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Improving PhD programmes
Nov 05, 2007: In my previous article, Revisiting PhD programmes, I focused on the need
of having rigorous procedures for admission, course work, and thesis
supervision. I also referred to the need of some basic resources, i.e.,
permanent qualified faculty, rich and contemporary library, and accessibility of
supervisors. The article underlined the need of enrolling small size of cohorts
in PhD programmes as in PhD programmes research phase is the most vital part of
the programmes and thesis supervision is manageable with small number of
students.
It is, however, observed that in the absence of permanent
qualified faculty a number of universities have enrolled students in the absence
of sufficient resources, planning, and will. Let me elucidate this point with
the help of an example in the city of Lahore. Only three universities of Lahore
have about 150 students enrolled in PhD in the area of education. The
adviser/advisee ratio is very low. A large number of these students have
finished their coursework and are stuck in the research phase for one or the
other reason. One can imagine the large number of students enrolled in the
universities throughout the country.
Majority of these students do not
even get to the stage of thesis writing. They seem to have little idea of how to
go about their research theses. Either they themselves were unable to cope with
the challenge or their supervisors were not accessible. They underestimated the
whole procedure, as perhaps coursework was not that challenging for them as
compared to the demands of research. Most of the students got this impression or
were given this impression that entering a PhD programme guarantees their
degree.Despite the unprecedented incentives given by the Higher Education
Commission we could not produce sizeable number of quality PhDs indigenously.
This suggests weak and ineffective academic processes in most of the
universities. As a result some of the local PhDs became controversial as it
seemed that they didn't go through the rigorous journey of PhD. A faculty member
in a leading educational institution in Lahore wrote to me in response to my
previous article. She lamented the quality of PhD theses, which has become a big
question mark. She said that "the authenticity of the degrees awarded as a
result by indigenous universities leave a lot in question". She wrote: "I
recently had the chance of looking at somebody's PhD thesis in an
ELT/Linguistics related area and the work seemed to be mere accumulation of
data. At the risk of sounding disparaging -- anyone could have written this
thesis by paraphrasing information from about 10 books! And then table followed
table and graph trundled down graph. I wonder if the candidate got his degree?
It was the final draft, and it didn't look like any supervisor had ever had a
look at it."
Another academic, Khadim Hussain sent his response from
Islamabad focusing on the problem of plagiarism. "I recently conducted an
analysis of 200 approved PhD/ MPhil theses of five well-known universities of
Pakistan. They had copied the whole paragraphs from renowned authors found in
some other writers. They borrowed ideas but did not cite assuming that they had
effectively transformed the text into their own writing. Literature reviews in
90 per cent of theses analyzed were just log staffing of several works and their
quotes without identifying the theoretical frameworks and the issues related to
their research question. Their methodology was often vague and they did not have
a coherent argument – usually containing internally contradictory statements.
The theses analyzed had not scrupulously observed the standard international
formats of organization."
The above statements are a sad commentary on
the state of most PhD programmes in Pakistan. Interestingly some of these simply
disappear. They are not found in the libraries. The simple reason is that the
researchers feel insecure about the quality their product. When I contacted the
HEC's member, operations and planning, and wanted to know his opinion about the
issue, he talked about the HEC initiative to upload the PhD theses online. The
initiative, according to him, is to disseminate research, to acknowledge the
work of scholars, and to make researchers accountable to their work. To make
this initiative effective, he said, the relevant institutions needed to ensure
that the individuals belonging to them should be encouraged to send their theses
to the HEC's digital library.
I firmly believe that to enhance quality
of our PhD programmes the universities themselves have to get their act
together. The HEC's rules and monitoring cannot work unless the concerned
institutions themselves do not have an ongoing effective internal monitoring
system. There are a few good examples of PhD programmes as well who have
developed their own quality control mechanism. If we analyze the good examples
we see some common attributes, one, sufficient resources, two, efficient
internal academic bodies, three, very small cohort of students, four, good
advisor/advisee ratio five, sound quality control procedures. One such good
example with these attributes in the area of Education is Institute for
Educational Development (IED) of the Aga Khan University. Dr Memon, the director
of the IED, told me that his institution started the PhD programme after
extensive planning. In their first PhD cohort only fours students were taken.
Admission is allowed only every other year. In the second cohort only five
students are taken. Every student is given a space for office with computer and
internet facilities.
When we compare this example with mainstream
universities we realize that PhD students are not given this kind of academic
and resource support. Lack of facilities and guidance do impact the quality of
research. Students coming out of ill-prepared PhD programmes are at a
disadvantage. Even if some of them manage to get the degree they do not feel
confident enough to put their theses with confidence in a library. A PhD degree
taken through non rigorous system may bring the title of "Dr" and related perks
but cannot bring a change at academic and intellectual levels in a person. Such
PhDs are a good manifestation of the so-called 'PhD let-down syndrome' because
it is not your degree that justifies you but its you who have to justify your
degree.
The writer is a professor and director of the Centre for
Humanities & Social Sciences at Lahore School of Economics. Email:
shahidksiddiqui@yahoo.com (The News)
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Education News| Updated: 09 Jan, 2009 |
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