The Odds of Finishing my PhD

I never dreamed of going to school again where the odds are so great that if I could make it on time, then it must be a miracle. This time, I am taking a doctorate degree with so many odds at hand – being a single mom juggling responsibilities with my children to which one of them has to undergo therapy.

What’s my take into going back to school again despite the odds?

My hours are flexible but still, I need a lot of time particularly for writing and researching. There is a need to work odd hours depending on the field of study. However, looking back, I did not work efficiently in my college level: there was lots of chatting, taking lab trips to the ice cream store, going for lab coffee breaks and then research wise going down many unnecessarily rabbit holes.

Next would be the support. I have colleagues supporting me all the way to finishing this degree. The school is even keen on soft loans for paying the hefty amounts in the dissertation level.

The third one would be the financial freedom it will give me after finishing the degree. When you’re teaching at a university here in the Philippines, the least possible way of climbing to higher pay is to get an advanced degree; that is, a doctorate degree. The pay may not be great but it pays for the bills. Rates are higher when you have the degree and it specially works if you are doing part-time jobs in post-graduate studies.

Finally, the duration is relatively short. I can finish it in a matter of three years but considering what dissertation paper to make, it would not be safe to say that is three years. Nevertheless, commitment and perseverance would be the answer to finishing my degree the soonest possible time.

It is not easy but it is doable!

Disclaimer

The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the text belong solely to the author, and does not necessarily reflect that of the author’s employer, to the school were the author is currently enrolled, organization, committee or other group or individual.

PhD in the Philippines

PhD in the Philippines 

Being involved in research with doctoral students is what keeps me interested particularly in how they view the skills, knowledge and dispositions that they need to develop to have a successful career. Teaching has been an object of discussion with many doctoral candidates that I have interviewed. The majority of them view teaching as an essential skill required to develop a successful academic career.

However, not everyone has an opportunity to undertake teaching duties during the PhD. Unfortunately, I did not have opportunities to teach fulltime on my PhD. I like interacting with students and learning something new from them every day. Also, teaching is such a great way of transferring knowledge and engaging the audience in the results of your research study. But apart from the fact that the teaching duties should be available to PhD researchers, there is a whole load of other questions and issues that need to be considered here.

My friends doing PhD in different universities from around the globe, for example, have to do up to 20 to 25 hours of teaching per week. Where on earth will you find time to do your PhD then? It is the case with some American higher education institutions as well where teaching workload is not officially regulated. There is also little information on remuneration of doctoral candidates for teaching duties. In some institutions, scholarship holders are expected to contribute 6 to 7 hours of
teaching per week which includes preparation for classes, marking etc. Anything above that should be officially paid for. However, many PhD researchers report that their workload is much higher and is not financially acknowledged.

Another problem of course is the lack of skills and knowledge in how to teach. Those who teach know that it is not enough just to be an expert in your subject, you have to understand how people learn, what teaching methods are available etc. How many of us have actually been given proper teaching training before we started teaching? Having taught at the university myself, I know that a lot of it is about being thrown into the abyss and trying to survive. Providing proper teaching training for PhDs is not just about them being successful at this; it is firstly about the quality of learning of poor undergrads who have to suffer because of lack of appropriate training for us.

What are your experiences of teaching? Have you taught during your PhD? What were the main challenges? Advantages? What advice can you give to doctoral candidates who just start teaching?

Obviously, it is really different here in the Philippines. In other countries, doctorate candidates have to have a share of teaching with a university professor with them – that is, you are his assistant professor. While teaching, you do a lot of researches, compiling papers for a study you will be doing in the future and so many other things. However, it is different here in the Philippines where teaching is not part and parcel of a university degree. All you have to do is just to comply with the academic requirements, pass the comprehensive exam, and write your paper! And without you knowing it, you’re done with your PhD!

Now, the bigger question would be: how effective is our PhD program in finding solutions to various problems in the country? Is it safe to say that we need to be at the other universities in order to become effective?

Disclaimer

The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the text belong solely to the author, and does not necessarily reflect that of the author’s employer, to the school were the author is currently enrolled, organization, committee or other group or individual.