In today's episode, we learn about Sarah's preparation for the data collection of her PhD. We talk first about the research itself and the research question that the experiments will address. Then, we address the data collection methods that she will use, and the tools she will use for the data collection. We dive a bit deeper into the participant recruitment, which is of particular importance in Sarah's experiment.

Then, we look into things to consider: data management, and ethics approval, which are also important elements of the preparation for data collection. We then look at what will happen after the experiment: how the data will be analyzed, and how Sarah can make part of her research data open.

Ultimately, we look at the interaction with others: the role of Sarah's supervisor in preparation for data collection, how PhD candidates in her research group support each other, and how she exchanges ideas with peers.

References

• Data management - Episode 45

In today's episode, we interview Harsha Sheelam, our first guest from India. Harsha is a PhD candidate, published author of children's books and juvenile fiction, business owner, social worker, and business graduate. She shares her story of how her career path developed and how she decided to go do her PhD, as well as the various topics she has been researching from her overall perspective of a marketing researcher.

Looking at the various topics Harsha has researched, we learn more about the methods that she has used so far: action research, and quantitative methods. We also hear from her literature recommendations on qualitative methods. Then, we learn more about the structure of the PhD program at IFHE University in India, and how far Harsha is on her PhD journey.

We also learn about Harsha's award-winning paper on superheroes, and what helped her achieve this success, and what she has learned so far on her PhD journey. We wrap up the interview by looking at Harsha's best advice for PhD students, the impact of COVID-19 on her PhD, how she sets boundaries to her work, and what a day in the life looks like for her.

References

• Editorial Articles
• A Study on Marketing Strategies for Self-Published Authors through Online Platforms
• A study on the market and competitor analysis for hospitality industry 
• Cleaning chemicals usage for house keeping with special reference to hospitality industry: a study 
• Rural Marketing Scenario in India -The Online Village Ahead | Harsha Sheelam (2020)
• Tutorial in CR: Process Theorization in Cultural Consumer Research by Giesler and Thompson
• Alternative ways of seeking Knowledge in Consumer Research by Hudson and Ozanne

In today's episode, we first do a general update on what we are working on, as well as what is going well and what we identify as our current struggles.

Then, we answer the following questions that came in through Instagram and Twitter:

• How to do qual analysis in Nvivo? 
• How easy is it to settle down in a different country other than the one where you’d obtained your PhD?
• Which apps and computer programs do you use daily?

We round off with the best books we've read so far in 2022, and what we have been listening to this year.

References

• The dark side of transformational leadership
• Nvivo
• Atlas
• Ep.  64: Moving internationally for the PhD
• AcademicTransfer website: Academic jobs & PhD positions in the Netherlands
• Mendeley
• R
• Todoist
• Calendly
• Matlab
• Evernote
• Endnote
• Norwegian Wood - Haruki Murakami
• Making time to write - Cathy Mazak
• Milkman - Anna Burns
• Quantitude
• Before Breakfast
• Amorphis

In today's episode, we interview Zama Dlamini. Zama is a PhD candidate at the University of Kwazulu-Natal in South Africa, working in the fields of gender and religion. She is also a mother of four and entered the PhD at a later stage in life.

We learn about Zama's research, and how her background as a Lay minister informed her research topic, and her current work. We touch upon the PhD at her university, and the difference between the full-time and part-time program. Zama tells us about her experience as an academic mother working on her PhD (during COVID-19).

We round off with our questions on the best advice for PhD candidates, the impact of COVID-19, how to set boundaries, and what a day in the life looks like.

References

• Zama on LinkedIn
• Zama on Twitter
• Zama's supervisor
• Mercy Oduyoye - African theologist
• Article about Mercy Oduyoye, the mother of African feminist theology
• Ujamaa NGO 
• University of Kwazulu-Natal 
• Feeling like an imposter - Ep. 26
• #1000wordsaday
• Madoda Sabelani!: Engaging Indigenous Music in the Fight Against Toxic Masculinities and Gender-Based Violence in South Africa: A Critical Discourse Analysis
• Faith leaders prepare to become agents of transformation to bring an end to gender based violence
• Parenting children with learning challenges
• Feminist intersectionality and the matrix of domination in South Africa
• ´Deliver us from patriarchy´: a gendered perspective of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Southern Africa and implications for pastoral care
• Gender-Based Violence, Twin Pandemic to COVID-19

As Sarah is preparing to attend and present at her first conference, she asks Eva for advice on how to prepare for the conference. We discuss what we can set as goals for presenting research at a conference, as well as what makes an excellent conference presentation. Eva recommends to spend sufficient time on the introduction and to think about the "take home" message.

We then look at how Eva prepares for a conference, both in terms of the practical aspects as in terms of preparing the presentation. Eva also gives her advice for PhD students preparing to attend their first conference.

Then, we look at the difference between big conferences with a broad topic and small conferences with a more focused group of attendees. Finally, we look at how many conferences Eva was attending before COVID, and how her conference attendance has changed as she became a mother as well as how the CO2 footprint of flying has changed her attitudes towards conference attendance.

• University of Saskatchewan
• Admission process for InterD program
• Government-funded language program
• ABD
• Comprehensive exam
• Feeling like an imposter - Ep. 26
• InterD work with Elizabeth Fry Society 
• SSHRC funding at U of S
• Saskatchewan LINC information 

In today's episode, we learn from Sarah's experience in writing the literature review of her research proposal: how she found references, how she organized her reading, how she combined the concepts, and what she learned from the process.

We then zoom out and discuss some of the common challenges students face when writing the literature review, the types of structures of the literature review that exist, and in which occasions we write literature reviews.

References

• Ep. 38 From reading the literature to writing the literature review
• Ep. 14 - Reading the literature
• Ep. 17 - Systematic Literature Reviews
• Google scholar
• PsyArXiv
• Researchgate
• Zotero
• Mendeley

Another announcement: Anna Clemens (from Ep. 54) and Eva will be organizing a live webinar on May 12th 11am Eastern time. Learn more about the webinar here.

In today's episode, we interview Saima Khan. She is a PhD Scholar in Global Studies at Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan; a teacher of Philosophy at the Department of Philosophy & Interdisciplinary Studies, GCU Lahore, Pakistan. Her areas of interest and research are multidisciplinary; including Postcolonial theories, Feminism in South Asia, Philosophy of education, Cultural History, Political Philosophy, Gender Empowerment, Global Studies, Human Rights and Muslim world, and Cultural Philosophy/Philosophy of Culture. Her PhD research is examining applicability of Girls’ Education as a Global Idea on Postcolonial society of Pakistan. She is exploring the oppressed Global Image of Pakistani women, and how this representation is leading to collective suffering of all women of Pakistan. She is also the mother of two young daughters.

We learn from Saima about her meandering academic path, and how she ended up in the PhD program at Sophia University in Japan. We also learn how she has been dividing her time between Japan and Pakistan, and the choices she made along the way to balance her roles as a mother and a scholar. We also get an insight in the PhD program in Japan, as well as Saima's experience as an academic parent. Based on her experience as an academic mother, Saima shares what she has learned that works for her as an academic parent, and a PhD candidate.

References

• Feminism: Manifestation of Power in Colonial Context
• Empowerment of Women through Education - Emancipation or Enslavement? A Case Study of Pakistani Women
• Womanhood in Pakistan: Role of Nationalism, Islam and Colonial Legacy
• Follow Saima on Twitter
• Sophia University graduate programs

Another announcement: Anna Clemens (from Ep. 54) and Eva will be organizing a live webinar on May 12th 11am Eastern time. Learn more about the webinar here.

In today's episode, we talk about moving internationally for our studies. Sarah moved from Canada to the Netherlands for her Master's and is now doing her PhD in Belgium, and Eva moved from Belgium to the USA for her second Master's and then to the Netherlands for her PhD - so we both have experienced the good, the bad, and the ugly of moving internationally.

We discuss the reasons for selecting a program abroad for studies, the differences in approaches to the PhD in North America as compared to Belgium and the Netherlands, and what to consider when moving abroad - there certainly are financial and administrative hurdles to take along the way.

References:

•  AcademicTransfer, a website for academics who want to transfer to a position in the Netherlands
• Eva's blog post about moving to the Netherlands
• Eva's blog post about moving to Ecuador

In today's episode, we interview Ed Southall, a maths curriculum designer at Oak National Academy and a teacher trainer at the University of Hudderfield in England, as well as doctoral candidate.

We talk about Ed's doctoral journey, alongside his work - first in academia, and then outside of academia. We learn about his decision to quit his PhD, and then his decision to continue and his efforts to finish by June 2023. We also learn about his experience as an academic parent, and his experience during the pandemic. As our first guest from the UK, Ed also explains us about the PhD trajectory and requirements in the UK.

We round off our interview with our standard questions on best advice, setting boundaries to work, how COVID-19 has changed his job and daily tasks, and what a day in the life looks like.

References

• University of Huddersfield 
• Find Ed on Twitter
• Oak National Academy
• Scrivener