My research advisor at UC Berkeley once described the process of obtaining a PhD as akin to entering into a dark, twisty and unknown tunnel, trusting that you will emerge on the other side an independent scientist capable of one day overseeing your own vast network of tunnels. Admittedly, I was reluctant to enter such a tunnel, first seeking applicable skills through an MS in engineering, only to discover that I craved the independence that lay somewhere beyond the mysterious catacombs of the PhD. Eventually I made it through, but not without a collection of bruises and scars.
“Indeed, the abilities associated with design are central to not only navigating, but to illuminating, the PhD tunnel.”
Unfortunately, the path to the PhD still remains cloaked in a dark fog, one that is becoming increasingly dense as the pace of knowledge generation accelerates.
At a time when science is so critical to the survival of our planet, can we afford to, and should we ask, the brightest minds of this generation to bump and grope their way through an educational process cloaked in a mystique that possibly dates to the Middle Ages?
Indeed, the abilities associated with design are central to not only navigating, but to illuminating, the PhD tunnel. Recently, I asked over a hundred scientists and colleagues to identify their superpower as a team member, and the overwhelming winner was synthesis, although wackiness was not far behind.
As another example, I have one colleague who is a master at experimenting rapidly and learning from others–he will use any gathering to present prototypes of research ideas and acquire feedback from all present, scientist or not. The revision of ideas is tireless and incessant. Writing papers with this colleague also requires endless review of something as seemingly trivial as the abbreviations of variables and their subscripts, but I now understand how these seemingly vapid choices can either greatly impair or enhance understanding of a complex topic, a form of communicating deliberately. When I inventory the successful scientists I know, the design abilities are exemplified in their approach to research.
Explicit Teaching
If the design abilities, applied innately in a scientific context, enable our box of knowledge to enlarge, then we ought to not only articulate them, but teach them. As I shepherd my own students through their PhD labyrinths, I find the design abilities provide not only concrete words, but a framework to assess their progress towards becoming an independent researcher. I increasingly wonder how we might teach these abilities more explicitly and in so doing, provide a rubric that enables students to not only envision their path to a PhD, but to perceive the invaluable skills that they are gaining along the way – skills that may translate into the private and public sectors, in addition to the university setting. A PhD is fundamentally a process of navigating ambiguity, but the rest of the abilities can provide not only a road map leading to the tunnels worth exploring, but also the illumination to perceive the twists and turns a worthy tunnel presents. As designers, we have the abilities and mindsets to uniquely envision what the future of the PhD could be. Ultimately, a pedagogical architecture for the PhD, inspired by design abilities, is critical to fostering the scientists and thinkers that society needs to ensure its survival.
Illustration in header by Samia Ahmed