The PhD Expedition

There are a few things one is prepared for when they take on any new project or task. So, it’s but natural that when one signs up for executive PHD program, one is prepared for a lot of reading and, of course, assignments. What one forgets is that they are likely to get flashback of doing homework in school days.

The initial days, which was just few short months ago, my batchmates and I were all bright-eyed and bushy tailed and rearing to go. And then comes the one simple advice that makes complete sense, “read one paper a day and before you know it, you would have read 365 papers by the end of the year.” Sure. Sounds simple. Then comes layer 2…every faculty member taking your class suggests top seminal papers in their subject area and that does not include the reading one would have to do while preparing assignments. And, as I have learned recently, that’s how one ends up with a huge collection of unread articles. A common mistake many PhD Scholars make.

Thankfully, I received some good advice from my mentor, Dr Kokil Jain (Professor of Marketing and Co-Chair for Doctoral Programs) at FIIB, New Delhi. quite early on. She asked me not to save papers for future reads. Also, she would recommend very few papers or books. I could let her know when I was finished reading it before she would recommend others from her list.

Now my “to-read” folder has been replaced with “read” and “reading.” And it does wonders for mental peace! I was so overwhelmed initially that I actually stopped reading. While reading one paper, I was already thinking of 5 other papers in the same subject that I had saved in the folder. With this new system, I saw myself come back into action.

I wish all mentors and guides keep this in mind and share this advice when interacting with anyone new on their doctoral journey.