0 What is Graduate School: Goals and Skills

I really didn't know what to expect from attending this session, but it did seem to be a productive use of my time.

Margaret Martonosi, Princeton University
Krasimira Kapitanova, University of U. Virginia

"We don't have any kids, but I have a dog that I treat like a child"

this was a HORRIBLE statement to make in front of a group of women considering a PhD. Enough said.

Prepping for the qualifying exams
- talk to veteran students how your school's system works
- sometimes students don't have the full story: ask your adviser too
- ask your department for prior versions of the exam


Progressing in Research

• Relax: your advisor often gives you first research problem
• Balance: concrete enough to make progress <--> far reaching enough to be research
• Read other papers

How to make Progress

• break the big problem into steps
• break the first few steps into even more steps
• eventually: a to-do list becomes a roadmap for what to accomplish each day

"I am not afraid of storms for I am learning how to sail my ship."

- Louisa May Alcott

0 PhD Non-Academic Career Paths: Industrial Research & Development

The idea of working in Industry at times seems very interesting. The pay is good, you actually get to build projects and you can progress through different positions through the company (change). Several of the women at the workshop shared their experiences in non-academic careers. They include:

Gildar Garreton
Vidya Sethur, Nokia Research Labs
Telle Whitney, President of the Anita Borg Institute for Women in Technology

[Vidya Sethur]
Pros of a Non-academic job

1. Get to be in tune and hands-on with the latest technology
2. Can make impact with business
3. Don't hae to write grants, but can patent
4. Decent pay
5. No tenure process

Cons of a Non-academic job

1. Dangers of getting into advanced development mode vs. research mode
2. Work influenced by company's focus
3. Projects and management can change
4. Job (in)security
5. No tenure process

If you are particularly looking for research, ask where the funding comes from. The funding dictates what type of research you can do. Ask about the funding model.

[Telle Whitney]
Co-Founder of the Grace Hopper Conference!!

She enjoys the people she works with. "The quality of your work includes the people you work with."

0 PhD or Not???? (pt.2) - Encourage them to be poor ...

"Encourage them to be poor for a few years to go to graduate school."

For many of the speakers at the CRA-W Graduate Cohort Workshop, this quote summed up their (somewhat biased) perspective. They want to encourage women (and minorities) to go to graduate school, regardless of the students' personal and/or career objectives are. While I think that a PhD is a significant accomplishment I don't think it is for everyone - not that everyone can't obtain it, but that it is not everyone's true desire.

There were several students that asked questions regarding whether to pursue a PhD or go into industry. Since most of the women mentors here are in the academy and obviously have a PhD, they were very closed minded in regards to anything BUT pursuing a PhD and becoming a Professor. Let's face the reality - being a Professor isn't for everyone. So why "encourage them to be poor ..." without considering the student FIRST.

So in one of the sessions, I asked a question regarding the drawbacks of an academic career path (the question was addressed to two people - one from a research university and another at a teaching university) and the first answer was "NOTHING - this is the best job" - and they said this with a straight face. Lets just be real - there are drawbacks to every career.

While I think that YES, we need to motivate and attract more minorities to pursue graduate study, we need to also consider the personal and professional career objectives of these students as well, before we push them into a 4 to 6 year PhD commitment.

The perception seems to be that they think women don't pursue PhDs because they lack motivation, but aren't there other (legitimate) reasons women and minorities don't want to pursue a PhD?

0 Ph.D Academic Career Paths: Research, Teaching, Administration

Sheila Casteaneda, Clarke College
Mary Lou Soffa, University of Virginia

Sheila Casteaneda has a MS degree and teaches at a liberal arts college.
Mary Lou Soffa is the Department Chair at UVA

I found it interesting when Dr. Soffa discussed the functions of a professor that she mentioned (in order) research, teaching (then) service. I thought it was teaching (first), research (second) and service (last)??


Expectations of Research Universities
- 60 - 80% Research
- 10 - 35% Teaching
- 5 - 10% Service

Expectations of Teaching -oriented college
- 50-80 % teaching
- 10 - 30% professional development
- 10 - 20% service

• "Time is the biggest problem - you are teaching full time!"
• "Finding time to do research is difficult."
• Research at a primarily undergraduate institution: fewere institutional resources; no graduate RAs but it is possible to get undergraduates involved.

Research Expectations: Research University

• (quality) publications and participation in academic workshops
• funding
• graduate student training
• reputation

Teaching @ a Research University

1. teaching load is usually 1:1 to 1:2
2. may teach undergraduate and graduate courses
3. teaching assistants for grading, office hours, and overall course management

Teaching @ a Primarily Undergraduate Institution

1. Teaching is your primary responsibility
2. Audience is all undergrads
3. Your research may not 'need' to be taught
4. Teach wider variety of courses; need more breadth
5. Teach the same course less often
6. Smaller class size
7. Teaching assistants, if available, are senior undergrads

Service Expectations @ a Research University

1. Department committees
2. University committees
3. External Professional Service (eg. program committees, journal editorship, professional society, etc.)
   
4. Higher in rank, more external service
5. Good to favor research-oriented service

Service Expectations @ a Primarily Undergraduate Institution

1. College: Committee work ("learn to say no!", "Pick the passionate areas.")
2. Department: Advising, Recruiting, Labs, work study, clubs, etc.
   
3. Community: Consulting, Speaking

Challenges

1. Balancing the three roles (same as in graduate school)
2. Networking (force yourself to talk to strangers)
3. Pressure of tenure and promotions (have a plan!)
   

Rewards: Research University

• Love of research and freedom to do research that you want
• Working on research with graduate students
• Involving undergraduates in research
• Making friends across the world
• Variety of work
• Creating the kind of career that you want - independently (as long as you meet
  

Rewards: Primarily Undergraduate Institution

• Opportunity to teach as a passion
• Close relationship with undergrads
• Colleagues in various departments
• Chance for leadership and influence
• Flexible schedule (especially nice for families)
  

How do you find a teaching position at a primarily teaching institution?
- Chronicle of Higher Education, ACM postings; find a geographical area you are interested in and search the local colleges; CCSC regional conferences; CRA has a website of job openings

My Question: Each of the speakers discussed their 'love & joy' of an academic career path, what are the drawbacks?
Answer: The first response was "NONE, I love my job, nothing compares to it." Then they discussed the pressure of getting tenure and said that you can do it and if you are prepared it is not 'as difficult'

0 PhD or Not???? (pt.1)

On Sunday, Luis Von Ahn, a Professor of Computer Science wrote a blog entry in response to a Chronicle of Higher Education article that strongly recommends not going to graduate school in the humanities. I found the article particularly timely because I am debating whether to work or pursue a PhD program after graduation. The article shed some light on the realities of pursuing a PhD in Computer Science (vs other disciplines) and career opportunities after graduations. Essentially, I was left asking myself the following questions (being that I'm interested in a faculty/teaching position):

1. What type of lifestyle do I want to live in 10 - 15 years (after graduation, once I'm settled in my career)?
   
2. What type of lifestyle do CS Professors live? Do they have a life outside of work?
3. What are my career objectives? Is it just to teach? Or teach and do research?
4. Are people with PhD's in CS actually getting their desired job????
5. Since I don't attend a "Top 10" program ... what are my career options??
   

Let’s start with numbers. The number of people who graduate from “top 10” computer science programs every year is approximately 250. Conversely, the number of faculty positions that get filled at “top 50” research universities is about 25. That’s a ratio of about 10%, which doesn’t sound so bad (certainly not as bad as in the humanities), but there are two things that make the situation actually bad: (1) Notice that I took graduates from “top 10” programs and placed them in “top 50” programs, so this is not quite a fair comparison. The ratio becomes more like 4% if you count all graduates from “top 50” programs. At CMU, when we advertise a single faculty opening, we get approximately 500 applicants. That’s a success ratio of 0.2%. (2) The people who enroll in “top 10” computer science programs have already beaten the odds more than once. (From Luis von Ahn's blog)

I encourage you to read the article because I thought it was really thought provoking. I love computing, but the past 6 years (in school), I've been so overwhelmed with coursework, that it took that love away. I'm looking to rekindle that love ... do I accomplish this by pursuing a PhD or finding a job (now) that I love?

Interested in your thoughts (PLEASE POST COMMENTS :) then I will come back with part 2.