In my opinion
A new taskforce report by the Canadian Association for Graduate Studies says it’s time to rethink the PhD.
dissertation. But, faced with unprecedented change in the academy and the world, academics are struggling with unresolved questions about the broader purposes of the degree.
Universities are increasingly engaged with society, changing the way we think about doing and communicating research; innov...
https://www.universityaffairs.ca/opinion/in-my-opinion/the-dissertations-form-and-content-need-to-evolve/
Career Advice
A few tips that can help PhD mothers complete some of the major dissertation milestones.
dissertation is a done dissertation,” but how does one complete a dissertation post-baby? As a parent, caring for a child or children can sometimes feel all-consuming, making it difficult to achieve substantial progress on major writing milestones. This can add significant pressure in an environme...
https://www.universityaffairs.ca/career-advice/career-advice-article/guide-birthing-dissertation-post-baby/
News
UQAM’s Jean-Hugues Roy analyzed theses and dissertations from the past 25 years to answer the age-old question: How long should it be?
dissertation or master’s thesis is: How long should it be?
Not finding a definitive answer, Jean-Hugues Roy, a former reporter for Radio-Canada and now a professor at Université du Québec à Montréal, decided to wade into the issue using data analysis. Inspired by University of Minnesota res...
https://www.universityaffairs.ca/news/news-article/researcher-determines-average-length-theses-dissertations-quebec/
Careers Café
dissertation.
Although you need much more than this to successfully transition into the next phase of your career, your research and dissertation should be a high priority for you. Whether you are working in a lab or working primarily on your own, you are responsible for keeping track of this per...
https://www.universityaffairs.ca/career-advice/careers-cafe/hows-the-dissertation-going/
The Black Hole
dissertation - in haiku form!
A friend of mine recently told me about this blog, a place where you can submit a single haiku to summarize your dissertation. Just think of it as an entirely different way to communicate your science!
Here are some dissertation haikus. Let us know in the commen...
https://www.universityaffairs.ca/opinion/the-black-hole/quick-hit-dissertation-haiku/
News
The guidelines require students to have a letter signed by their instructor indicating what kind of editing help is permitted.
dissertations at the graduate level. But, as University Affairs reported in 2017 – and Ms. Conrad’s research showed – undergraduate students, too, seek editing services, and Editors Canada recognized that the increase in demand required a change to the guidelines.
“Our position on (editin...
https://www.universityaffairs.ca/news/news-article/editors-canada-releases-new-guidelines-for-the-ethical-editing-of-students-work/
Responsibilities May Include
Don’t wait until you are actively looking for a job to identify your transferable skills.
dissertation without providing a citation or proof. Now think about your communication with employers the same way. You want to provide evidence of your skills by describing how you have demonstrated those skills in the past. To say “I have excellent communication skills” means little to an empl...
https://www.universityaffairs.ca/career-advice/responsibilities-may-include/identifying-and-communicating-your-grad-skills-for-employment/
Careers Café
The secret CV doesn’t contain things you want to hide, but rather things that you’re proud of, and haven’t yet found a way to articulate.
dissertation in one bullet point can be painful. Leaving it off altogether can be more so.
None of your experiences are lost in actuality, for the very same reason that makes them painful to leave off your resumé: they are part of you. They will continue to inform your perspective, your abilitie...
https://www.universityaffairs.ca/career-advice/careers-cafe/the-secret-cv/
Career Advice
A new book aims to understand why a small subset of professionals actively resists retirement.
dissertation work in quantitative methods, looking at data points, spending years doing that. I was just dying to ask the data points some questions, and so I did some qualitative training and eventually got some grant funding and started this set of projects, which was to explore retirement, what i...
https://www.universityaffairs.ca/career-advice/career-advice-article/what-does-retirement-mean-when-your-job-is-your-life/
Beyond the Professoriate
Aurora is designed to help students explore career options and learn strategies they need to find non-faculty careers.
dissertation with preparing for non-faculty careers in mind.
Currently, Aurora is focused on non-faculty careers, but that will change in 2019. Students have told us that they also want to learn job search strategies for academic jobs, and we want to support them, whatever their career goals. We ...
https://www.universityaffairs.ca/career-advice/beyond-the-professoriate/weve-launched-a-new-online-career-hub/
Beyond the Professoriate
What has and hasn’t worked at institutions that support career development and professionalization.
dissertations. In addition to connecting students with communities beyond academia and the university, the program provides students with much-needed summer funding. (Learn more about the program here.)
In Canada, graduate programs could similarly work with partner organizations, such as Mitacs, ...
https://www.universityaffairs.ca/career-advice/beyond-the-professoriate/lessons-learned-from-departments-that-support-career-readiness-of-grad-students/
Magazines
dissertation’s form and content need to evolve
Adventures in Academe: Using productive disruption in higher education
Career Advice: Help grad students understand their transferable skillsets
...
https://www.universityaffairs.ca/magazine/issues/november-2018/
Beyond the Professoriate
Moving from a PhD in religious studies to working at a teaching and learning centre has sparked an interest in communications and marketing for Dr. Muravchick.
dissertation and what I saw myself doing and being happy doing. I did, however, actively pursue leads in alt-ac careers during the last few years of the PhD.
What was your first post-PhD job?
I was a Mellon Post-Doctoral Fellow teaching religion at an elite liberal arts institution.
What do...
https://www.universityaffairs.ca/career-advice/beyond-the-professoriate/transition-q-a-rose-muravchick-assistant-director/
Responsibilities May Include
A detailed plan can help you decide when and what opportunities to say yes to and, more importantly, which to say no to.
dissertation writing, and
The date you plan to graduate!
Your “really helps”: What else can help you excel academically throughout graduate school? These will vary depending on your program and discipline but include such items as:
Funding (awards to apply for, application deadlines),...
https://www.universityaffairs.ca/career-advice/responsibilities-may-include/a-step-by-step-guide-to-keeping-track-of-grad-school-activities/
In my opinion
International PhD candidates are flocking to Canada because the country is seen as still valuing the humanities.
dissertation.
However, it has seemed like a missed opportunity that American students were largely barred from applying for many awards. There are obvious reasons for this. But, equally obvious are the reasons for including Americans in applying for fellowships, grants and other awards, and for i...
https://www.universityaffairs.ca/opinion/in-my-opinion/an-american-in-the-promised-land-of-canada/
Careers Café
It’s reassuringly self-aware – and frankly, exciting – to hear someone reflect on how part of their career path made them who they are.
People entering the non-academic job market with a PhD or with ABD status (All But Dissertation) often work out how they’ll address their academic history with potential employers. That’s certainly a worthwhile process, though employers’ reactions may not be what you expect – no matter what ...
https://www.universityaffairs.ca/career-advice/careers-cafe/how-to-talk-about-your-phd/
Career Advice
Three academics reflect on how they got on the tenure track.
dissertation and practicing your defence. You’re exhausted and excited. It’s a time for celebration. A time for looking back at what you have accomplished and for looking forward into the unknown. This transition phase from grad student to faculty member can be fraught with questions: How will I...
https://www.universityaffairs.ca/career-advice/career-advice-article/from-phd-to-assistant-professor-applications-and-interviews/
Features
An excerpt from the latest novel by University of Calgary professor Suzette Mayr.
dissertation was an inferior piece of work not worthy of a first-year university student, that it had no chance of ever being published, only a desperate Canadian hack press would publish it. You should drop out, she scrawled in the margins of Edith’s dissertation drafts. The book would be publish...
https://www.universityaffairs.ca/features/feature-article/the-first-day/
Beyond the Professoriate
dissertation. I had never been to the town (it was a phone interview), but I took a leap of faith. That teaching role stretched to four years due to a series of perceived “flukes” and I earned tenured status there. As an Ontarian, I knew that I would want to return to Ontario at some point so I ...
https://www.universityaffairs.ca/career-advice/beyond-the-professoriate/transition-q-a-victoria-m-abboud-program-manager/
In my opinion
Research shows that the concept and practice of “other-mothering” can help Black students navigate the complex and often secretive world of academia.
dissertation and defending it.
While my thesis supervisor offered invaluable guidance about my writing and about my dissertation, I longed for something much more culturally familiar. I needed the support of other-mothers in and out of the academy.
Other-mothering can be described as the pract...
https://www.universityaffairs.ca/opinion/in-my-opinion/navigating-racism-black-graduate-students-need-support/