Hi Folks, Thought some you might find the appended article interesting....especially students. Cheers, Madiba. ----------------- ........ A STITCH IN TIME .......... GENESIS 'Experience is the best teacher' is a popular saying which makes meaning only when you have gone through a problem or have first hand information from individuals with unique experiences. What follows below is not based on personal experiences alone but also on the experiences of other Nigerian postgraduate students in Australasia and the UK within the last few years. Normally very few Nigerians find their way to study or work in the Pacific regions. Somehow there is a growing statistics on the nature of harrowing experiences in the hands of Postgraduate Supervisors which makes one wonder whether the problem is Nigerian or world wide. My stint as a lecturer and the time spent working in a research institute has provided added information to realise that the experiences being described below are not uniquely Nigerian. But Nigeria is my domain, my interest and my home. I will therefore limit this discourse to mostly Nigerians. I will not discuss the situation as it obtains in Nigeria (most of us know it), but rather as I find among Nigerians abroad. Have you ever wondered why that classmate whom you used to beat or used to beat you all the time in both secondary and the undergraduate level fails to complete his or her postgraduate studies, either at all or on time? While there are ample reasons to suggest that finishing a postgraduate course on time and at all can be correlated with ones ability in the subject area, there is growing statistics pointing to the fact that other strong reasons impact upon the completion of one's postgraduate course. I will not spend time analysing issues related to ability, but rather those involving relationships within the university, with one's supervisors and with fellow students. ACADEMIC PROBLEMS OR RELATIONSHIP PROBLEMS? A few years ago, a friend of mine went to the UK for his PhD course, through the commonwealth scholarship, a job was waiting for him at home paying something to his account every month. Many of his friends wished they were in his shoes. Years past and stories started to emerge that he would not be finishing his course after all. He was disagreing heavily with his supervisor and petitions were flying back and forth in his campus. While he accused his supervisor of racism, he accused him of incompetence and insorbordinatiion. In situations like this, something must give and someone will lose out. My friend did and returned home without a certificate, and also lost his job as a lecturer in Nigeria. Of course the British supervisor may have had his reputation dented, but kept his job. Questions were asked without answers. Why would a person who is racist agree to supervise a black student? To fail him and to make him appear incomptent? Why were other black students doing well under him? Eight years ago, a Ugandan student in an Australian campus was having problems with his supervisor. He started out as a Master's student and upgraded to PhD. Being a social science course, he was required to collect data using a series of questionaires, which he did. He wrote the draft for his PhD thesis and everytime he submited a draft, it came back with red inks everywhere and new requests for re-writing. Eventully, the flip flop effect took two years off his time, the supervisor informed him, he would only submit the thesis for an MSc degree, not a PHD! The University sent a notice of "Explain why your candidature should not be discontinued". He tried and gave reasons why his supervisor was the problem. He accepted advice to desist from accusing or being confrontational with the supervisor and to allow someone else read along and edit the thesis with him. Eventually another African student agreed to read the draft for him and to help re-write it. It turned out he actually had real problems. The data collected were inadequate. He was obviously verbose in the thesis, which means, the thesis was at least 700 pages long. While he thought the number of pages is evidence of productivity, the supervisor correctly thought it was weakness in English and writing. In many places he was repetitive. It took another 6 months to re-write the thesis, a suspension of his scholarship, high blood pressure and a wife who also was threatening to leave him or start her own studies. She had waited too long for him to finish for her to start hers! He eventually got the thesis submitted for a Phd and passed after 7 years of full time PhD studies! "My supervisor is sexist, hates women and above all me, because I would not ...." Miss X complained to a fellow Nigerian. "My supervisor is punishing me because he comes from tribe B and I from tribe A", moaned a Nigerian male postgraduate student in a foreign country to another Nigerian. Apparently, the Nigerian lecturer felt he had a duty to supervise another Nigerian and to see him finish on time. The student wanted to report him to the University authorities because "he is punishing me for the problems his tribe has with mine at home"! Luckily for him, the Nigerian he complained to advised him not to be confrontational with his supervisor but to discuss the issues involved face to face with the supervisor. At the same time the supervisor was also having problems with his undergraduate students, which means the issues involved are not really because both of them come from two different tribes. Eventually the problems got to the chair of the department who had a lengthy discussion with the lecturer. Their relationship improved and he latter confirmed that the supervisor had improved. It did turn out that the supervisor also thought the student was incompetent and not progressing well, and he wanted to ditch him. Student Y was ditched by his supervisor because, he wanted to send an abstract for a conference and the supersivor thought it better to write the paper for a journal. The student thought it was his right to publish his work with or without the supervisor's consent. He sent the abstract for the conference with the name of the supervisor as a co-author. The abstract was accepted and he rushed with joy to let the supervisor know that the abstract went through. The supervisor was red-faced and ordered the student to do three things: first to remove his name as a co-author should the student insist on publishing it, secondly to remove the name of the university as the source of the paper and thirdly to withdraw the paper if the student wants him to continue to be his supervisor! As usual the student complained and accused the supervisor of intimidation and not being a good supervisor. For some students, the saving grace is always close by. For this student, the saving grace came from a Nigerian lecturer in the University who advised him to do what the supervisor said. He obeyed and eventually got the paper published in a journal as the supervisor initially advised. Most supervisors are genuine in their intentions towards their students. Many want to see their students do well. The success of a student isthe success of the supervisor, advancement of his career and the image of the university. Why would a person agreee to supervise you only to record in his resume that the students he had supervised failed? No one wants to do that. Relationships between supervisors and students determine to some extent why some so-called 'not good students' finish their PhDs and your friend who bagged a first class could not. A good supervisor is a peer, someone to look up to. Someone who wants to transfer knowledge and build his or her own carbon copy in this student. Many supervisors are concerned and worried when their students do not have funds to live on, and most would find the means to provide the funds for the students. Others go a long way to not only guide but tutor the student towards achieving the objective. In all cases, the PhD is yours. The MSc research is yours. The supervisor is there to guide, and mould the individual and to act in an official capacity on behalf of the university. Most supervisors that I know outside Nigeria, go beyond those requirements. As a private student, my supervisor gave me jobs within the department to help me raise money for my fees. I know many other students whose supervisors did more than this for them. Some kept their PhD graduates as Research Fellows. Others gave them teaching positions and build lasting relationships with their graduates. In every situation in life, there are obvioulsy the odd ones out. A Ghanian student was offered a university scholarship with a Nigerian which convered stipend only. They were the only recipient of the scholarship from Africa for that year. The Ghanian student was obviously lucky that the Ghanian government supplemented his scholarship to cover fees which then stood at $7000 (Australian dollars annually) but later grew to $9000 by the time they finished. He reported three weeks before the Nigerian student started his own PhD on the limited scholarship. Because he was an older and more experienced student, the department offered him a limited teaching position, which earned him more money. In terms of money, there was no reason to worry, so it seemed. Unfortunately, the money from three sources meant he had lots to spare to spend on booze and women in the student union bar and in the city. Because he was drinking heavily, the department stopped him from teaching after a year. The drinking problem caused him to borrow money rampantly. The university scholarship ran out after 4 years. After 6 years, the Ghanian government also stopped their scholarship, and he was left on his own. The Nigerian student on a limited scholarship combined his studies with working in a factory. This hard labour spured him to work harder to finish on time. He finished within three years and secured a permanent job. During that period he brought his family to be with him. Six years after they started their studies, the university discontinued the candidature of the Ghanian student, his visa was cancelled and he hasd to go home without submitting a thesis. In this case, the student is his personal problem as well as too much money to study with. There are many reasons why good students fail to finish their postgraduate studies. It is not good enough to be 'good' in one's field to finish a PhD. Social issues impact upon academic performance, and I think, in many cases, social issues are responsible for failures. Many failures are self-inflicted and also academic. Have you ever disagreed with your supervisor on a theory, a method and or a new idea which stands to disprove past results? I know two Nigerian students who went through such experiences. While Doctor Z understood the problem and worked through it, Mr W forgot his objectives and destroyed his studies, or helped to destroy it. Dr Z did a PhD in biotechnology and came up with a method which refined a well established theory. Right from the beginning of his course, he merticulously kept research notes and informed his supervisor on his results. Because his method and results differed from the established norm, his supervisor refused to accept his 'thesis' of 'extra information', hitherto ignored it as the reason for his better and more effective results. Luckily and unluckily for this student, a Japanese visiting-professor came to his department and his supervisor made him discuss the method with the visiting professor in details. The Japanese reproduced the new method and the new results. This is where the story took a new turn. The visiting professor wrote a journal paper with the new method and results and put the Nigerian's name as the second author. He protested to his supervisor who refused to do nothing, but rather to 'let sleeping dogs lie'. Because this student kept a good research notebook, it confirmed he is the author of the method, which meant he could write his thesis based on the method. He did and passed, but refused to include the paper which the Japanese put his name as a co-author in his thesis. Eventually he did, but his records saved his degree. Mr W on the other hand who was doing a PhD in electrical engineering had the same level of disagreement with his supervisor. Because he believed his method disproves the supervisor's theory which for years has been the industry standard in that area, he went ahead to publish it without the consent of his supervisor. That is where his PhD degree vanished. Up till today, his thesis has not been accepted by the examiners selected by the univerisity to examine the thesis. There are lessons to learn from Dr Z and Mr W. What did Mr W do wrong? By publishing the results without the consent of his supervisor and without the knowledge of his Chair of department, he left himself without protection. He could have first held seminars in the departmnent, inform the Chair of the department and if necessary, use the official university channels of resolving such issues first. By all means, keep a good research notebook. Have your theories and results written down and dated. Try to have your supervisor counter-sign them. If he or she would not let you publish them, try to open up an avenue within the department to hold seminars on your methods and results - ie, publish them locally within the department before an informed audience of lecturers and students. Does this sound unimportant to you? It is a hard lesson to learn that someone has published the core of your thesis. This happened to two of my friends, one from the Netherlands and the second a white Zimbabwean. They were doing PhD courses under a young lecturer who also was looking for avenues for promotion to higher positions. They discussed their results with the lecturer, but had no written notes or seminar materials to support their claim on the methods and results. The young lecturer knew this and published them in a journal paper. Needless to say, this ended their studies in that department. The young lecturer is still there! REDUCING TEARS I have watched good students waste away because of small issues and mistakes which they could have handled right from the beginning well. Maintain a good relationship with your supervisor. It pays. I am writing from experience. I had my thesis kept unread for 12 months. After it was read, it remained unmarked for another 13 months because one of the examiners did not read it! While this happened it gave me time to write more papers on the thesis and got them published and at the same time, I was looking for jobs! But, but, the supervisor was good enough to realise that the fault was not mine and gave me jobs within the department waiting for the thesis! Normally the long wait will end. Remember what Nnamdi Azikiwe said: "No condition is permanent". What is required is patience. As a result of my experience, I have changed most of my attitudes towards reviewing of papers for journals, and examining of thesis. I have rather adopted the method of trying to experience delay from the point of view of the student. Delays in examining thesis, reviewing papers and not being available to see a student when you need to impacts on careers, the living standards of family members, and above all on health, because most students are normally worried about studies. Beware. A supervisor, young in his or her career is likely to be the one to seek to publish your work as his or her own. A chair of a department is unlikely to have enough time to supervise you well. But if you are the type that needs very little help to do your research and studies, he is going to turn out to be the best supervisor for you. You will get to know more professors in the area, probably find jobs more easily when you finish under him and above all, it is likely that your thesis will pass through the system much more quickly because he wants the results as records for his department, himself and he is not going to allow things to dent his reputation that easily. However, if you have problems with such a person, you could find it harder to solve. You will find good supervisors among lecturers who have strong records through personal publications, or have brought in a lot of research grants to the university. Such lecturers will look for results and have money and time to support postgraduate students. They are likely to have time to supervise and give employment after you finish. They are also less likely to steal your results, but rather will demand royalties from any inventions go to the research lab. It is a give and take. Older professors, the emeritus types are likely to be fatherly and guide the student, but are also likely to be dogmatic on their theories not being challenged by younger researchers. FINAL WORDS Getting a job after you finish and obtain that 'money making paper' does now depend on experience which universities, research laboratories and industry count in terms of: a) Number of papers (journal, conferences, research file notes and reports) within the last couple of months. Academic and research jobs require publications! "Publish or perish" they normally say, but for a lecturing job, one might equally say, "publish or go without the job". b) Industries require hands on experience. This requires conducting your experiments yourself. Write your computer programs yourself. In many cases, there is need for you to do so. While it is easy to use someone's software for experiments, when you graduate, industries will be looking for those with the core experience in not only using but also writing. Do not let someone take the experiences from you. Experience is technology transfer! It is know how. It helps in becoming an expert gradually. Do not short change yourself. c) Now industries ask for 'Demos'. It is becoming 'Demonstrate or perish' in research institutes. d) If you are in the information technology area, there is absolutely no reason why you should not he learning at home new internet languages (html, java-script, java, visual C++, pel etc). Learn them on your own. They could be the difference between your getting that job and losing it to someone else. e) Attend that conference if the chance is created. Even if you have no paper to present, attend if someone is paying for it. You will come back with fresh ideas for your work. f) Attend that course when it is available to you even if you do not need the material now. I did just that about 18 months ago attending courses on Internet languages, object-oriented-programming, java and more. It did turn out six months latter that I need them for my projects! g) One thing internet is teaching all its users is how to 'type' with a keyboard. Formalise the training. Extend the typing to more than two fingers. Learn to use all the 10 fingers and your work will not only become easier, you could earn something too with that self training. For students, the result is instant. You get to type your thesis, reports, papers and by learning to use word processors as well, you have acquired a skill needed everywhere. Let us turn our attention from replying many internet mails, but rather filtering out the good things in internet and use them. I do not have any answers to the academic and social problems facing students, but I have seen too many students in tears to know what causes them. I wish I had someone telling me these things ten years or more ago. If you find these hints useful, share them. May be someday, somewhere, you will reap the reward. johnson.i.agbinya j.i.a NB: You will find mistakes in the above write-up. I have not taken time to study english at the degree level! **************************************************************************** * "Tomorrow, Today is History. Create The History Before It Creates * Itself" Johnson I Agbinya (Ph.D) * Image and Signal Processing * CSIRO Telecommunications and Industrial Physics,Vimiera/ * Pembroke Rds, P O Box 76, Epping, New South Wales 2121, Australia * Internet: http://www.tip.csiro.au/~jagbinya/ * Ph: +61 2 (9829 4682h or 9372 4366w). * **************************************************************************** ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------