Expectations of PhD programs versus reality

Following the welcome reception of Dr. Michelle Martin Monday, I was able to catch up with Dr. Lewis - as well as Dr. Keeling - and pick their brains on an issue that I had found somewhat troubling.

Before I entered this program, I was told by countless people to remember that the PhD is a research degree. It's a research degree. It's not a teaching degree, it's a research degree. It's not writing degree, its a research degree. And so on.

This was, of course, good advice, as it forced me to think seriously about why I was trying to enter a PhD program and whether I actually should (obviously, I decided that I believed it was the right move for me, hence my being here).

But, I guess after having it drilled into my head so much that the PhD was a research degree, I came in with the expectation that my coursework in this program would probably be completely research methodology coursework and other types of coursework aimed solely at helping one learn how to research effectively in order to publish and survive in academia.

That is not the case at all with this program. In fact, there are only 15 hours of course credit for "core courses" that are 800-level. These 800-level courses aren't necessarily "research" courses either. There are requirements to take one quantitative research class and one qualitative research class. And beyond that, it seemed as though the coursework was not drastically different from masters level coursework.

So I asked Dr. Lewis and Dr. Keeling if this was dramatically different from their PhD education experiences, and told them what I had thought the PhD coursework would likely consist of. It was very reaffirming to hear that they didn't feel that the PhD requirements here at USC were dramatically different from those at other institutions. They let me know that I probably did come in with expectations that were a bit warped.

This was very reassuring for me. One of my primary concerns, of course, is that I get an education that will be respected at other institutions. Part of this is knowing that South Carolina expects the same of its students that other schools with longer-standing PhD programs expect of there own students. Since, of course, Dr. Lewis did not obtain her PhD from USC, it was reassuring to hear someone educated elsewhere affirm that the coursework here is comparable to other institutions.