[Air-L] Reminder: It's time to encourage students to consider Ph.D. programs (and: consider ours!)

Paula Todd paulatoddmedia at gmail.com
Fri Nov 5 08:52:13 PDT 2021 

Yes ... but a quick addition ... some universities do offer PhDs on a
*part-time* basis, not just to full-time students. That might be worth
adding as people in challenging circumstances (caregivers, and those with
intersectional, physical, and income challenges) often work more than one
job and/or have demands that put the luxury and joy of studying full-time
out of reach. This is a painful reality for many, but as you so inspiringly
point out, there are ways to get the education you deserve!

PJ

On Fri, Nov 5, 2021 at 10:17 AM Mark Chen <markchen at u.washington.edu> wrote:

> Hi Christian,
>
> Thank you for writing and including that list faq. It's soooo useful
> and does a great job of making the whole thing less opaque!
>
> mark
>
> On Fri, Nov 5, 2021 at 5:17 AM Christian Sandvig <csandvig at umich.edu>
> wrote:
>
> > Dear AoIR colleagues,
> >
> > I sent this email out at about this time last year and I received some
> > positive feedback from it so I thought I would send it again this year. I
> > decided to go to grad school when one of my profs suggested it. At that
> > time I was not very clear about what a PhD was. That conversation changed
> > my life. If you are a professor I'm writing to ask you to consider having
> > this conversation with your promising students right now. If you are a
> > student, maybe there is no prof like that who can have this conversation
> > with you, so please feel free imagine that I'm having it with you.
> >
> > We are recruiting in my PhD program (
> > https://lab.csandvig.people.si.umich.edu/join/). One of the challenges
> for
> > prospective Ph.D. students, especially those from groups that are
> > underrepresented in doctoral education, is simply that it is hard to
> figure
> > out how Ph.D. programs work in plain language. Here's how our Ph.D.
> program
> > works -- many US institutions work the same way:
> >
> >    - The deadline is usually December 1 every year.
> >    - The GRE exam isn’t required.
> >    - If the application fee (US$70-90) is a barrier to your application,
> we
> >    will waive the fee. Write to the relevant graduate program’s email
> > address
> >    for help with this.
> >    - The Ph.D. is full-time. Part-time degrees are not possible.
> >    - The Ph.D. takes about 4 years to complete. Usually the first 2 years
> >    involve mostly coursework, the last 2 years involve mostly research.
> >    - You do not have to pay tuition to get a Ph.D. Successful applicants
> >    are paid for 4 years as apprentice teachers and researchers. During
> this
> >    time you make about US$23,000 per year for about 8 months of work.
> > Summer
> >    funding is also possible. You receive health, life, and dental
> > insurance.
> >    - You do not need to be a US Citizen to be admitted. International
> >    students are common. You do not need to be a US Citizen to have your
> >    tuition paid and receive the money described just above.
> >    - You don’t need a master’s degree to apply, but it may help you stand
> >    out from other applicants.
> >    - You do need a bachelor’s degree to apply, but it does not have to be
> >    in a particular field. You can apply with any bachelor’s degree if you
> > make
> >    the case that you have some relevant background or experience.
> >    - Ph.D. students are adults. It is completely OK to return to school
> for
> >    the Ph.D. after working.
> >    - There is additional funding for students whose admission will reduce
> >    disparities in graduate education. You do not need to apply separately
> > for
> >    this funding, but you must mention the relevant circumstances in your
> >    application, for instance in your personal statement. As one example,
> >    additional resources may be available if you are a US citizen, green
> > card
> >    holder, or DACA and you:
> >       - have an educational, cultural, or geographic background that is
> >       underrepresented
> >       - have demonstrated a commitment to diversity
> >       - have experienced financial hardship
> >       - are the first in your family to graduate from a four-year college
> >       - are the first in your family to be a US Citizen
> >    - It’s OK if you don’t e-mail your prospective advisor(s) in advance,
> or
> >    if you do e-mail them and they don’t respond. Your application will
> > still
> >    be considered seriously. A lot of profs don’t answer these e-mails
> > because
> >    they receive so many, or they only reach out only to admitted Ph.D.
> >    students not prospective ones.
> >
> >
> > Some additional details that only apply to our lab group: It's a little
> > personally embarrassing, but in order to improve our outreach to
> > prospective students I've been experimenting with video. My video is a
> > little bit like a late-night TV ad for a used-car lot, except I'm
> > advertising getting a PhD in Information OR Communication & Media with my
> > lab group: https://lab.csandvig.people.si.umich.edu/join/
> >
> > Infra.Lab is a multi-disciplinary research group at the University of
> > Michigan dedicated to “just” technology (as in justice) at the ESC
> Center.
> > We investigate the intermingled social and technical aspects of computing
> > and digital media technologies and their implications for society. Our
> > approaches include human-computer interaction; science and technology
> > studies; policy research on politics, laws, and institutions; design;
> > software development; artistic practice; and more. Our recent work has
> > focused on racial and gender discrimination by algorithmic systems,
> > negative consequences of targeted advertising, inequality and social
> media
> > use, and the future of technology policy. We are recruiting prospective
> > Ph.D. students with interests in tech and human rights, civil rights,
> > social justice, racial justice, and inequality.
> >
> > We are building a diverse, equitable, and inclusive community. We
> > particularly want applications from people who are interested in
> addressing
> > the perspectives or needs of groups that have been historically
> underserved
> > by academic research, computing, and digital media.
> >
> > Please feel free to forward this email or steal text from it for your own
> > purposes.
> >
> > Sincerely,
> > Christian
> >
> > --
> > Christian Sandvig
> > Director, Center for Ethics, Society, and Computing (ESC)
> > H. Marshall McLuhan Collegiate Professor
> > Information, Communication & Media
> > University of Michigan
> > http://esc.umich.edu/ -- http://umich.edu/~csandvig/
> > _______________________________________________
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> >
> > Join the Association of Internet Researchers:
> > http://www.aoir.org/
>
>
>
> --
> You see before you *Mark Chen, PhD*.
> Above his head appears a label that changes every time you look at it
> between "*Hoodie-Wearing Games Scholar Thug*," "*PT Lecturer at UW
> Bothell*," and
> "*A very happy young girl looking forward to a bright and wonderful
> future.*
> "
> Do you send him a tweet (*@mcdanger* <http://twitter.com/mcdanger>), check
> out his website (*markdangerchen.net* <http://markdangerchen.net/>), or
> respond to this email?
> His desk and surroundings are on fire as he smiles and says, "*everything
> is fine*."
> _______________________________________________
> The Air-L at listserv.aoir.org mailing list
> is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org
> Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at:
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