Students

Hitting the ground running: IS doctoral studies

In most PhD programs at American universities, students spend their first two years in the classroom, taking seminars and basic courses before exploring independent research in subsequent years. But at the Department of Information Systems, doctoral students are expected to begin independent research at the very start of their programs. The approach assures that students hit the ground running.

2012-08-07

When Gun Woong Lee began his doctoral studies at the W. P. Carey School's Department of Information Systems in the fall of 2010, he already had two master's degrees, one in management information systems from Korea University and the other in economics from Purdue University. But in those programs, he had not conducted any first-hand, independent research. Shortly after arriving at the Tempe campus, Lee began working with several faculty members on research projects. In the past two years, he has presented five papers at academic conferences. He has had one paper published in an academic journal and two other papers are under review. "When I joined this program, I had little experience and knowledge about academic research," said Lee, a native of Seoul. "Our faculty members here really encouraged me, and they advised me and provided me with many opportunities to get involved in research projects." Lee's research focus is mobile software applications and relationships between developers and end users. In the coming year, he expects to pick a topic for his dissertation. "I have always wanted to be a researcher in information systems," Lee said. "After this program, I want to be a professor at a leading university, and I hope to share the knowledge I've gained with my students." An early start and a big advantage later In most PhD programs at American universities, students spend their first two years in the classroom, taking seminars and basic courses before exploring independent research in subsequent years. But at the Department of Information Systems, doctoral students are expected to begin independent research at the very start of their programs. "Information Systems doctoral students barely arrive at ASU and we have them rolling up their sleeves and involved in research projects," Professor Michael Goul, chair of the department, said. "Our selection criteria ensure they're ready to hit the ground running." According to Benjamin Shao, associate professor and faculty adviser to the PhD program, the department several years ago restructured the program to get students involved in research "from the day they set foot on campus." First year doctoral students take a course entitled Independent Study 790, which has them working with one or two professors on an independent research project. In the second year, students take Independent Study 792, in which they undertake another project with a different professor. Shao said the rationale for this approach is simple: It prepares students for the job market. "It's critical for students to start early," he said. "It takes a long time for a paper to be published. Data collection and analysis and writing can take a year and a-half, and then another year and a half for review. With our approach, many of our students have already had papers published or forthcoming before they enter the job market." The doctoral program in the Department of Information Systems is selective, and only two or three new students are admitted each year. Almost all have master's degrees and many have experience working in information technology and systems or a related field. "All of them are hard-working, and they are bright," Shao said. "We want to do everything we can to help them develop into productive and capable scholars in Information Systems. They are our discipline's next generation of researchers and teachers." Little time for picnics A native of Turkey, Irfan Kanat (left) had an image of American universities as fiercely competitive places, where students saw each other as rivals in a race for success. But what he found in the Department of Information Systems PhD program was quite different. "The faculty, the PhD students, everyone is looking for a chance to cooperate," said Kanat, who recently completed his first year of the program. "Everyone tries to help each other out as much as they can." Reza Mousavi, also preparing to start his second year, said the air of cooperation in the department has helped him greatly. "Senior PhD students help us a lot in choosing courses or picking research topics. That's a really valuable resource for us," he said. Before taking their comprehensive exams, usually at the end of their second year in the program, doctoral students take courses in research theories and methodologies, as well as offerings in economics, behavioral science and quantitative methods. Most students also have either teaching or research assistantships. These are approximately 20-hour per week jobs. Teaching assistants typically help faculty with classroom presentations, grading papers, or staffing office hours. Research assistants often help with data collection or literature reviews. Doctoral students have busy lives. "We have some social gatherings," Kanat said. "We organize picnics and happy hours, but in the PhD program everyone is so busy, we don't have much time to socialize." Combining industry and academia Jeremy Glassman is preparing to start his second year in the PhD program in the Department of Information Systems. In 2007, he received his bachelor's degree from the W. P. Carey School, and then spent the next four years working in industry while earning a master’s degree in management information systems and an MBA at the University of Arizona. Most recently, he was head of information technology for a large agricultural-chemical company. "I saw the PhD program as a way to leverage my work experience," Glassman said. "I wanted to be able to gain insights into the different issues that I had been seeing in the enterprise environment." Working with Professor Robert St. Louis, Glassman has been investigating why companies underutilize their enterprise performance management systems. "We hypothesized that there are psychological barriers," Glassman said. "People mistrust data and the system that produces the data. We hypothesize different ways that this mistrust can be mediated or resolved." "I'm a little bit different from the other PhD students because of my industry background," he said. Succeeding with hard work and support Before coming to the W. P. Carey School, Mousavi, who is from Iran, had been working as a marketing manager for the German-Iranian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Tehran. His job was to facilitate interactions between German and Iranian businesses. Several years ago, Mousavi, who has a bachelor's degree in engineering and an MBA, started looking for a graduate program that would encompass his varied interests. "I decided the best program would be information systems because it has the technology flavor, and it has the management and behavioral organization flavor," he said. "Starting in high school, I wanted to follow my studies as far as I could. I was 100 percent sure I wanted to be in a PhD program." Mousavi had never been to the United States before he arrived in Phoenix last August to begin his doctoral studies. "I arrived around 8 p.m., and it was 105 degrees," he said. "Tehran has hot summers but not as hot as here." Mousavi said he adjusted to the climate and has enjoyed the campus and the city. He has explored several research areas and is narrowing his focus to social media and how organizations can use social media more effectively. "I have found that being a PhD student is much harder than I believed it would be, but because faculty members have been in our situation, they understand. They always want to help and support you," Mousavi said. Before coming to the W. P. Carey School, Kanat was enrolled in a doctoral program in Turkey. He decided that the program in Turkey did not have enough of a research emphasis. "I started searching for schools and found that W. P. Carey was one of the best," he said. "I applied and went through the interviews, and I found myself here." In his first year, Kanat worked as a research assistant and took two statistical courses, as well as research seminars. "The real beef of the doctoral coursework is in the doctoral seminars," he said. "I took one on theory and one on research methods. I feel like they really increased my knowledge and understanding." Kanat has explored a number of research areas, including electronic payments, services science, and neuroscience and information systems. He said he expects to decide in his second year the field in which he will do his dissertation. The academic ideal Most students who enter the doctoral program in the Department of Information Systems intend to seek college or university faculty positions after they receive their diplomas. Although the job market has tightened, graduates in recent years have found positions. First and second year students in the program now are all planning to follow the academic path after graduation. Mousavi said he hopes he can eventually work at a leading research institution. "I am a more research oriented person. I really enjoy writing and teaching. The ideal position for me would be to be in a department like the one I'm in here." Said Glassman, "I see myself being in academia and continuing with research but also leveraging the connections with different people outside academia. I want to investigate real world problems utilizing the tools I'm gaining through this program." Kanat believes that as an academic he can have an impact. "I am idealistic about this," he said. "I truly believe we can change the world for the better through the education we provide to the students and through our research. That's the reason why I'm here."

KnowIT