Lunch Sessions - ESNIE 2015

Organizers: Nabamita DUTTA (University of Wisconsin, La Crosse) and Sanjukta ROY (World Bank, India)

Schedule: Tuesday 20th of May, Wednesday 21st of May, and Thursday 22nd of May and Friday, May 23rd – lunch time. 

Mission: The sole purpose of these short sessions at ESNIE 2014 is based on the practical aspects of the Ph.D. process and more broadly on the academic life. Unlike other sessions at ESNIE (i.e. lectures, workshops and seminars), these sessions will be much shorter and will not focus on research aspects. Rather, these sessions are devoted to finding answers to questions that we, as Ph.D. students or young scholars, face all the time.  Close interactions within the participants and the speakers will be one of the characterizing features of these sessions. Since the sessions will aim to find answers to questions that participants most likely have, we ask for participant’s involvement a couple of weeks before ESNIE starts. This will help us to come up with the optimal set of questions and, thus, the sessions will stand up to participants’ expectations.

The sessions will address three main dimensions: (1) Questionnaire Design and Administration; (2) Dissertation and being on the job market, (3) The publication process and (4) Academics outside Academia. Below we provide a short description of the content of each of these sessions in order to focus the discussion on specific issues.

Session I: Questionnaire Design and Administration.

Collecting primary data is becoming increasingly important in Academia. Designing a questionnaire is an integral part of the primary data collection. The design and the administration of the questionnaire determine to a great extent the quality of the collected data. First, the design of the questionnaire itself require, among others, to select and properly word the items, to design the scales, and to opt for the right length. Second, choosing the appropriate questionnaire format (i.e., email, letter, phone call, and face-to-face meeting) and the schedule of submission (pre-notice letter and the number of reminders) are key to maximize the number of answers. Third, it is critical to properly pretest the questionnaire. All those steps are far from trivial but undertaking them adequately will enable to collect a rich database and therefore to publish in top journals. Having the opportunity to benefit from the experience and advices from senior scholars is highly valuable.

Session II: Dissertation and being on the job market.

With no surprise, the job market process is extremely stressful. Endless is the list of questions ESNIE participants might have regarding this process. Two dimensions are particularly critical: the application file (CV, cover letters, teaching statement, research statement, and recommendation letters) and the job talk. First, CVs and cover letters are two critical elements of any application. Senior scholars will be able to provide useful tips as to how one should polish these elements. Constructive suggestions can also be provided by the speakers on the writing of research or teaching statements. Second, senior scholars have had the opportunity to attend many of these job talks. They will be able to discuss the way to prepare them and more broadly the attitude to adopt during a campus visit. Further, issues like how to schedule interviews (should you start with your best interviews or the ones you are not that interested in?) could be addressed. Should you turn down some interviews if you have too many?

Session III: Publication process.

This session is of great interest since publication is a key element of succeeding in academia. It not only a tenure requirement, but is increasingly gaining prominence even at the job market stage. It does take a lot of time to polish a paper for submission in a journal; this involves building up the motivation, clearly stating the contribution of the paper, laying out the methodology and presenting the results. However, with other duties like finishing up one’s dissertation and applying for jobs in the final year of PHD, and teaching and administrative tasks when in an academic job already, it quickly becomes tough to make sure enough time is available for research. Finding the optimal balance between research and other job commitments will remain a challenge throughout one’s career. The objectives of this session are twofold: answering participants’ questions about:

1. The publication process
1. How to polish the final draft for submission?
2. When can we consider a paper is ready for submission?
3. How to select a journal?
4. How to address an R&R?
5. If a paper gets rejected, how to incorporate comments in the paper?
6. After rejection. How to choose the next journal? Should one always go “down” the list?
2. The way to balance research along with academic as well as non-academic job requirements.

Session IV: Academic Pursuit Outside Academia.

After Ph.D we get opportunities not only in traditional academia (the tenure track professorship process), but also in non-academia as economists/researchers in research institutes, think tanks or multilateral organizations. The academic and non-academic jobs not only differ in terms of the content and expectations, but also in terms of how they shape a candidate’s own research arc, going forward. Working in these organizations is an enriching experience – one gets the best experience of real life practical applicability of all economic theories one has learnt, work in developing countries with challenging political and economic dynamics, get first-hand experience of how governments function etc.  But typically each research institute or think tank has its own pre-specified focus area and for multilateral organizations, project delivery is the key focus. Thus it is important for research enthusiasts to understand how to integrate their own research interests with the job at hand and continue with publications despite a demanding job environment (whose focus might not be on research and publications at all). This session will address participants’ questions in this context, mainly about (1) When applying for non-academic job, how to choose the right fit (2) How to make academic research relevant in a non-academic work environment, (3) how to develop one’s research portfolio by adapting to the demands of the  non-academic job.

Session format

Post Lunch: 1:45 pm to 2:45 pm

For each session, we will have other 2 speakers ( professors ) speaking on the session topic and answering questions of participants. All are welcome to participate, but given the strict schedule of ESNIE week, participation is not absolutely required. 

1 hour session

• 10min-presentation for the first professor;
• 10min-presentation for the second professor;
• 40 min-interaction between the two solicited professors, the audience, and the other professor attending the session. In case participants still have questions to ask after the session, we will encourage them to schedule private and informal meetings with professors ready to answer them.