May 26, 2022
The PhD Journey:
Strategies for Enrolling, Thriving, and Excelling in a PhD Program
Dr. Gladys Chepkirui Ngetich
Aviva Publishing (2022)
ISBN: 978-1-63618-174-5
New Book Offers Strategies for Excelling in Earning a PhD
Dr. Gladys Chepkiru Ngetich’s new book The PhD Journey: Strategies for Enrolling, Thriving, and Excelling in a PhD Program is the book every prospective or current PhD student will want as a tool to help them get through their PhD program with grace and success.
Dr. Ngetich earned her PhD at the University of Oxford in England. She was awarded the Rhodes Scholarship for her studies and completed her degree in 2019, so her experiences are recent and applicable. While she earned her degree in the field of engineering, she includes interviews with fifteen other students who studied in various fields at different universities worldwide. Most of them earned PhDs, but a few of them share why they chose not to pursue this higher degree. In fact, the first topic Dr. Ngetich explores is how to determine whether a PhD program is right for you.
After discussing that topic, she dives into choosing which program to attend. In some cases, this decision may largely depend on funding. Dr. Ngetich received the Rhodes Scholarship, which is only taken at the University of Oxford, so that helped make the decision for her. She discusses how to find financial assistance, scholarships, or assistantships to help fund your degree. Then she moves on to the topics of finding an advisor, determining your area of study and thesis or dissertation topic, and tips on how to do your research and schedule your viva voce (dissertation defense).
Those may sound like straightforward steps, but there are so many details and activities between them to accomplish. Since Dr. Ngetich was traveling to another country to study, she had to consider things like getting a visa and health insurance. As a foreign student, she also had to brush up on her writing skills. Others may need to learn about different technologies that will aid them in their research or acquire certain research skills that will make their journey easier.
Dr. Ngetich does not overlook the toll the journey can take on us mentally and emotionally. Earning a PhD is a huge time commitment that can take several years and is labor-intensive. She discusses how to manage your time, how to determine a work and a play schedule that works best for you (play time is important to keep your sanity), how to find support from other students, and how to prepare yourself for an unfamiliar environment.
A student’s confidence is one of the biggest factors that may need a boost during the PhD journey. Dr. Ngetich remarks how it is an unwritten rule never to ask a PhD student how their research or thesis writing is coming along because it can prick a PhD student’s delicate flesh. She also discusses how intelligence is not the only skill needed. No matter how smart you are, you must be dedicated to doing the work, and hopefully passionate about it, or at least interested enough in your field and research topic that you will make it through the long haul. Love of your subject matter, love of discovery, and wanting to be an expert in your field will help pull you through.
However, sometimes, no matter how much you love your PhD journey, it will not only not love you back, but possibly smack you in the face, so you must be prepared for setbacks and learn to cope with them. In such difficult moments, fear and impostor syndrome can set in, so Dr. Ngetich gives advice for overcoming them. We also must be willing to fail and learn from our mistakes. If we try to be perfect, we will only set ourselves up for disappointment. Sometimes we need to experience being stuck, procrastinating, taking a break, and just being kind to ourselves for a little while so we can get back on the path to earning our PhD.
As someone who has been on a PhD journey, I could relate to almost everything Dr. Ngetich discusses, even though my PhD is in literature and I earned it more than twenty years ago. I enjoyed reading about some of the technology differences that exist to benefit students today—we had no computer programs to organize our research or ebooks to search for quotes in those days. I could also relate to the homesickness or sense of displacement Dr. Ngetich felt, even though I traveled less than five hundred miles to earn my degree. Overall, I wish I had owned a copy of this book before I embarked on my PhD journey, plus I know I would have consulted it numerous times throughout the journey.
Finally, one added element that makes The PhD Journey especially valuable to students studying abroad is that Dr. Ngetich, a Kenyan, was a foreign student at Oxford. She discusses instances of racism and microaggression she experienced, as well as how she sometimes felt out of place; at a conference she attended, she was told she did not look like an engineer and someone even handed her a paper cup to throw away, assuming she was staff. Fortunately, she rose above such challenges. She found other foreign students to bond with, and they were there to support her when the difficulties of being far from home reached their climax with the death of her brother. People make tremendous sacrifices to earn a PhD and better their lives, and only those who have undergone the journey can understand how difficult it can be. And yet, like Gladys, I can tell you it was all worth it in the end.
I highly recommend The PhD Journey to anyone who is in a PhD program or considering entering one. It would also be a wonderful resource for PhD students’ spouses and family members to read so they can understand their loved one’s journey and how best to support them. I applaud Dr. Ngetich for sharing her experiences and wisdom so the road can be a little smoother for those who follow her.
For more information about Dr. Gladys Ngetich and The PhD Journey, visit www.GladysChepkirui.com.
— Tyler R. Tichelaar, PhD and award-winning author of King Arthur’s Children and The Gothic Wanderer
