Information Sharing Amongst PhD Students?

[wildviolet]

Oh yeah, on the job competition front--I just learned that when our department had an open position last year, there were 300 applicants! And this was a search for a person with a specific theory background, not a general field! Anyway, basically the person who got the position got it because the faculty here already wanted her. So, the reality of the job market is frightening. At the same time, it's good to know people.

[ZeChocMoose]

Ultimately, it's a strange contradictory mix of "we're all in this together but at the same time we're competing with each other."

This quote really stood out to me. I don't know how your cohort experience is shaping up, but you'll need at least a couple people in your corner that can be supportive when you hit snags along the way.

Personally, I don't view my cohort mates as competitors at all. We all have different research interests and ultimately, I doubt many of us will be applying the same type of jobs given the diversity of our experiences and career trajectories. I actually view them as strong current (and future) colleagues. My field is small and I imagine your field is small as well. It is really good to have your cohort mates (and other students in your program) placed in universities across the country. They might invite you for a research talk or to collaborate on research projects in the future.

I also think being collegial with your cohort mates makes the doctoral process a lot more enjoyable.

[mandarin.orange]

This thread keeps reminding me of a recent Chronicle article - it makes some very interesting points.

Are you an idea hoarder?

Personally, I feel you can't go wrong with a personal philosophy of fostering collegiality and collaboration. When it works, it's an amazing thing...and you share the work! There will be times where it doesn't, or communication breaks down, or someone doesn't hold up their end...that's inevitable. At least it tells you something about the person, and you'll come to hone your judgement and approach to these situations.

Almost all job postings I've read mention that they want someone who will fit in with the department's research interest, start new programs, and/or foster interdisciplinary research. I would imagine that to secure most academic jobs now, you need to show a track record of successful collaborations and teamwork. In my own department, the most successful, visible, award- and grant-winning profs are the ones that teamed up with their fellow faculty, other departments, nonprofits or governmental agencies from the start of their appointments. The one prof who hangs out in the library all the time and works in solitude seems to have fewer resources (# students, funding, etc.) and publications.

[Dal PhDer]

Most people I know have a LinkedIn account as well, but everyone seems to be using FB right now for socializing purposes. I'm on LinkedIn with recent PhD grads of the program though.

Anyway, so I sent out a mass email, set up a Google spreadsheet to share, and people are beginning to sign up for discussion groups. I guess people were just talking about it but had not done anything about it. They seem appreciative of the opportunity to organize for informal discussions of the readings. We start next week! I'll let you all know how it goes, but I think it'll be good. I'm not going to analyze too much--I just want to get a chance to summarize my thoughts and see if I'm understanding the readings the same way my colleagues are. I do think they're awesome, and we're not all in the exact same field, but... there's still competition for things like summer research fellowships, and I'm sure the faculty talk about who is outstanding in this year's cohort.

Ultimately, it's a strange contradictory mix of "we're all in this together but at the same time we're competing with each other."

Good luck! I think this is a great idea! It's nice to do it and have the opportunity to learn more and get more richness out of the class material...but you'll also get to know your peers on a different level! ...I always found sneaking in a bottle of wine for late night discussions made me friends .... .....

Personally, I don't view my cohort mates as competitors at all. We all have different research interests and ultimately, I doubt many of us will be applying the same type of jobs given the diversity of our experiences and career trajectories. I actually view them as strong current (and future) colleagues. My field is small and I imagine your field is small as well. It is really good to have your cohort mates (and other students in your program) placed in universities across the country. They might invite you for a research talk or to collaborate on research projects in the future.

I also think being collegial with your cohort mates makes the doctoral process a lot more enjoyable.

I have to say I have had the same experience. I never felt in competition with my peers...but I think it must be the discipline I am in...we were always doing such different things that I didn't feel that there would be competition for employment afterwards. But I imagine that in some fields this could be the exact opposite. I think I would hate that...I love the collegial attitude and experiences I have had thus far. I think it would be so overwhelming to have another layer of stress added onto the experience! I would go insane...

[wildviolet]

In my own department, the most successful, visible, award- and grant-winning profs are the ones that teamed up with their fellow faculty, other departments, nonprofits or governmental agencies from the start of their appointments. The one prof who hangs out in the library all the time and works in solitude seems to have fewer resources (# students, funding, etc.) and publications.

I agree. My own advisor is the former. He has collaborations all over the place, and I'm a part of it now.

All these suggestions to collaborate and create a collegial atmosphere makes perfect sense, both for having a supportive experience in grad school and after. Which is why I question if it's me and some deep-rooted fear that needs to be examined more closely. On the outside, I'm all for working with others. But, if I'm honest with myself, I'm also on my guard. Against what, I'm not so sure...

[mandarin.orange]

On the outside, I'm all for working with others. But, if I'm honest with myself, I'm also on my guard.

Therein lies the norm, I think - we're always balancing the two. Being on guard and competitive is pretty normal, given the realities of limited funds, fellowships, and jobs being available in academia. But there's levels of competitiveness and I've certainly been in departments that had a very nasty, political vibe because of it. I do my best to foster collegiality, and there's been so many times my peers have helped me out, given advice, assisted in lab, send around readings etc. and I do my best to return the favor. At the same time, I can't help but size them up.

Against what, I'm not so sure...

Perhaps this cautionary tale? The author here probably would have been wise to exercise more guardedness, and better read the signs her ex-friend and colleagues (at the time) were giving her.

Here is my perception of the academic job search:

Edited September 11, 2012 by mandarin.orange

[BrokenRecord]

Perhaps this cautionary tale?

Wow, very similar circumstances happened in my case. I had a "Patricia", who was my best friend/colleague and milked me for information to use for her advantage in getting a really prestigious summer internship. I could never imagine doing what she did to her. I try not to be hardened, and I'm pretty much over it until topics arise which remind me of it, but ultimately it has taught me to always be cautious and guarded, especially when there is an element of competition amongst "friends".

[rising_star]

This has been really interesting to read, I have to say. I wish I'd chimed in sooner but, better late than never I suppose. Anyway, I'm surprised by how much controversy the idea of sharing written summaries of an article has generated. A summary in your own words is usually like writing a slightly longer, more detailed abstract than what the article came with. I can't imagine that sharing these in a group would backfire on any one individual, since there will still be your own analysis of the article to discuss in class. But, this could be because I've been in a different kind of graduate program where collaboration is encouraged. In one seminar I took, we were all required to write a one page reaction to the week's readings and bring in enough copies to share with everyone. We then took the first 10-15 minutes of each class to read everyone else's and get some idea of what we wanted to focus the class discussion on. Just food for thought.

That said, I get what people are saying about not sharing your analysis beforehand, though sometimes it can be beneficial to do so since one of your colleagues might reveal a place where your analysis falls short or where the article addresses your point that you might have missed. I used to have lots of informal conversations about the readings with my colleagues back when I was doing coursework.

Oh, and about sharing ideas: It's going to happen. You are going to be in a situation at various points in your graduate career where people can steal your ideas. That's a fact of life. Whether it's because you workshop seminar papers in class or because you want to get feedback on an article draft before you submit it or because you want to practice your conference presentation or whatever. You can try to eliminate all such situations but, if you do, you're going to get labeled as the uncooperative colleague. You can try to manage those situations but, even then, you have to realize that there will always be someone in a position to scoop some of your ideas.

[Dal PhDer]

This has been really interesting to read, I have to say. I wish I'd chimed in sooner but, better late than never I suppose. Anyway, I'm surprised by how much controversy the idea of sharing written summaries of an article has generated. A summary in your own words is usually like writing a slightly longer, more detailed abstract than what the article came with. I can't imagine that sharing these in a group would backfire on any one individual, since there will still be your own analysis of the article to discuss in class. But, this could be because I've been in a different kind of graduate program where collaboration is encouraged. In one seminar I took, we were all required to write a one page reaction to the week's readings and bring in enough copies to share with everyone. We then took the first 10-15 minutes of each class to read everyone else's and get some idea of what we wanted to focus the class discussion on. Just food for thought.

That said, I get what people are saying about not sharing your analysis beforehand, though sometimes it can be beneficial to do so since one of your colleagues might reveal a place where your analysis falls short or where the article addresses your point that you might have missed. I used to have lots of informal conversations about the readings with my colleagues back when I was doing coursework.

Oh, and about sharing ideas: It's going to happen. You are going to be in a situation at various points in your graduate career where people can steal your ideas. That's a fact of life. Whether it's because you workshop seminar papers in class or because you want to get feedback on an article draft before you submit it or because you want to practice your conference presentation or whatever. You can try to eliminate all such situations but, if you do, you're going to get labeled as the uncooperative colleague. You can try to manage those situations but, even then, you have to realize that there will always be someone in a position to scoop some of your ideas.

It's interesting. The more I come back and read this thread, I think it comes down to (1) discipline and (2) length of time in your program. I am trying to think back to when I started graduate school, and I am sure I probably had the same hesitations about sharing my work. Prior to that, being right and being the person to know the answer was what you were evaluated on...in graduate school this all changes. You are often in a class with peers that come from various disciplines and background. Often, someone will read one piece of work and see it differently than another student. Being able to voice that perspective and follow it up with a rationale and evidence will be what makes you stand out. Thus, knowing the answer (even if there is or isn't a right and/or wrong) is only part of it, it's being able to justify your choice. I feel that if people steal a thought/idea through a piece of writing before class, they probably wouldn't have the rationale/justification for it, and would therefore lack in the discussion.

Also, as rising_star said: sometimes it helps you form your argument. I think I was always very lucky, because if someone came up with a great point in an out of class discussion, the students were always very quick to say, "Oh well, so-and-so, you mentioned ........ during our discussion the other day" ...

My field if very interdisciplinary, so working collaboratively on a research team is really essential to successful projects. I think it's a skill that needs to be taught more, and not just assumed that students have this ability. Course work experience is a great way to hone in on that skill!

[Vader Was Framed]

I have not had time to read all of this thread, but certainly plan to as it's an interesting topic. One thing I'll add (although it's likely already been added): Collaboration is required in most industry research jobs and most academic research jobs, at least in most disciplines. You can't do good research simply on your own in most fields. While I understand that some may feel the need to compete in a classroom setting, I think it ends there. I've never felt this need much in a graduate class, but I've never had any bad experiences like some of you have in terms of people taking advantage of your work. I tend to ensure, in any class/research support group, there is two-way communication and two-way benefit (or 3,4,5-way etc.).

It also gets back to communication skills. Most grad students lack them. I think refusing to work with others creates a feedback loop that isn't to your advantage. Collaboration in small groups gives you an informal training ground that you'll be hard-pressed to match elsewhere, later on in your career. You had better equip yourself with good collaboration skills now is how I see it. Cause you'd be playing catch up later, whether it be during your post-doc, assistant prof or other research job. Gaining some of those communication intangibles, in addition to all the great knowledge from the coursework!, is more valuable to me than "risking" Jonny getting an A and you getting a B for whatever reason.

Probably best to run ideas by professors of the course as well. I'd hope most would encourage it, but you wouldn't want to find out the hard way.

[wildviolet]

So we had this short analysis paper due this week--a three-page, double-spaced critical analysis of the reading for the week. The requirements were specific but the directions were nebulous--for the reason that they wanted to see what we do on our first paper. So, no example papers, no specific topics other than we were to respond critically to the readings for the week.

Now, before the deadline, one of my colleagues asked me if I had time to read her paper and provide feedback. I was hesitant to do this for two reasons: (1) I didn't have time, and (2) I didn't want to, for lack of a better word, "taint", my thoughts with hers. My primary concern here is plagiarism.

I understand the benefits of sharing ideas and arguments in verbal discussion BEFORE writing. But once the writing has started? Of course, many of us may have come to the same conclusions. But the way in which we argue those points and our writing styles are our own. Our professors cautioned us about plagiarism, including the fact that they will learn our individual writing styles over time.

So what do you all think about peer feedback?

Now, I should say that if she wanted feedback, she could have used the writing center on campus, or (and get this) we have a faculty member in our department whose primary job is to help us with our writing. If you make an appointment with him *ahead of time*, he will read your paper and spend an hour helping you revise it. I think that's a terrific service, and I guess part of it was that I had made use of this service (which helped me tremendously), while my colleague had not (and then proceeded to email him her paper the day it was due, which I think is a very bad thing to do politically).

[Dal PhDer]

So what do you all think about peer feedback?

I am much like you and am conscious of the timing of peer feedback. However, I have found that the feedback process is not only helpful for the person's work you're reading, but also for yourself. I have learned so much about writing from doing peer feedback. It's amazing how seeing someone else formulate an idea or argue a point, but improve your own ability/concept of writing.

With this said, I was always conscious of how reading a peer's work on the same assignment influenced my thoughts/ideas...so I would only ever read and give feedback once I was finished with my assignment.

It sounds like you are very cautious about intellectual property and want to make sure you don't accidentally influence your own work with someone else. I think that this is great! It might not be the same for you...but I found peer review, even if I thought it might make me sway my point, was always very useful!

[wildviolet]

With this said, I was always conscious of how reading a peer's work on the same assignment influenced my thoughts/ideas...so I would only ever read and give feedback once I was finished with my assignment.

This is it! Yes, I would definitely provide feedback on an assignment once I was already done with mine or if it was for another class that I'm not taking. I love editing and helping people refine their writing--but not at the same time that I'm trying to write my own paper on the same topic/readings.