Advice needed- No Research Fit.

[Saman]

Hi everyone,

 

Hope everybody is doing great, I'm back with a conundrum     which needs your insights.

 

I am in the process of shortlisting universities for Ph.D for fall 2015. I have kind of accumulated 30 universities which I will narrow down to 15 approx. My problem mainly involves the research interests which I think gonna be a serious concern for me. I haven't yet developed a penchant for a particular research area, since "I belong to the pool of people who start loving what they do rather than the people who do what they love". I believe that I would be comfortable with every kind of research area as far as it falls under the ambit of I/O psychology. So considering the above mentioned points here goes my concerns one after one-

 

1. What would you do if you were at my position and your ultimate goal was to get a Ph.D in I/O psychology. What criteria would you adopt to shortlist universities and how would you mould yourself as per the POI ??

 

2. I have two publication; one is on "Social support" and another is on "Team performance and Interpersonal trust in teams". If I contact a POI having different research interest considering my publications so far and, whom I would like to work with, then how will I go justifying that I am really interested in his research. Would these publications act against me if I try to choose different research area.

 

 

These are the problems I'm facing right now which I think you people can solve, especially who have been admitted to the doctoral program. It might sound a little weird from a Ph.D aspirant but I request you to please don't judge   

 

A big thank you in advance for reading my post and replying accordingly.    

[BeingThere]

Why are you interested in I/O psychology?  What about it interests you?  That's where you start.  And read a ton of articles (if you haven't already) until you find something that gets you excited.  Or three things that interest you.  If you haven't pinpointed a few research topics that excite you, maybe you haven't gotten yourself exposed to enough I/O.

 

Conversely, if you are thoroughly schooled in I/O (took undergrad courses in it or in business) and you still haven't identified one or a few topics that really grab you, then maybe trying to get a PhD in I/O is not going to be the best idea.  Maybe the applied route would suit you more.  Maybe  start with getting into a master's program and identifying your interests there?

 

As far as having no experience on a topic and wanting to convey the basis for your interest in a topic, yeah, you will have to do better than, "Well, it sounds interesting."  Why does it sound interesting?  Can you relate it to personal experience somehow?  Have you observed anything in your own job that impacted you regarding that topic?

 

I guess what I've taken three paragraphs to say is this:  find it.  Whatever it is.  Don't worry about research fit right now.  Worry right now about doing more reading and experiencing to find your genuine, gut-level, "might even do this for fun in my spare time" research interests.

 

And yes, they may change over time, but you have to actually have them first.  This is meant to address your question about "molding yourself" to your POI.  That's just not how it works.  If I read too much between the lines, forgive me.  But really, you will serve yourself best if you worry less right now about picking programs to apply to and focus much more on reading up on I/O literature until you find the thing that sparks your imagination/curiosity.

Edited April 12, 2014 by Bren2014

[Saman]

Why are you interested in I/O psychology?  What about it interests you?  That's where you start.  And read a ton of articles (if you haven't already) until you find something that gets you excited.  Or three things that interest you.  If you haven't pinpointed a few research topics that excite you, maybe you haven't gotten yourself exposed to enough I/O.

 

Conversely, if you are thoroughly schooled in I/O (took undergrad courses in it or in business) and you still haven't identified one or a few topics that really grab you, then maybe trying to get a PhD in I/O is not going to be the best idea.  Maybe the applied route would suit you more.  Maybe  start with getting into a master's program and identifying your interests there?

 

As far as having no experience on a topic and wanting to convey the basis for your interest in a topic, yeah, you will have to do better than, "Well, it sounds interesting."  Why does it sound interesting?  Can you relate it to personal experience somehow?  Have you observed anything in your own job that impacted you regarding that topic?

 

I guess what I've taken three paragraphs to say is this:  find it.  Whatever it is.  Don't worry about research fit right now.  Worry right now about doing more reading and experiencing to find your genuine, gut-level, "might even do this for fun in my spare time" research interests.

 

And yes, they may change over time, but you have to actually have them first.  This is meant to address your question about "molding yourself" to your POI.  That's just not how it works.  If I read too much between the lines, forgive me.  But really, you will serve yourself best if you worry less right now about picking programs to apply to and focus much more on reading up on I/O literature until you find the thing that sparks your imagination/curiosity.

 

First of all, Thank you Bren for taking out time and replying to my post.    

 

Considering my research interests, yes there are three topics which I like most to work on- Team performance, Trust and Leadership. But there are also some areas which I more or less inclined towards. I am still having hard time coming to the conclusion which one to pursue further, it all seems interesting. I have read many articles and all seems worth working upon. 

 

Apart from that, I haven't come across any faculty yet who has all the three interests similar to mine, some have one or two along with some other topics which I don't have enough knowledge of ( in-depth knowledge). Sometimes, there are also more than two faculty member in the same department who matches to my research interest. I have no idea what to do next...If you are put in this situation, what would you do ?? That's why I posted a question whether it would be good idea to compromise on your research interests, if yes then how would you deal with it.

 

And the last question, at least, how many research topic you can choose to work upon in your doctoral program. it must be three or more topics can be added ??

 

Please let me know if possible, it would be a great help.

 

Thanks again     

[BeingThere]

Ah, well I think I misread some of your initial comments in light of your recent post.

 

How many topics can you work on in your doctoral program?  Well, there are time constraints, faculty expertise constraints, and resource constraints.  I am not really sure, but I am hoping three is manageable as I have three that I have strong interest in.  My research interests overlap with one another, so much of the knowledge I require for one topic will be useful for the other two.  I would question whether it would be practical to study three vastly unrelated topics in grad school. 

 

I was fortunate to get accepted into a program where different faculty have expertise in all three of my interests (but no one faculty shares all three of my interests) and I feel confident that this will allow me to explore all three in the four-five years I am there.  There is also room to grow (as my interests may change).  This was something I also seriously looked for in a program.  I would not have been attracted to a program that studied only my interests and nothing more.  What would I do if, in year 2, my interests developed in something the program faculty could not guide me in?

 

I guess as far as the second part of your question, I am not sure that you have a problem.  I don't think the expectation is to have perfect research fit and to have interest in/experience with each and every thing a faculty member studies.  A rough fit is often good enough.  Faculty know that your interests are going to change and grow during the course of your graduate career (and beyond.)

 

The program I chose does not follow the traditional mentor model where you are bound to one faculty for your whole ride and you must work under them and do what they do.  My program lets you change advisers if you realize you would be a better fit with another faculty in the department.  They also encourage working with more than one faculty.  Maybe look for programs where this is the case for you.  Especially if you expect your research interests to evolve, don't apply to a program where you will be stuck working with one faculty member who only studies X, and won't have the opportunity to explore other topics with other faculty.

 

Look for flexibility in the programs, and look for a rough match in research in a program which will offer you the opportunities to grow and explore. 

 

And having more than one faculty in a program that match your interests is fantastic!  That's not a problem.  The way I handled it was in my personal statements, I discussed why I wanted to work with each faculty member I was interested in.  Of course, this worked for me because, again, I was applying to programs where i knew I would be welcome to work with more than just one faculty.

 

I am not seeing that you have a problem, Saman.    

Edited April 13, 2014 by Bren2014

[Saman]

Ah, well I think I misread some of your initial comments in light of your recent post.

 

How many topics can you work on in your doctoral program?  Well, there are time constraints, faculty expertise constraints, and resource constraints.  I am not really sure, but I am hoping three is manageable as I have three that I have strong interest in.  My research interests overlap with one another, so much of the knowledge I require for one topic will be useful for the other two.  I would question whether it would be practical to study three vastly unrelated topics in grad school. 

 

I was fortunate to get accepted into a program where different faculty have expertise in all three of my interests (but no one faculty shares all three of my interests) and I feel confident that this will allow me to explore all three in the four-five years I am there.  There is also room to grow (as my interests may change).  This was something I also seriously looked for in a program.  I would not have been attracted to a program that studied only my interests and nothing more.  What would I do if, in year 2, my interests developed in something the program faculty could not guide me in?

 

I guess as far as the second part of your question, I am not sure that you have a problem.  I don't think the expectation is to have perfect research fit and to have interest in/experience with each and every thing a faculty member studies.  A rough fit is often good enough.  Faculty know that your interests are going to change and grow during the course of your graduate career (and beyond.)

 

The program I chose does not follow the traditional mentor model where you are bound to one faculty for your whole ride and you must work under them and do what they do.  My program lets you change advisers if you realize you would be a better fit with another faculty in the department.  They also encourage working with more than one faculty.  Maybe look for programs where this is the case for you.  Especially if you expect your research interests to evolve, don't apply to a program where you will be stuck working with one faculty member who only studies X, and won't have the opportunity to explore other topics with other faculty.

 

Look for flexibility in the programs, and look for a rough match in research in a program which will offer you the opportunities to grow and explore. 

 

And having more than one faculty in a program that match your interests is fantastic!  That's not a problem.  The way I handled it was in my personal statements, I discussed why I wanted to work with each faculty member I was interested in.  Of course, this worked for me because, again, I was applying to programs where i knew I would be welcome to work with more than just one faculty.

 

I am not seeing that you have a problem, Saman.    

 

wow..I must say now you possess all the skills required for an academic adviser    Thanks Bren for resolving my dilemma. I definitely would work on the suggestions. 

 

Thanks again and best of luck with grad life ahead.