How hard did they have to work for their Ph.D.?
We asked our resident Ph.D.’s about how hard they had to work and how long it took them to get their doctorate degrees. Here are their answers:
QUEENA LEE-CHUA
Ateneo de Manila University
I wanted to finish the doctorate (Ph.D. Clinical Psychology) in the shortest time, so I worked and studied at the same time.
In the mornings and early afternoons, I would teach math (at Ateneo Mathematics Department—full load, 30 units a year). In the late afternoons and evenings, I would study psychology (at the Ateneo Psychology Department—full load, 12 units a semester).
This was not easy to do (physically and mentally), but I enjoyed most of it—so I finished Ph.D. in possibly record time. I started master’s studies in 1991 and finished Ph.D. in 1995—not straight, did master’s first then Ph.D. after, a total of four years to do both. I remember 1.5 years for master’s and 2.5 for Ph.D., including dissertation and defense).
What derails a lot of people from finishing master’s or doctorate is the thesis writing and defense. In my case, I started working on both early on in the course (a year before my classroom work was done), so I did not spend time thinking about what to do for the thesis.
Good thing is Ateneo gives discount for faculty. The two departments were also only, at most, 10 minutes’ walk from each other, so it was convenient.
What was slightly harder was to shift from a very objective viewpoint (math) in the morning and then to a more subjective perspective (psychology) in the evening. Eventually, both sides merged, so I think I became a “more human” math teacher and a “more rigorous” psych prof.
GRACE SHANGKUAN-KOO
University of the Philippines
I earned my Ph.D. in Education, major in Educational Psychology, from UP College of Education (October 1990-March 1994).
It took me three and a half years to complete my studies (three years for the academic courses and just a semester for my dissertation). This was pretty quick as usually it takes a student 6-10 years to finish.
Personally, I found doctoral studies not difficult at all as I was quite interested and motivated. If grades are an indication, my GWA for doctoral studies was 1.09—the highest for our graduating class, hence I was asked to deliver the valedictory speech. (Incidentally, my GWA was also 1.09 in my MA studies). I also won both Most Outstanding Dissertation and Most Outstanding Thesis.
At UP grad school, of all the grades of 1.0, I was the most proud of the one I received for Advanced Statistics because it required effort and discipline to prepare for several examinations. For all the other courses, the intellectual demands were different—to be able to do research, analyze, synthesize and communicate well in both written papers and oral presentations.
DR. JOFFRE M. ALAJAR
DBA, San Beda College
I finished my Doctor in Business Administration (DBA) in 2011 from the Colegio de San Juan de Letran Graduate School.
Being a working student, time management was important to be able to study well for my post-graduate course, and still be efficient and effective at work. (Alajar, who is chair of and faculty member at the Department of Accountancy of SBC’s Graduate School of Business, did not take time off from his job while working for his DBA.)
Having been a professor for 30 years now, I was able to appreciate more my graduate education.
Hard work, patience, persistence, prayers and determination helped me get through my doctoral work.
But pursuing graduate studies involved some self-sacrifice, like waking up at 3 a.m. to work on the voluminous research assignments, to write my doctoral dissertation, etc. Sundays were also devoted to study.
I finished my studies in two years and three months. Then I spent four more months to write and defend my doctoral dissertation. But the degree was worth the time, effort and sacrifice.
Earning a doctoral degree through hard work was a very fulfilling and growth-promoting experience.
