Thinking critically and recognising what I don’t know

There’s a lot of benefit of coming to a PhD research project as a mature student but it’s not without shortcomings.

Understanding what you don't know is a good place to start a learning journey. There are several areas where I need to develop skills quickly.

A skills audit as part of my induction at Leeds Business School identified more than 20 areas for development, ranging from information literacy to research strategy and methods, and from critical thinking to intellectual property and copyright.

There are three areas in which my knowledge and expertise fall short for academic research.

Critical thinking

My learning style is assimilation. I read a book, discuss it with a colleague or my partner who works in the same industry, and apply any learnings in practice. My writing style is the same. Occasionally I will seek out multiple points of view on an issue or topic. Critical thinking demands broad investigation, awareness of bias, discussion and debate, reflection, and reporting.

Debate and argument

Adapting my thinking and writing style is going to be my biggest challenge. It’s an intellectual game of mind wrestling. I’ve gone back to basics and sought out books such as Rhetoric, Straight and Crooked Thinking, and Thinking about Thinking. That’s my reading list for my first month.

Reflective learning

A systematic literature review might involve sifting thousands of academic papers to find around 100-150 that relate to a research question. Reading those papers and reflecting on them critically is a massive undertaking. I need to find the time and space to do this within the next few months.

The job for my first year is to refine my research question, overhaul my research proposal, and present it to my supervisor and a research panel. Already it is clear that I’ve been too broad in my ambition for my research studies but that’s a good place to start a literature review and seek out a research gap.

I was warned that direct entry to a PhD without studying a Masters degree would necessitate a steep learning curve however the research community is a welcoming and friendly bunch.

I’m starting to build a network via Twitter (#phdlife #phdchat #AcademicTwitter) and the university. The How to PhD podcast hosted by Dr Arun Ulahannan and Dr Julia Gauly is a must listen for anyone starting out. I’ve also sought out a PhD mentor to help keep me on track.

We’re encouraged to write a reflective diary as part of the learning process. I’m also planning to blog along the way.