Persistence and Dissertations
On August 3, 1492, Christopher Columbus finally set sail, after working on his proposal for seven years! Persistence pays off — for Columbus and for dissertation students, too…
Christopher Columbus was convinced that he could find a western route to the Orient. He thought that circumnavigating the globe would be quicker and more efficient than sailing south around Africa.
He presented his proposal to King John II of Portugal in 1485. Over the next seven years, he presented his proposal to the courts of Portugal (again), Genoa, Venice, England, and Spain. Finally, in 1492, Columbus’s proposal was approved by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella.
I’ve talked to hundreds of doctoral students who have expressed all manner of difficulties with their proposals. Few, if any, had worked on their proposal for seven years, though.
Columbus pursued his goal through monumental rejection. No one had ever been funded for voyage around the world. He didn’t really even know whether his plan would work. No one had none it before.
As a dissertation student, your task is much easier. You know that hundreds, if not thousands, of dissertation proposals are approved each year. You know that your department approves proposals on a regular basis.
Furthermore, you know what successful dissertation proposals look like. Many universities provide students with templates and rubrics to turn the dissertation process into a huge fill-in-the-blank exercise.
Even if your university doesn’t offer such resources, you can always download dissertations from your school’s library. Dissertations from your school and your department. So you know what you’re target is.
Moreover, the very fact that so many students have been successful in this process before you should give you supreme confidence that you can do it, too!
So, when you’re having trouble choosing your topic, or narrowing a topic that you’ve already chosen, persist!
When you’re having difficulty finding enough articles for your literature review, persist!
When you’re confused about how you’re going to design your study, persist!
When you’re frustrated at receiving another rejection with the same feedback from your committee, persist!
Persistence, alone will get you there…eventually. To get there efficiently, you also need a plan.
You need to carefully consider how you are going to get your data. Where is it going to come from? What is it going to look like? How are you going to make sense of it? What insight will it provide?
When you are confident about your answers to these questions, you will find that the path is much more clear. A clear path and persistence is a powerful one, two combination!
