I have finally found someone willing to be an “outside” member on my dissertation committee, and she’s the fourth and final member! I’m not sure why this feels like a big step to me, but it does. Forming the committee was the only part of the process that I felt might turn out to be an unsurmountable hurdle. What if my ideas and plans seemed boring or silly or just plain wrong to the people I planned to approach about being on my committee? What if I got a reaction similar to my first advisor’s opinion of the research I wanted to do?
I was in a psych PhD program at a different school for one year before ending up where I am now. My advisor there was (is) a very smart, accomplished researcher and well-respected in her field. She repeatedly challenged my first-year project proposals, saying, “This isn’t psychology research. Where’s the cognitive issue??” She eventually told me that if I didn’t change my approach, she felt my work would not be what it needed to be to gain the approval of a committee of psychology faculty at that school. It was useful feedback, because it made me re-evaluate whether I wanted to be a student there. But it was frustrating and painful to keep being told my work was inappropriate and uninteresting.
Putting together a committee has been both easier and harder than I thought it would be. I spent a lot of time before I talked to anyone just polishing the “what’s the problem, who cares, what’s the contribution” pitch, as well as the research questions. The meetings I had with faculty in my own school were interesting and very positive, and I have received some very useful advice already. My “inside” committee members have helped me to think about how others might view terminology and concepts I was taking for granted, and to scale back my very ambitious plan.
Finding the “outside” member turned out to be a bit more of a challenge. I didn’t know any professors from courses I’d taken outside the school that would be a natural choice. The first person I asked declined due to an upcoming sabbatical, and I had a hard time selecting someone else to approach. I was trying to be all strategic about it. I didn’t want somebody like my first advisor at the other school, who had very narrow ideas about what acceptable research looks like. But I also didn’t want somebody who is too close to my own school, with a totally compatible world view. I really wanted someone who is enthusiastic about the research I want to do, who will give me honest and direct criticism and feedback, and who gets along well with my advisor. And, I feel like I’ve found her!
Finally, let me just say, hooray for an all-female committee.
