By Cassandra Hendry, TLS staff writer
Preparing and defending a thesis, from the beginning to the end, can be one of the most challenging aspects of a student鈥檚 academic career. From the long nights to inevitable snags that come along the way, students often need guidance to see their thesis to the end. That鈥檚 when the role of faculty mentor takes on greater significance.
Professors Sarah Todd (School of Social Work) and Gerald Grant (Sprott School of Business) have dedicated themselves to being that guiding force in a grad student鈥檚 career. Both professors are recipients of the Faculty Graduate Mentoring Award that recognizes professors who have gone above and beyond in their role as supervisors and research mentors to help their students succeed.
From their combined 30 years mentoring grad students, they鈥檝e seen both the triumphs and challenges of this process and know how to be of assistance.
鈥淭he first part of the work is to orient students to the process and what their thesis defence is going to be like. Thesis writing is very self-directed, so I do a lot of working with students early on,鈥� Todd says.
From there, as a mentor she needs to guide students through the various stages of research, such as ethics, setting up research questions, and interviewing participants. Then comes draft reading and preparing them for the defence.
But rarely does a thesis get finished without changes and revisions, she says, due to the very different structure from a traditional university paper. 鈥淭hesis writing is different than an essay . . . it isn鈥檛 finished until it鈥檚 defensible,鈥� Todd says.
For Grant, he says his students are passionate and drawn to his area of expertise, but often fall into the trap of viewing a thesis like a problem to be solved.
鈥淚 supervise many mature students who have lots of work experience and tend to come from a practice, so doing research is new to them and somewhat against their orientation. The big thing you have to do is teach them how to think like a researcher rather than a manager or consultant,鈥� he says.
His remedy? Putting time in with the student is key, Grant says, as well as pushing beyond a simple transactional task to develop a strong supervisor-student relationship.
Todd says one of her greatest challenges as a mentor is helping students make their thesis a priority among the many other pressing demands they have in their lives.
鈥淪tudents are often hoping they鈥檒l have more time next month, but in general next month turns out to be just as busy,鈥� she says.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 why they really appreciate regular meetings and feedback, feeling like they have somebody to check in with. It can be very isolating and lonely . . . but having somebody to sit down and strategize with really helps.鈥�
If you鈥檙e interested in learning more about supervising grad students, the houses a number of resources for faculty including , as well as .