Hi all, I've been a long time lurker on this forum but I'm posting here for the first time, mostly out of frustration at the absolute arbitrariness of the entire SSHRC award process.
I've been applying to SSHRC for four years in a row and have finally received good news this year, scoring a 26/30 and getting a one-year scholarship (I'm entering my Phd IV).
I say I am frustrated and find this process arbitrary because I've been applying with a relatively identical application for 4 years, and yet I was rejected twice (as in, I didn't even make it past my own department) and waitlisted the other time (with no luck), until I finally received it this year.
Now, granted, my application has improved a bit this time around, as I now also had an OGS under my belt, but I have had zero progress in terms of publications, conference presentations, or the quality of my references - and I can honestly say that my while I tweaked my research statement a bit each year, the changes were hardly fundamental enough to warrant a hike in my score from a 16/30 to a 26/30.
I think my experience has really proven to me that while as applicants we of course try our hardest to prove we are 'worthy' scholars (by obsessively editing our statements, attending conferences, attempting to get published, etc.), so much of the process behind getting awards like SSHRC is in fact little more than luck of the draw and depends on a whole range of factors beyond our control (our departmental committees, the strength of our colleagues' applications, SSHRC adjudicators of a given year, etc.). So, for ex, while I find the stats that people have been posting on this forum to be useful in gauging how awards are distributed, I think they can also be rather misleading and create an unnecessary sense of panic among those who have, say, no publications, presentations, RAships, etc.
Of course, I don't mean to understate the amount of work that successful recipients have put into their applications or to question the true worth of their work, but if my experience is any indication, the 'worthiness' of that effort is judged in really inconsistent and unpredictable ways and is by no means an objective measure. If we're lucky enough to receive an award, I think it's really important to recognize the arbitrariness of this privilege - and if we don't receive it, to realize that this is by no means a reflection of the strength of our work and that better luck may be around the corner in future years to come...
I'm sorry if this post seems really negative and cynical, but somehow after finally getting this scholarship I feel a whole lot more rage than a sense of relief!
