Having struggled through the PhD process myself (I wish I could say that it was a smooth ride, but it wasn’t), and obtaining the degree, I have taken it upon myself to ensure that my own PhD students (and other faculty members’) don’t ever suffer the things I did. I have spent a substantial amount of time mentoring PhD students, even those who are not my own, simply because I had mentorship and I believe I should pay it forward too.
Though I don’t want to make it like everything was a struggle (I had a fantastic, intellectually stimulating and human PhD supervisor), I did face challenges, and I survived them. Not small challenges, mind you. But here I am, on a tenure-track assistant professor position, having a grand time.
I won’t repeat them my grad school woes now, but my advice to graduate students is: DON’T EVER LOSE HOPE #PhDChat#PhDAdvice That is all.
I cannot write a recipe for PhD success because what worked for me may not have worked for someone else, but there is one thing (and I mentioned it on Twitter, again one of my most retweeted and favorited tweets) that I encourage PhD students to do is to maintain hope. Regardless of whether they choose to complete the degree (an entirely personal choice – I saw many friends of mine quit their PhDs, some of them in fact several years into the PhD with a substantial part of thesis draft already written), I cannot say that I believe giving up hope is an option.
Stay strong out there, PhD students. And if there is anything I can do to help, feel free to reach out.
I’m not going to be the one to solve the broken publishing system (though I do try really hard to make all of my research publicly available – Redalyc is a great help in that regard, since everything I have published in Spanish is freely available – Redalyc is the Latin American Network of Scientific Journals (though they also cover Iberoamerica, Spain and Portugal). But in the aftermath of Aaron Swartz’s passing, I can’t help but feel a stronger burning desire to push for open access to research worldwide (at least, to MY research). Swartz was a fervent advocate of open access.
Coincidentally (last week, before Swartz’ passing and the worldwide outpouring of academic sympathy known now as #PDFTribute), I tweeted along the #OverlyHonestMethods – my tweet became one of my most retweeted and favorited, which I think (yes, I know, anecdotal evidence! but bear with me for a second) showcases how many of my colleagues feel that the publishing system is broken.
I would have cited your mildly relevant paper in my manuscript but it’s paywalled and non-open-access #OverlyHonestMethods
The number of papers I find online that “seem” relevant (reading the abstract) and that I am unable to judge by their quality is staggering. They are pay-walled. I’m lucky that all the universities where I’ve been a faculty member in the past 6 years (and where I did my Masters and PhD) have had extremely robust online access to databases, but what of other academics, students and the general public who aren’t so lucky?
I don’t want to enter the debate on the economics of publishing and open access per se (my scholarly research is in comparative environmental public policy) but I feel even more encouraged (and a sense of duty) now to publish Open Access even more than I have so far.
I have given numerous talks, led many workshops and mentored many a professor on how to use Twitter to engage with their students and the public at large. But every so often I will find a colleague who is not on social media who will ask me why they should be on Twitter (as an example, of all the social networks out there). I took to my own followers on Twitter to ask them (the vast majority of them are academics) why they are on Twitter. Below is the Storify version of our conversation.
Why should academics be on Twitter?
I have written ad nauseam on why I am on social media, as an academic. A colleague of mine at CIDE Region Centro asked me why was it important. This is the series of responses I received to my query, just to showcase how powerful social media is.
Academics (professors, adjunct faculty, and graduate students) share similar objectives and strategies on why they are on Twitter.
@raulpacheco Organic, non-obsequious, non-networky networking with people you might not otherwise meet.Nils-Hennes Stear
. @raulpacheco I know why I am on Twitter: ‘How I stopped worrying about privacy and learned to love twitter’: https://sites.google.com/site/ranilillanjum/twitter/love-twitterRani Lill Anjum
Geoff Salomons (PhD student, Political Science at UBC) shares his thoughts in a series of tweets.
@raulpacheco 1) learning. I’ve found it invaluable to keep up to date on current events in my field (environment policy) that I can’t getGeoff Salomons
@raulpacheco 1) cont. from a single news source. For example while working on a paper on #NGP would be commentary from NYT, WSJ, EconomistGeoff Salomons
@raulpacheco 2) networking about different aspect of profession. I have a grad school list for stuff like #acwrimo. And #phdchat.Geoff Salomons
@raulpacheco 3) info dissemination. This is just another mode of communication. Helps profs to get out of academic bubble.Geoff Salomons
@raulpacheco 4) occasionally laugh. See #overlyhonestmethodsGeoff Salomons
I have made elsewhere these points, but I would add that the emotional component shared by Aven McMaster is one I have often overlooked.
@raulpacheco @lizgloyn I have found interesting teaching ideas & invaluable emotional & practical support for teaching issues.Aven McMaster
@raulpacheco @lizgloyn These are all particularly valuable to me because I am in a small & isolated dept, but would be useful regardless.Aven McMaster
I have worked hard at making sure my students know I’m a human too, and David Moscrop’s point rings home.
@raulpacheco Profs need to be humanized – all the better to encourage and facilitate approachability, dialogue, and participation.David Moscrop
Sharing thoughts and ideas is one of the key reasons why I am on Twitter. Even ideas in draft form!
@raulpacheco @lizgloyn I have also been able to bounce ideas off other people in my discipline & ask for pointers to sources for topics.Aven McMaster
@raulpacheco And you see links to those who share research & other interests + building community in a time/cost effective wayDenise Turner
@raulpacheco because you’ll hear about news & field developments you’d otherwise miss.wyzwomyn
@raulpacheco Follow a diversity of people; find new interests you didn’t know even existed.Mark Jull
@raulpacheco links to ideas and controversies of professional academic concern — these rarely hit mainstream news.Merle Massie
@raulpacheco @NSRiazat instant access to bang-up-to-date information, especially in economics/financeGreg Bremner
The networking aspect can’t be overestimated.
@raulpacheco @lizgloyn I have had people look things up for me in other libraries and access resources I don’t have, to help me.Aven McMaster
@raulpacheco Ability to follow and interact with live tweets of academic events like conferences etc.Donna M. Alexander
@raulpacheco meaningful connections with academics in your research area & interdisciplinary relationships. Info on CFPs/events/publicationsDonna M. Alexander
Knowledge mobilization and dissemination is one of the main reasons why I am (and many other academics are) on Twitter.
@raulpacheco Ability to share your research with the public and other academics by sharing links to published work, conf papers, SFPs etcDonna M. Alexander
@raulpacheco a million reasons, but my favourites are the support network and chance to share your work with wide audienceLucy Shipley
@raulpacheco Why would you not? As researchers/academics we want our work disseminated & our reputation’s to be known – what better way?Denise Turner
Fun is also one reason 🙂
@raulpacheco because of #overlyhonestmethods and #OverlyHonestReviews … amongst other reasonsrachel
I recently wrote on public intellectualism, and one of the reasons why I am a staunch advocate of open access is because I believe we have a duty with the public to share our knowledge and engage in solving society’s problems.
@raulpacheco Public engagementDonna M. Alexander
But the main reason why I follow my students, and why I think it’s important that professors are on Twitter is the following:
@raulpacheco also because your students are.wyzwomyn
My students engage with me on Twitter to ask questions about assignments, interact with themselves, learn from other academics, network. I am someone who is extremely focused on students, therefore I have all the more reason to be on Twitter. And you can ask my own former students: Twitter has been a useful tool for them too!
I am delighted to share with you the news that my department (and campus!) are hiring! Please forward this announcement to anyone you know who might fit the bill.
Faculty Opening: Tenure-track Assistant Professor position.
Department of Public Administration/CIDE‐Región Centro
The Department of Public Administration at CIDE (Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas) solicits applicants for a tenure-track, assistant professor faculty position in our Aguascalientes Campus (CIDE Región Centro).
CIDE is a public research center specialized in the social sciences, offering high‐quality undergraduate and graduate programs. Salaries are competitive nationally and internationally. The usual teaching load is one course per semester. Applicants must be fluent in Spanish as it is the working language at CIDE. The chosen candidate should be able to teach courses in the areas of Public Policy, Federalism and Local Government, and Public Management.
We welcome candidates from public administration, public policy, law, political science, or other related fields. Candidates are required to have a doctorate degree, a solid background in theory and research methods, and an interest in studying public affairs. Applications from candidates without the degree will only be considered if they include a letter from the chair of the committee stating a date for the defense of the doctoral dissertation. The latter should occur before the end of 2013.
Applicants should send the following documents in PDF format to wendolyn(.)veana(@)cide.edu before April 14, 2013.
‐ Research and teaching plan for the next three years (no longer than three pages.)
‐ Curriculum Vitae
‐ Writing sample (the candidate should be the first author, preferably a refereed journal article or two chapters of the doctoral dissertation.)
‐ Three letters of recommendation.
CIDE is an equal opportunity employer committed to the promotion of diversity(*). For further information please visit CIDE’s webpage.
The PDF version below contains the job advertisement in Spanish-language first and then in English.
This year, I participated in #AcWriMo (an effort initiated by Dr. Charlotte Frost to encourage academics to focus almost solely on writing, I assume with the intent that their productivity goes up). I even joined the Google Documents’ AcWriMo Accountability Database so that I could track my progress. I was quickly derailed in reporting back on my progress simply because I had so much writing to do. So, now that #AcWriMo is over, here are my quick notes on what I learned and a summary of my progress.
I must admit that I love doing these posts on what I have learned because I then have a permanent record to revisit. I will come back to this post and check what worked for me on a regular basis.
During #AcWriMo2012, I
– Wrote a first draft of 6 journal articles (all in English). Still rough, but thy are there.
– Polished 2 journal articles’ drafts (all in English) to the point where they are almost working papers.
– Edited (with a former student of mine) one journal article to the point where it’s almost ready for submission to the journal.
– Re-wrote 3 chapters of my single-authored book on sanitation.
– Created a “Research Output” document that summarizes how much research I have produced in 2 of my projects (I still need to do this for the remainder of my papers)
– Edited a first draft of a journal article in Spanish that I am submitting this month with another professor from CIDE Region Centro.
– Wrote abstracts for 4 conferences for 2013.
– Created a master overview of my waste pickers project.
– Prepared a survey and literature review on water conflict at the local level.
– Performed a literature review on social science research methods.
On non-writing-but-still-academic duties, I also:
– Read a PhD dissertation (I’m an external examiner) and provided detailed feedback for the student and PhD advisor.
– Presented 1 draft paper at a seminar in Mexico City.
– Prepared 5 lists of books (with the help of my research assistants) for CIDE Region Centro’s library to purchase.
– Attended a full-day strategic planning retreat for CIDE Region Centro
– Participated in 3 scholarly events not related to my discipline, but organized by CIDE Region Centro.
– Gave 2 entirely different talks at 2 conferences.
– Wrote my Research Plan 2013, my Research Trajectory 2013-2016, and my Productivity Report 2012.
– Reviewed a book proposal for a publisher.
– Reviewed 15 paper proposals and 3 panel proposals for a conference.
– Organized 3 social activities at CIDE Region Centro.
– Gave 2 interviews to media (1 to a newspaper, 1 on TV).
– Wrote 1 op-ed for The Ubyssey (the student newspaper at UBC)
– Wrote 2 blog posts on my research blog.
– Edited 1 press release on my research to go to media.
– Wrote 5 letters of reference for several former undergraduate students.
Overall, against what people might think (that November is a slow month), mine was quite hectic. I did learn a lot from trying to do AcWriMo the right way, so here are some lessons for myself and for anyone who wants to do AcWriMo.
1). Write EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. This is something that helped me move forward and that every single academic coach will tell you to do. Write every single day. I would not let go any of the 30 days of this month (included Saturdays and Sundays) without writing something. A draft note, a series of concepts, a summary of ideas on a particular research project. Transcribe interview data. Create a list of headings for a journal article or a conference manuscript or for a book chapter.
2). Organize your calendar. I knew that this month would be hectic because of whatever non-writing duties I had to perform. So what I did was that I blocked time every single day to write. In my case, it was anywhere between 3:45am and 6:30am. I went to bed early and the first thing I did every morning was wake up, set a pot of coffee and write. Occasionally I would also read my social media streams, but for the most part I would just focus on write. Anybody who knows me knows that I schedule my life to the very last minute, and writing was always on the schedule.
3). Do NOT read your email in the morning. Much less on Monday mornings. Not sure why people tend to answer and send emails on Monday mornings much more frequently than any other day. I noticed this and decided that I will never answer emails first thing in the morning BEFORE writing. If I answer an email in the morning, it’s because I already have written something.
4). Quantify your output. I think the most motivating thing that I have created was my research output documents both for my report on what I did in 2012 and for the projects I am closing with a former student of mine on transboundary water conflict. Just knowing that THAT much work had been done and written keeps motivating me to continue doing stuff. Even if it’s 2 pages, I knew that I had already added 2 new pages to 13 pages of draft notes, etc. Even if just creating one abstract of 300 words, I felt that I had already moved forward.
5). Delegate as much as possible. The mantra I have imbued in my students and research assistants is “I need THIS done. YOU go figure out and do it”. This doesn’t mean that I don’t guide them through data searching and table/figure assembling, but it means that I give them enough freedom to figure out things without me micro-managing them. This attitude of empowering and enabling my students and research assistants frees up my time and brain power to focus on what is important.
6) Devote time every day to READ. Yes, you read right. The strangest thing about academic writing is that, if you don’t read, you can’t identify the gaps in the scholarly literature. By dedicating time every single day to read book chapters, books and articles, I have been able to see where I DON’T want to go in my research trajectory, and where I DO want to go.
7). Take regular breaks. Taking time away from your research is very important. It gives your brain some time to digest concepts and ideas. Despite my long days, I always take some time away. I go for short walks around the CIDE Region Centro campus, or read social media, or go for lunch with my colleagues, or simply take a bus to downtown Aguascalientes and walk around the Zocalo. Furthermore, because I visit my parents every weekend, I dedicate long chunks of time every Saturday and Sunday only to spend time with my parents. Go for a walk, go shopping, visit a new park or museum, etc.
If you participated in #AcWriMo, what did YOU learn?
During my tenure at The University of British Columbia’s Department of Political Science I taught some of the most applied courses in the undergraduate curriculum. This was partly luck, because the department needed me to teach those types of course, and partly my own design. Even if the courses were theoretical (like Global Environmental Politics, POLI 375A), I always made sure to include a component that was applied (writing policy reports, creating synthetic index cards on policy issues for busy politicians and bureaucrats, researching and synthesizing data and presenting it in the form of a policy memorandum). At CIDE Región Centro, I plan to do the same: build courses that teach employable skills.
In fact, (who you know actually does matter, you know, Granovetter and the strength of weak ties and all that).
While I don’t do research on public policy issues related to the workforce and employment, I know enough from my own experience talking to undergraduate students and graduate who have taken my courses that their main concern is whether they will be able to get a job after graduation. This is not a small nor unwarranted concern. There are plenty of reasons to be worried. From Statistics Canada’s website:
The percentage of all Canadian youth age 15 to 29 that are neither in education nor employment (NEET) has ranged between 12% and 14% over the past decade, a rate that is relatively low among the G7 countries.
In Mexico, people neither in education nor employment (NEET) are designated “NINI” (Ni Estudian Ni Trabajan, an exact translation of the NEET acronym). At CIDE, Dr. Eva Arceo has done some research on NINIs, finding that 28.5% of the total population (8.6 million people) in the bracket are NiNis. Not a promising statistic, if you ask me.
I know that as a professor, I’m judged by the quality of my teaching (whatever that means), the soundness and robustness of my research programme and my contributions to the scholarly community. But I can’t help that even as I transitioned to my current position CIDE Región Centro I remain obsessed with helping my students land jobs. Articles like this thoughtful piece on Canada’s youth employment prospects aren’t helping me feel more at ease about my students’ prospects as they graduate. Neither in Canada nor in Mexico!
You may notice that among the key pieces of advice I give my undergraduate and graduate students is always to network. But networking is not enough. I wonder what else can we do as professors to help our students land jobs. Personally, I think it’s part of our duty as faculty members. Some of my fellow colleagues may disagree with me, and I am open to hearing from all viewpoints.
Maybe I’m obsessed because I have the mentoring ethic of my parents: once you agree to mentor someone, it’s a lifelong contract. Even to this day, I continue to write letters of reference for my former students at UBC and elsewhere. I still work to find ways to connect them to potential sources of employment. For whatever it is worth, I think it’s also part of my job and of the service I owe to my community.
Comments, as always, most welcome.
UPDATE: Below the Storify of my conversation with Edward Carr, Neil Sandell and Marc Bellemare on Twitter.
What employable skills should our students graduate with?
A summary of a conversation prompted by Neil Sandell’s post on The Toronto Star on Canada’s youth unemployment.
Storified by Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega · Sun, Dec 02 2012 07:29:08
As anyone who has known me for a while knows, I am obsessed with providing my students with employable or hire-able skills. I am definitely concerned about youth unemployment because of the several years I spent teaching in Canada and now in Mexico, I have good reasons to be concerned. This morning, I found myself reading Neil Sandell’s post on the bleak prospects for Canadian youth. I have taught hundreds of undergraduate students at UBC, and even though I taught some of the most applied courses (and even though I am not teaching at UBC right now), I never have stopped worrying about this topic. This prompted me to write some preliminary thoughts on what employable skills should our graduates have. I enjoyed a lovely conversation on Twitter with Ed Carr (University of South Carolina), Marc Bellemare (Duke University) and Neil Sandell himself, which I reproduce below.
@raulpacheco Thanks for the shoutout. One 20something I know credits her job in publshing to UBC arts co-op pgm. Co-ops shd be the norm.Neil Sandell
.@youngnjobless Full disclosure, I was a faculty member (and I’m still affiliated faculty) at UBC, might be biased, but UBC-s coop pgm rocksDr Raul Pacheco-Vega
@youngnjobless Two of my best and brightest students, @GlobalByMel and @kimberlyihughes worked doing coop at UBC, they thought it was greatDr Raul Pacheco-Vega
@raulpacheco Hard to gain a full knowledge cross-Can, but is co-op at BC univs a matter of policy? I hear good things about UVic too.Neil Sandell
@youngnjobless Not sure to be quite honest. #UVic’s coop program is also very good. I always encouraged my students to go coop route :)Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega
Below are the reactions and contributions of Ed Carr and Marc Bellemare.
@raulpacheco Really interesting post-we’re struggling with this in my dept right now as we retool the undergrad major…1/2Ed Carr
@raulpacheco Mostly we fail at undergrad education because we treat it too much like "grad light", w/o skills non-grads need 2/2Ed Carr
.@raulpacheco What skills do you try to make sure your undergrads leave with? @SlaughterAM @mfbellemare @Calestous @loomnieEd Carr
.@edwardrcarr Policy analysis, empirical data understanding as @mfbellemare aptly mentions, sound reasoning, writing skills, etc?Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega
.@edwardrcarr @SlaughterAM @mfbellemare @Calestous @loomnie I teach them how to write policy memos, policy reports and informational cardsDr Raul Pacheco-Vega
.@edwardrcarr @SlaughterAM @mfbellemare @Calestous @loomnie I also teach them how to do policy analysis *the Bardach methodDr Raul Pacheco-Vega
.@mfbellemare @edwardrcarr @SlaughterAM @Calestous @loomnie my post provides additional context on what skills I teach http://www.raulpacheco.org/2012/12/youth-unemployment-teaching-hire-able-skills-and-the-duty-of-a-professor/Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega
@edwardrcarr Thanks! That phenomenon ("grad light") is what I am trying to avoid. I want employable folks, not eternal grad students :)Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega
@raulpacheco Exactly! But that said, I’m not sure what skills a development-oriented undergrad should have…Ed Carr
@edwardrcarr @raulpacheco @SlaughterAM @Calestous @loomnie I want them to intuitively understand quantitative empirical results. (1/2)Marc F. Bellemare
@edwardrcarr @raulpacheco @SlaughterAM @Calestous @loomnie Then critical thinking–ability to disentangle causality from correlation (2/2).Marc F. Bellemare
@raulpacheco @edwardrcarr @SlaughterAM @Calestous @loomnie And yes, I too insist on their writing skills. Worst thing is losing your reader.Marc F. Bellemare
@raulpacheco @mfbellemare @SlaughterAM @Calestous @loomnie Thanks all – this is very useful. Need to make this actionable for my program…Ed Carr
This term has been incredibly instructive. Since moving from UBC Vancouver to CIDE Region Centro in Aguascalientes I have had the opportunity to start developing a number of research questions I had wanted to examine for a long time. I will fully admit that I am enjoying a full year of teaching release (2012-2013), a privilege that definitely has paid off (at UBC I had a 2-1-2 teaching load). Though I love teaching, being able to focus solely on research is giving my research programme a big boost.
I decided to write some quick notes on what I have learned this semester (it’s only November so technically I am not supposed to be taking stock before Christmas, but I don’t want to risk forgetting – you know, the myth of the forgetful professor is sometimes quite true!)
I) Don’t be afraid to test your preliminary thoughts in seminars and academic conferences
My research programme has matured quite a bit, I believe, because I have had the opportunity to test some of my preliminary thoughts at conferences and seminars. I used to be of the mind that you could ONLY present fully completed projects at seminars, I no longer do this. I have received some excellent feedback at early stages of my research projects and it’s been a good year to launch new projects. Three of my current projects were launched this year, precisely because of positive feedback I received at conferences last year. And other three projects received very good commentaries that helped me refine the research question.
II) Use conferences and seminars as drivers to encourage you to write
This 2012 I have written more preliminary drafts of papers than I had in previous years (I’ve drafted 8 papers and submitted 2 for peer review), and the main driver behind all this writing has been the fact that I promised to deliver a paper at a conference or seminar. Having a firm deadline to present some research findings, even if at an early stage, has prompted me to write more. For example, I was invited to present a paper at a seminar on transboundary water governance earlier this year. I had always been interested on delving more (after having published a journal article on this topic last year) on delving more into transboundary water conflict in North America, so I was forced to write down my thoughts even if in preliminary form simply because I needed an outline of what I was going to talk about (and prepare the slides for the talk!).
III) Use the feedback from conferences and seminars to polish your thoughts and refine your thinking
I used to be of the mind that recycling one’s thoughts was a big “no-no”. I rarely presented the same paper or gave the same talk at different conferences. This year, I have experimented with using consecutive seminars and conferences to refine parts of my project. After each academic event, I summarize what lessons I have learned from feedback I receive, and use it to polish my next talk. But I never give exactly the same talk.
For example, early this year I presented the preliminary outline of my research design for the comparative analysis of Latin American waste pickers’ behaviour at CALACS. I then used CALACS’ feedback to improve my talk and expand the analysis from three to four countries. Then at the research seminar I coordinate at CIDE, I presented a cross-regional comparison of conflict dynamics between Mexican waste pickers and their municipal governments, examining two cities as case studies (Leon and Aguascalientes). This paper will be a component of the book I am writing and of the larger, multi-country, multi-city project I am leading. Presenting cross-linked components of the same project at various conferences enabled me to refine my thinking process and fine tune the research strategy.
IV) Building original datasets counts as research output
While I have conducted field research for more than a decade, I often forget that one of the ways in which we can contribute to a body of knowledge is to build original datasets. For my dissertation, I collected data on that nobody else had had access to: an original dataset of number of inspections that PROFEPA (the Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection) had done to industry polluters. Nobody had accessed that kind of data nor had they assembled plant-level inspection data the way I did. And that’s original research and an original contribution. Somehow, after receiving my PhD, I seemed to forget that building a dataset is indeed a great contribution. And now, with the help of several of my students and colleagues I am building new original databases. This should (and does, for CIDE) count as research output.
V) Write every day. Every. Single. Day.
I have taken heed of the advice that 3 academic coaches will tell you (particularly if you are a young, up-and-coming, rising star) that you need to write EVERY DAY. Even if for 15 minutes, write every day. I have used, as I mention above, invited seminars and conferences, as drivers to force me to write draft papers. It also helped that I had already planned to participate in #AcWriMo, and that I knew I needed my book to be sent out for peer review before the end of the year. I also decided that *any* generative writing was good writing (e.g. any writing that moves me forward), rather than punish myself for not writing every day something related to a research article.
VI) Encourage interdisciplinary collaborations
I have always believe in collaborative work. At the core of my research programme is collaboration, in fact. I am currently co-authoring a paper with Aldo Ponce from CIDE’s Political Studies Division, and most of my 2012 production is collaborative. This is relatively new for me, as I used to want to do single-authored papers. But I now have been consolidating a research programme in intractable water problems, and I have had to force myself to learn to be more collaborative (e.g. with a broader variety of co-authors). The outcome has been stellar.
VII) Believe in people, trust people.
This is one of the biggest insights I have gained from I hired 3.5 research assistants (well, 4 but one is shared) and I just had to basically learn to trust them and guide them with little to no micro-management. I just tell my RAs (and student co-authors) “this is what I need, and you go ahead and do it“. I’ve been rewarded as I have been able to generate much more research output by just providing guidelines and trusting my RAs and collaborators that they will know how to .
VIII) Map out your research trajectory and research plan in advance
Towards the end of last week, I was asked to provide my Research Plan for 2013 and my Research Trajectory 2013-2016. Plotting a research trajectory requires in-depth thinking and organizing. The final output was a 20 page, single-spaced page document that helped me a lot to visualize where I am going intellectually and scholarly. I also have been jotting down little bits and details on the actual research process (e.g. budgeting issues – how much can I pay a research assistant, how much would I need to pay for transcription time, how many interviews per day can the research assistant conduct, etc.) This reflective process has been extremely helpful to refine my research interests and trajectory statement as well.
IX) Have a handbook of handwritten notes on your research.
Some people call this a “project notebook”, and I now have one. I basically write everything (which papers I am planning to write, which collaborations I am mapping out, etc) now by hand.
All of these reflections are specific to me, so I don’t want to generalize any lessons, or trends. But this is an insight I have gained during this term.
What is not to laugh is the sheer size of the wastewater and sanitation problem.
World Toilet Day is observed annually on 19 November. This international day of action aims to break the taboo around toilets and draw attention to the global sanitation challenge.
Can you imagine not having a toilet? Can you imagine not having privacy when you need to relieve yourself? Although unthinkable for those living in wealthy parts of the world, this is a harsh reality for many – in fact, one in three people on this globe, does not have access to a toilet! Have you ever thought about the true meaning of dignity?
World Toilet Day was created to pose exactly these kind of questions and to raise global awareness of the daily struggle for proper sanitation that a staggering 2.5 billion people face.
World Toilet Day brings together different groups, such as media, the private sector, development organisations and civil society in a global movement to advocate for safe toilets. Since its inception in 2001, World Toilet Day has become an important platform to demand action from governments and to reach out to wider audiences by showing that toilets can be fun and sexy as well as vital to life.
What follows below is a couple of paragraphs of the introduction to my (forthcoming) book on networked governance of wastewater. It is also the justification of why I am so keen on spreading the word about World Toilet Day: Because #IGiveAShit (yes, that’s the hashtag that the World Toilet Day folks are using – and yes, it’s a funny play on words – I do care deeply about sanitation, and below is just part of the reason why).
2.9 billion people worldwide do not have access to a toilet (George 2010). 894 million people lack access to safe water (World Water Assessment Project 2011). 2.5 billion people live without proper sanitation and 1.1 billion still defecate in the open (Joint Monitoring Programme 2012). Wastewater, and more importantly, human waste (carried through using fresh water) is still a taboo topic. People get excited about water, and worried about water abundance. Strangely enough, they don’t really think about wastewater, much less about how different the challenges from governing wastewater are with respect to governing freshwater or groundwater. This is what drives my research. I want to ensure that I bring the invisible forth.
Today 2.5 billion people, including almost one billion children, live without even basic sanitation. Every 20 seconds, a child dies as a result of poor sanitation. That’s 1.5 million preventable deaths each year (WWSC 2012). There are substantial economic gains to be made from investing in sanitation and water, estimated at US $170 billion per year. According to the Sanitation and Water for All initiative, if everyone had access to sanitation and water, the global health sector would save around US $15 billion every year. Still, despite the huge economic and health gains that could be made from paying enough attention to wastewater systems and implementing appropriate technologies, worldwide sanitation remains one of the most controversial taboo topics in public policy literature and as a result, policy sciences’ body of work suffers from a “culture of flushing” (Benidickson 2007).
I want to ensure that the culture of flushing is no longer the norm but the exception. I am not all that interested in “the exciting, the new”. I am interested in innovative projects, in cutting-edge, state-of-the-art scholarship. Understanding how to govern wastewater is precisely state-of-the-art thinking. Knowing the broad variety of ways in which governing freshwater is completely different from managing effluents has huge policy implications: it enables us to strengthen public health processes. It enhances our ability to prevent waterborne diseases. Learning how to govern wastewater enables us to close the hydrological cycle, and really take a systemic view of water that goes beyond traditional, engineering-based, uni-disciplinary approaches. Governing wastewater is one of the best ways to learn to govern ourselves.
I am actually quite surprised about the amount of coverage that World Toilet Day is getting. Definitely not in small amount due to the sheer power of social media. I’ll credit the folks at @WorldToilet and @WorldToiletDay for engaging in a very solid social media campaign to raise awareness (funny and engaging). Credit is due too to Matt Damon for helping raise awareness about the global sanitation crisis. In a world where we haven’t solved yet the sanitation crisis, it’s important not to forget that not everybody has access to a toilet, to proper infrastructure.
#IGiveAShit. So should you. Join the many initiatives worldwide to raise awareness and try to solve the sanitation crisis.
2.6 billion people don’t have access to a loo. You can link yours with one in Africa or Asia & help flush away poverty. From UK based charities Cord & Tearfund
– Toilet Hackers (Twitter)- Organizers of the Sanitation Hackathon.
“Hacking the world’s toilet crisis to improve access to sanitation and hygiene for 2.5 billion people”
Use The Public Toilet to raise awareness for the 1.1 billion who cannot go in private. Add your face from Nov 17 2012 at http://www.thepublictoilet.com.
Note: Canadian and Mexican media (and worldwide media): I will make myself available this weekend and also on World Toilet Day (this coming Monday, November 19th) to discuss the global sanitation crisis and why thinking about toilets should matter.
A few years ago, I thought of using NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month, which happens in November) as a driver to force me to complete my academic books (all four of which are at various stages of publication at the moment). Like it happens with almost anything, someone else thought of this idea too (PhD2Published, by Charlotte Frost), and a couple of years ago, if I’m not mistaken, this notion was formalized as AcBoWriMo (Academic Book Writing Month) and now, from what I read on Dr. Anna Tarrant’s blog, it’s going to be AcWriMo (Academic Writing Month).
While I don’t have an actual full academic/scholarly book to write and finish in a month (I have 3 proposals by academic presses wanting me to write textbooks, but I don’t think I’m going to go that route this November 2012), I do have a few journal articles that need to get out, so I’m going to join and would encourage you to join as well. 50,000 words is not a lot if you think about it and if you can focus enough.
I find that the toughest part of writing academic prose is not so much the willingness to just drop thoughts on paper (or on online documents), but editing and refining. Also, keeping myself accountable for word count and how much writing I am going to get done in a month. For me, participating in AcWriMo will probably mean that those journal articles my co-authors were expecting to get out for peer review *sometime* will actually be out *end of November 2012*. I think that’s a win-win situation!
My goal for AcWriMo 2012 is to get 8 journal articles out for peer review during November 2012. This may sound crazy, but from my previous experience, it is something I can achieve. Also, one of my books needs to be in press by then.
CIDE’s new campus in Aguascalientes (CIDE Region Centro) has been in operation for only a year, yet its faculty has grown to 15 professors already (between Assistant, Associate, Full and Visiting), with already 2 cohorts of the Government and Public Finance programme (1st year and 2nd year, undergraduate) taking courses already. I encourage you to read through our English-language website and explore the broad diversity of research and teaching we do.
From the moment I arrived I have been taking a number of photographs of the CIDE Region Centro campus in Aguascalientes. You will notice our library is in its early stages, but it will grow to be THE premier library and information repository in central Mexico. While the campus is young, we already have enough equipment to offer short courses, seminars, and diploma degrees through videoconference and satellite communication.
Our mission and intent is not only to engage in high-quality, ground-breaking scholarly research, but also to ensure that our work has a profound positive impact in the quality of life of Aguascalientes’ population (not only the city, where CIDE Region Centro’s campus is located, but also the entire state and the surrounding states as a region). Early on, CIDE Region Centro has engaged in 2 main broad research programmes: Regional Studies and Drug Policy.
Naturally, given my scholarly interests, my work fits directly with the the Regional Studies programme, although there are some interesting applications of environmental studies to the drug policy field.
We also have 2 visiting professors (Rodolfo Garcia who is here on sabbatical from the Public Administration Division at CIDE Santa Fe in Mexico City and Beatriz Labate, a visiting assistant professor directly hired for the Drug Policy Programme).
Our work could not be done without a number of excellent research assistants, program managers and administrative staff who provide the support functions that we require.
Faculty offices are equipped with just about everything you may need as a new faculty member to develop your research agenda. We also have shared spaces with desks for our research assistants and program managers. In the future, as our graduate programme develops, we will also have shared desk space for Masters and PhD students.
I am a Full Professor with the Methods Lab at the Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO) Sede Mexico. My research is interdisciplinary by nature, and I identify both as a political scientist and as a human geographer, the two fields in which I trained during my doctorate. For a long time, my work centered […]more →
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