The PhD application process is a great time to connect with others, including future colleagues. At the same time, it’s easy to fall into the practice of comparing yourself to each new connection you make.
[Social] comparison is the thief of joy. - Theodore Roosevelt (and others)
Unsurprisingly, I advise against this practice. To be clear, I don’t recommend that you stick your head in the sand and avoid relevant and helpful information that often comes from talking with others and learning about their experiences. Instead, I recommend avoiding situations and conversations that lead you to question your intelligence, skills, and place in your field of interest. You belong.
To help my students stay their own course, I encourage them to put their blinders1 on and run their own race. By this I mean, focus on what is ahead of you and not what others are doing on either side of you. You are on your own path—one that started from a different gate and one that will end at a different time and in a different place across the finish line. Of course, you may look to either side on occasion to assess whether you’re moving in the right direction and making adequate progress; however, quickly return to running your own race because you are the only person who can finish it. Wearing “blinders” is just one strategy you can use to maintain a healthy relationship with the PhD application process (and the PhD more generally).
With that said, I will not share links to resources that I think encourage unhealthy behaviors or thoughts. When you encounter them, please consider stepping away.
Onto application stuff!
Last week, I asked you why you wanted to pursue (or are pursuing) a PhD. If you took time to answer this question, I would appreciate hearing from you in this survey! For those applying to PhD programs this fall, I now want you to practice articulating your research interests (to be honest, this is good for everyone to practice!). This can be a difficult exercise but it’s critical that you have a sense of what interests you before you identify programs and professors with whom you would like to work (of course, your interests may evolve and likely will!).
Below, you’ll see a quick mapping of my own interests.
You’ll notice that there’s a lot to consider and already I can see where I would make some revisions in my own thinking (e.g., I see consumer behavior as a discipline, but one that sits at the intersection of larger fields like psychology and marketing). To map out your own interests, consider not only what topics interest you, but also who you want to study and how you want to study them.
To figure out what really interests you, consider the following:
What academic (and non-academic) papers do you read?
What podcasts do you listen to? What books do you read?
What skills do you have and what skills do you want to develop?
What research (and other work) experiences do you have and what research (and other work) experiences do you want to have?
What problems do you like to solve?
What is keeping you up at night? (A question famously asked by the late, great Dr. Frank Yates)
There are certainly other questions you can ask yourself, but this list should give you a good start.
Some homework: Map out your own interests and reflect on your process. Who do you want to study? What do you want to study (broadly and more specifically)? Where (i.e., what disciplines) do you see people studying what interests you? Why do you want to study what you want to study? After completing this exercise, take time to reflect on your process. Was it easy or difficult to complete this task? Did any themes emerge? Do you have many interests or a few? What is the relation among the questions that interest you most? What don’t you know yet (about yourself and otherwise)?
How to reach me: You are always welcome to email me at letstalkgradschool@gmail.com or find me on Twitter @tweetsbymidge.
Until next time!
Margaret
Horses wear blinders during races to help them stay focused on what is ahead of them rather than what is going on elsewhere.
Run your own race in https://slice-masters.io to know what your capabilities are.