Seeing Brilliance: Doctoral Students, Qualitative Research, and Advising
Location
DeSantis Room 1053
Format Type
Plenary
Format Type
Paper
Start Date
17-1-2020 1:45 PM
End Date
17-1-2020 2:05 PM
Abstract
After the doctoral student left my office, her words still echoed in my mind and my heart felt troubled. Before she left my office, she tearfully thanked me and said “This is the first time that I feel seen and heard in my doctoral program”. As a Cambodian woman, former teacher and current equity director, she begun with a rapid, non-stop flow of words with explanations and strong declarations that had me scribbling notes on three sheets of paper. Afterwards, I shared my notes, highlighting threads and underlying research concepts. She nodded as I reflected back to her the brilliance and beauty in her topic, thinking, and passion for asking questions and searching for answers. She had come to ask me if I would be her advisor. I had to take a deep breath and not commit quickly, as my heart automatically wanted to say, “Yes!”. Thinking about who I was already advising, it was not lost to me that all of them were students of color: two Latinas, one Native American, and one African American. If not me, then who will advise her?
This session will explore the question of advising doctoral students from underrepresented minority groups through a successful dissertation defense and will create a conversation among participants to share about their experiences working with doctoral students who may have experienced institutional racism, subtractive schooling, and or have been minoritized in an academic setting. Seeing brilliance in our students is our responsibility as educational researchers and university faculty.
Keywords
Collaborative Conversations, One-on-one Qualitative Research Teaching, Doctoral Student Advising
Seeing Brilliance: Doctoral Students, Qualitative Research, and Advising
DeSantis Room 1053
After the doctoral student left my office, her words still echoed in my mind and my heart felt troubled. Before she left my office, she tearfully thanked me and said “This is the first time that I feel seen and heard in my doctoral program”. As a Cambodian woman, former teacher and current equity director, she begun with a rapid, non-stop flow of words with explanations and strong declarations that had me scribbling notes on three sheets of paper. Afterwards, I shared my notes, highlighting threads and underlying research concepts. She nodded as I reflected back to her the brilliance and beauty in her topic, thinking, and passion for asking questions and searching for answers. She had come to ask me if I would be her advisor. I had to take a deep breath and not commit quickly, as my heart automatically wanted to say, “Yes!”. Thinking about who I was already advising, it was not lost to me that all of them were students of color: two Latinas, one Native American, and one African American. If not me, then who will advise her?
This session will explore the question of advising doctoral students from underrepresented minority groups through a successful dissertation defense and will create a conversation among participants to share about their experiences working with doctoral students who may have experienced institutional racism, subtractive schooling, and or have been minoritized in an academic setting. Seeing brilliance in our students is our responsibility as educational researchers and university faculty.
Comments
This is a workshop that aims to explore what it means to be an advocate and support to doctoral students of color. The presentation is not about having all the answers or passing out a list of "to dos", but will be approached with a social justice lens. Activities will revolve around constructivist and collaborative conversation among the participants to highlight an understanding of the relationships we create with our students. The presenter believes that seeing our students' brilliance is an important part of our role as researchers, university faculty, and advisors.