Finishing the Dissertation

If you are still working on your PhD dissertation, or if you supervise doctoral students, this post is for you.

As you may be aware completion times in the humanities and social sciences are long. Much longer than for other disciplines. And humanities disciplines tend to be longer than social sciences.

This seems to be have become an accepted fact of life. But I don’t think it has to be that way.

Not only that but timely completion of the PhD is correlated with later academic success. If you want a tenure-track job, you need to get the PhD finished. And if you don’t, I can’t imagine why you’d want to spend 10 years working on it, either.

Here are my top tips:

1. Focus on feasibility

Define a project that can be done in a reasonable amount of time. Your supervisor should help with this. If necessary ask “Is this feasible in 3 years?” Read their body language. Ask for suggestions on breaking it into smaller projects. Then pick one of those.

If you do get a tenure track job, you’ll have another 30 years to do research. Make the PhD the first phase of a longer program.

Yes, the project needs to be substantial. But a PhD is not your life’s work. It is a substantial project that demonstrates your ability to do work at the level required for an academic career. It is an entry ticket.

A crucial role of your supervisor and committee is to ensure that the project is challenging enough for this level and yet feasible.

Not too small. Not too big.

2. Make a file for all the things you’ll write once you’re finished

Research is messy. As you go along there will be all kinds of interesting tangents. There will be several things you could write about the data you collect or the source material you examine.

All of them don’t need to be in the dissertation. The dissertation needs a coherent argument.

All the other stuff can become articles after you are done. Or non-academic contributions. Put them in a file that you can look through when you are closer to the end.

3. The final dissertation doesn’t have to do what the proposal said

The point of the proposal is to offer an opportunity for more experienced researchers to judge whether your proposed project is likely to produce an acceptable dissertation.

They want you to pass. So they check that the project is well designed, likely to meet the standards, etc.

But research is messy. Very few final research reports look like what the proposal said. Because you learn new things when you do research.

So, you don’t have to stick with a proposal that now feels like not the best approach to this data/sources. But you do still need a coherent argument and rigourous analysis/interpretation. Use your supervisor to check on major shifts in direction.

4. Fewer than 6 people will read it.

You are not going to be done with this material when you’ve finished the PhD.

This is only a step. It involves all kinds of jumping through hoops that you wouldn’t have to do for other kinds of academic writing.

Even if you do decide to turn it into a book (which you don’t have to do), you will need to make changes. You need to have some motivation left to go back to it afterwards.

Here is one situation where writing to pass the test is a really valuable skill. Fortunately most people that get this far have that skill. Use it.

5. Use your supervisor

There is a formal system to support you. You have a supervisor. You have a committee. They have roles that are defined in the policies and procedures of your institution.

Don’t ask for support that you are not entitled to. But it is reasonable to see your supervisor regularly. And to expect that they will provide comments on written work in good time. Make firm commitments during meetings.

• set the next meeting date
• agree what you will accomplish before then
• agree dates to discuss comments on any writing submitted

More importantly work out what support you need and what your supervisor’s strengths are and figure out a system that works for both of you.

Keep in mind that your supervisor wants you to complete successfully. Their job is to make sure that you only submit a dissertation that will pass (albeit perhaps with revisions). They know the rules and expectations. Make sure you listen to their advice. (See writing to the test, above.)

6. Build a support network

Contrary to popular belief (especially in the humanities) research is not a solo enterprise. It involves collaboration.

The form of that collaboration varies considerably by discipline but almost always includes regular discussion of work in progress with other researchers, discussion of research approaches with other researchers (new ideas, things that aren’t working, tips and tricks, etc.), sharing data and references, etc.

Build a support network to supplement what you get formally through your supervisor.

Meet with other doctoral candidates. Form a writing group. Set up a brown bag seminar. This may turn out to be more important than your supervisor in terms of regular support.

A colleague of mine, back in the day, once commented that though her (quite famous) supervisor wasn’t very available, the fact that he attracted a lot of interesting students made it more than worthwhile to work with him.

She found the community of students being supervised by the same guy to be incredibly intellectually stimulating and supportive. What other cool people has your supervisor or program attracted?

7. Career support

Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that all you need to do to secure a post-PhD position is get the qualification. A PhD might be a necessary qualification for some jobs but I know of none where it is sufficient.

Learn about future careers and the kinds of experience you will need to successfully compete for them. Then make time to gain that experience.

Good sources of information include the careers office at your university. Information interviewing to learn more about particular jobs (including academic ones) is also invaluable.

Don’t think the other experience — published papers, teaching experience, internships in non-academic organizations, etc — are a good reason to delay completion of the dissertation, either. You need both.

And timely completion of the PhD is strongly correlated with academic career success.

Need help

I can’t (and won’t) substitute for your dissertation supervisor. But if you want someone outside your institution and regular circle of friends to talk to about your career path and how to prepare for it now (including finishing the PhD), I might be able to help.

In a 1-hour phonecall we could talk about your concerns and issues, clarify your goals, brainstorm some approaches, and come up with a plan that will help you approach this phase of your career in a more relaxed way.

I’ll send you a recording of the call so you can listen to it at any time. That way you can concentrate on being in the conversation without worrying about taking good notes. I’ll also send you a detailed follow-up e-mail. And you can ask for clarification by e-mail later, too.

1-hour Career Coaching $150