Advice for Graduate Students

Monthly Luncheon with Prakash Singh

Dr Prakash J. Singh is Professor and Head of the Department of Management and Marketing at The University of Melbourne, having served as the department’s PhD director for three years, supervised ten successful PhD students and seven postdoctoral research fellows. At May’s Monthly Luncheon, Professor Singh discussed the differences between the presentday PhD process in Australia, comparing it to the North American model, the evolution of the PhD program in Australia and some of the realities around the PhD from the perspective of the student and the university. At the Faculty of Business and Economics, many enquiries are received from a wide range of people with general interest who wish to pursue a PhD, whether in economics or accounting, finance, or management or marketing, with the reality being that PhD directors are having to turn down very good candidates. Professor Singh ventured to explain why this is the case, what is happening at this highest level of study and what is different about what is happening in the business area as opposed to what is happening in other fields of study.

What is a PhD in business?

The PhD, explained Professor Singh, is about someone contributing to knowledge - there is a very broad objective that can be achieved in many ways. Lower levels of study are usually the acquisition of knowledge but at the PhD level it is generally about making some sort of contribution to the body of knowledge. There is a big difference between science and social sciences fields. If you think about a contribution to knowledge in the sciences it is usually through a discovery - that, if you like, is the nature of the PhD in sciences. In the arts and the social sciences, contribution can be somewhat challenging in the sense that we are not necessarily discovering new things or inventing new things.

What is it that we look for when we’re talking about contribution to knowledge?

Fundamentally in the social sciences it is about a focus on theory – theory is a very valuable instrument when it comes to developing unique and novel insights into all kinds of phenomena and it can also be very useful in terms of providing critical commentary and generating philosophical interest. The PhD in the social sciences is about contributing deep theoretical insight to the body of knowledge. In the business area, practical insight is vital. Perhaps in other area of the humanities and social sciences, the practical side might not be as important compared to theory, but in the business area, real-world relevance is imperative. A strong grounding in reality or practice is usually a starting point for a PhD in business. An applicant might be interested in a whole range of issues. Professor Singh’s department of Management and Marketing, for example, is quite interested in what motivates individuals, in how teams work and what makes them effective, and in looking at an organisational level, comparing one set of teams to others. “We are usually very strongly interested in real world phenomena and then using rigorous methods to bring the understanding to a level which can be generalised and that then becomes a strong theoretical contribution,” said Professor Singh. “That is a critical element of what PhD level study in the business area is,” he added. “Slightly more advanced than is typically the case in the humanities and the arts which can generally remain at the philosophical or theoretical level - in the business area we’re always asking relevance questions.”

The evolving nature of the PhD and how it relates to business.

Professor Singh compared the past nature of the PhD to its current state, by looking at aspects including thesis, timelines, supervisory model, study approach and the model (British or US). Thesis The past model saw the thesis in the business domain as a single voluminous tome, however now it is increasingly in the format of two or three essays which are close to journal articles or manuscripts that could be submitted. In many cases those manuscripts would already be submitted to a journal, and in some cases these would have already been accepted for publication before that candidate is ready to graduate. Timeline A PhD program used to have a timeline of three years. Now the Faculty of Business and Economics has a four-year program, and sister departments in economics, finance and accounting are moving to a five-year fulltime program. The Department of Management and Marketing, explained Professor Singh, will be moving to this timeline. The very top schools around the world are offering six-year PhDs - some have even seven-year PhD programs. Supervisory Model In the past there were one or two supervisors – the nuclear family model: two parents and students. In the new model there is a supervisory panel consisting of a principal supervisor, a subject matter specialist that compliments the principal supervisor, a methodology expert and a senior academic, all of whom are overseen by the Head of the Department. Study approach The traditional model focused on independent, autonomous, self-paced learning. While that is expected in the new world, it is not limited to this model. We now have an expectation that there would be a high degree of collaboration, not just within the advisory panel but also to others, more so internationally if possible. Models While the traditional model is the British model, many PhD programs outside of the US and Canada are moving towards the North American model, the question of why, therefore arising. “The reality is that our highest quality journals and those who publish in these journals are expected to be trained with this model. North Americans have had this model for many years and it is a very successful model. Given that the North Americans also control all of our major journals, it naturally follows that their's is the training model required for such success,” explained Professor Singh. “Beyond that, when it comes to placement of our graduates, the universities to which our graduates aspire towards, we have not been able to crack the Ivy League and we have not been able to place a PhD graduate into a program at these universities,” explained Professor Singh. “We are very successful locally and we’ve also been successful in Europe, graduates earning positions in Oxford and Cambridge.” “Many of our candidates have gone to interview in North America for jobs, but they basically don’t understand what’s involved in a three-year PhD program. Most universities are not willing to take a punt on these graduates.” 

The issue, explained Professor Singh, is that if a student wants to be join an Ivy League university, PhD programs need to replicate the academic environment so that students can seamlessly move between universities.

What happens in those extra one or two years?

As the chart indicates, the traditional three-year program used to be about working on your research proposal, then that proposal is accepted, and the third year is when you write the thesis. Presently, the four-year program in the first year is about doing coursework on a range of subjects and attending advanced doctoral seminars. The second year sees more coursework and a research proposal. The final year sees final rounds of study and the dissertation. The future fiveyear program sees two years of coursework, a research proposal in the third year and the study and papers completed in the final years.

Why do it?

Professor Singh used the extrinsic and intrinsic model to identify the underlying purpose and the motivation for undertaking a PhD. For the student, extrinsically, the motivation usually is about achieving a higher-level qualification. It is evidence of a certain level of attainment and that is a very strong motivation for many people to pursue a PhD. On the intrinsic side, most people also have a strong intellectual yearning for learning, and are driven enough to go through the whole process in pursuit of acquiring the knowledge. “What we find is usually that no one is exclusively intrinsic or extrinsic, they might start at one end and move over, so it is a very dynamic situation,” said Professor Singh. What motivates the supervisors? Extrinsically, creating and publishing academic papers is key. Intrinsically, a very strong motivation, for many of Professor Singh’s colleagues, he explains is the benevolence of supervising as it seen as a form of giving back, contributing to the future of academia because if it is not done, then it may cease. But the extrinsic motivators are more prominent for academics. From the department or the university’s perspective, extrinsically, the department is interested in contributing to the research and training – its social obligation is to be training the next generation of researchers, and the PhD program is where that takes place. The PhD venture does not make money per se. From an intrinsic sense, the motivation for a university department is to produce well-rounded, public-spirited intellectuals. At a community level, it can be difficult to work out what the extrinsic and intrinsic motivators are and what the broader community expects from a PhD program.

What is it that we look for in our PhD graduates?

An ideal PhD graduate is a welltrained independent researcher, has mastery over body of knowledge, is engaged in academic debate/ discourse and is interested in a life-long career in academia. Recruitment to the PhD program is a very competitive process, with several hundred applications and only five to ten accepted into the program. It is a single intake, meaning that everyone applies and the applicants are then scored and ranked. The expectation is that there is a recent undergraduate study in a relevant area, or an equivalent degree that is four years in duration. Masters by research which has a thesis component is also highly desirable as well as GMAT or GRE results. Candidates are also interviewed and asked questions as to why they want to undertake a PhD degree, what they think is involved, their areas of interest and, more generally, what their level of preparation is. A PhD can take you to the boundary of human knowledge, in time taking you just beyond that boundary, so that the knowledge frontier has been extended.

Oaktree's "Live Below the Line" event raises over $1,100 at Graduate House

12th APRIL - The Live Below The Line lunch on the 10th May raised over $1,100 from donations and participation. Hosted for the first time at Graduate House, the lunch gave the opportunity to experience the typical meal of those living below the poverty line. Adjusted to reflect the Australian equivalent, and veering from the traditional Oaktree challenge which is to live on $2 a day, rather than to pay $2 for just one meal, the humble food on offer was lentil soup and plain pasta, as well as bread and butter pudding. Sashenka Worsman, Chief Executive of Oaktree said that through the funding raised from Live Below The Line events, Oaktree has implemented various educational and youth empowerment projects across the Asia Pacific region. Their biggest success has been in Cambodia where they aimed to increase the standard of education in secondary schools.“The project was so incredibly successful, that model has now been replicated as International Policy by the Cambodian government,” said Ms Worsman. Ms Worsman said that she hopes that the lunch prompts a conversation around the poverty line. More than 100 people participated in the lunch and lauded Oaktree, which is run by around 150 volunteers all under the age of 27 years. "I'm delighted to be here to support a wonderful young Australian group," said Cr Keith Ryall. "Isn't it great for Australia and Australians that we've got such a wonderful young group of people making Australia great and spreading the gospel of what a great country Australia is," added Cr Paul Southwick. Graduate House thanks all who attended and donated to this worthy cause of breaking the poverty cycle. Please be assured that your $2 meal payments, as well as all additional donations were forwarded to Oaktree in full. We are proud of our staff for having donated over half of this gift to Oaktree.

CEO of Oaktree, Sashenka Worsman, speaking at the Live Below the Line event.

The $2 lunch was enjoyed by over 100 guests of all life stages, disciplines and ethnicities who came together to share and support their passion for education access and equality.

Council Members Keith Ryall and Paul Southwick enjoying pasta and soup cooked for under $2 per person.

GRADUATE HOUSE NEWS Seen at Graduate House

Faculty of Architecture reunion

Organised by Life Member Mr David Eyres, the graduates from the Architecture School who started their course in 1953 at Melbourne University, met for lunch on 24th April. Mr Eyres' alumni friends attending included Bruce Gifford, John and Margaret Lester, Gwyneth Dickson, Dorothy Werrgall, Hugh O’Neil, Nell Rickard, Robert Martin, Geoffrey Borrack, Elizabeth Retallick, Pamela Bloom, Henry Retallick and Robin Cumming.

The graduates from Architects School enjoying pre-drinks and catching up before lunch

Developing friendships through mentoring

Muan Lim, the former Vice President, Asia Pacific and Japan Operations for Personal Systems Group at Hewlett Packard, is now mentor for former Resident Member, Betsy Yu. Ms Yu, who completed a Master of Management and Accounting at The University of Melbourne was introduced to Mr Lim as a potential mentee, and Mr Lim has been imparting invaluable advice to Ms Yu since late last year. Mr Lim is currently mastering the art of using a brush (like the one pictured on the right) to paint a Chinese seal script used for formal documents. Muan says that he is curious to explore his cultural heritage through this activity. Giving feedback on her mentor's efforts after just three formal lessons, Betsy says that she is very impressed!

Former Resident Betsy Yu with her mentor, Member, Muan Lim, with his attempts at ancient Chinese seal script.

The brush that is used to paint the letters.

GRADUATE HOUSE NEWS Rotary Scholarships Evening

12th APRIL — Cr Keith Ryall, Chair of the Rotary International District 9800 Global Grant Scholarships (GGS) Committee, announced co-winners of the prestigious GGS valued at US$30,000 following rigorous selection interviews at Graduate House. Dr Clare Lin (BDent (Hons)) and Dr Ida Whiteman (MBBS (Hons)), nominated by Rotary Carlton and Rotary North Melbourne respectively, were the co-winners of the scholarship. Ms Lin, who will be commencing a Master of Public Health at Harvard University, provides oral healthcare to patients in a diverse range of settings from Melbourne dental clinics to Indigenous communities in the Kimberley region. After completing her Masters, Ms Lin plans to return to Australia and work towards 'closing the gap' in oral health outcomes through public health advocacy, research and policy. Dr Whiteman is a Paediatric Registrar working at Sunshine Hospital and usually based at the Royal Children’s Hospital. She will be completing two Masters Programs at Oxford University - a Master of Science in International Health and Tropical Medicine and a Master of Public Policy. Her goal is to use her study at Oxford to prepare her for a career working with Indigenous children. Dr Whiteman aims to work initially in a clinical and public health role in Indigenous Health, and then move into a health policy role in the future. Through this, she will then integrate the evidence she gains working on community health programs in Indigenous health into Australian Government Indigenous Programs. Rotary International District 9800 has been providing these prestigious Scholarships since 2013. "Our congratulations are extended to all past and current Global Grant Scholarship winners on their outstanding achievements and personal qualities; as befits The Rotary Foundation, they are truly doing good in the world," Cr Ryall said. The inaugural recipient was Ms Lien Trinh who successfully completed a Master of Public Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Health in 2014. Ms Trinh has been working in the field of Eye Care, primarily for the Indigenous Community. Graduate House extends its congratulations to Dr Whiteman and Ms Clare Lin and wishes them both much success.