schedule, and incorporating it into my FT work schedule, along with anything grad assistant related, with a day off here and there for my sanity. Also, I have a giant dry erase board calendar that quickly allows me to review what is planned for my day and week so I'm not overcapacity or overextended. With each scheduled task, it's color-coordinated to help me break down my progress. So now, I'll be putting scheduled interviews on the board (no identifiers of course) and set time aside to review transcriptions.

So that is what's next for me, exciting, terrifying, humbling, dealing with imposter syndrome, all the feels! But I am a step closer to being a doctor!

- Candace (@TheStudentForLife)