Doctoral Consortium

Workshop Description

The ICQE24 Doctoral Consortium is designed to support doctoral students in the exploration and development of their research interests. The consortium provides an opportunity for Ph.D. students to share their dissertation research with their peers, advisors, and an international panel of faculty serving as mentors.

Participants will engage in collaborative inquiry and scholarly discourse to improve their dissertation work and to advance their understanding of the field. To benefit from the Doctoral Consortium, applicants should be advanced graduate students and be at a stage in their dissertation research where the other participants and mentors may be of help in shaping and framing their research and analysis activities. The goal of this workshop is to promote intellectual exchange, provide mentoring and support for junior researchers, build capacity for diverse leadership and participation in the QE community, and facilitate collaboration across disciplines and geographic contexts.

Research Advisor Participation

This year, we are once again offering funding for students’ who have dissertation or thesis chairs to attend the doctoral consortium with their student(s). This funding is only available to early career advisors, however more advanced advisors can participate if self funded. Research advisors will connect with other mentors and industry leaders to explore the field of quantitative ethnography and discuss best practices for mentoring students whose dissertation research leverages QE approaches.

Objectives and Design

The Doctoral Consortium aims to:

• Provide an opportunity for participants to reflect on their dissertation research and to identify problems/issues for discussion and inquiry
• Provide a setting for participants to contribute ideas and receive feedback and guidance on their current research
• Promote collaborative mentorship between dissertation or thesis chairs and Ph.D. students using quantitative ethnographic approaches in their research
• Provide a forum for discussing theoretical and methodological issues of central importance to quantitative ethnography
• Develop a network of supportive scholars using quantitative ethnography across countries and continents
• Contribute to the conference experience of participating students through interaction with other participants, mentors, and organizers
• Support young researchers in their effort to enter different research communities.

Doctoral Consortium sessions occur before the conference on Sunday, November 3 and after the conference on Thursday, November 7. First, participants will meet before the conference to present their dissertation projects and engage in discussions with other members on specific aspects of their work. On the last day of the conference, participants will meet again to engage with common issues and themes identified during the conference, including theoretical models, research design and questions, pedagogy and technology, data collection, methods of analysis, etc. and how these issues may or may not relate to their dissertation work. During both days of the consortium, participants will receive support from expert mentors to engage in further inquiry and discussion.

Who Should Apply?

The ICQE24 Doctoral Consortium is open to Ph.D. candidates and dissertation/thesis chairs who are most likely to benefit from the intended goals through collaborative interaction. Generally, students should be at a stage in their work where the consortium and participating advisors may support the development of their dissertation research design and/or analysis. Dissertation or thesis chairs with all levels of experience with quantitative ethnography are encouraged to attend, and should be prepared to discuss their students’ dissertation and research interests.

The eligibility criteria for the ICQE Doctoral Consortium are as follows:

1. The applicant must be a doctoral student in a Ph.D. or other terminal degree program.
2. The applicant must be a dissertator (or the equivalent) working on a dissertation project for which QE is an appropriate method.
3. The applicant must be at least one year from finishing the Ph.D. or other terminal degree at the time when the application is due.
4. The applicant cannot have participated in a previous ICQE Doctoral Consortium.

If accepted, funding will be provided to participating doctral students. Advisors of accepted doctoral consortium participants are encouraged to attend ICQE24 and join the advisor track of the doctoral consortium. Funding may be available for early career advisors to attend the conference and doctoral consortium in the advisory track. Applicants who have queries about eligibility or have other questions should send an email to: icqeconf@gmail.com.

How to Apply?

Students may choose to apply individually, or submit a single, joint application for both themselves and their advisor. If two or more students with the same advisor choose to apply, each student must submit a separate application. Financial support may be available for early career advisors. Joint applications should indicate if the advisor is early career or not. More advanced advisors are welcome to participate in the advisory track of the doctoral consortium, however they must be self funded.

Proposals will be reviewed by at least two international experts in the field. Participants for the Doctoral Consortium will be selected on the basis of:

• the academic quality of the proposal
• the relevance and potential contribution of research to the field of quantitative ethnography
• the recommendation letter from dissertation or thesis chair
• anticipated contribution to the workshop goals

Each proposal should contain the following within one document in the following order, and be submitted through the conference system:

1. A cover sheet with:
1. Student name, email address, institutional affiliation, and mailing address
2. A link to the students’ personal webpage (optional)
3. The title of the research project or dissertation
4. The name, institutional affiliation, and email address of the student’s dissertation or thesis chair (please include in both individual and joint submissions)
2. A 1-2 page personal statement that includes:
1. A summary of the current status of the students’ dissertation study and research broadly
2. A discussion of the expected benefits of consortium participation for the student and research advisor (if submitting jointly)
3. A description of specific issues, challenges or questions in the students’ quantitative ethnographic work that could be addressed or explored further during the consortium
4. IF SUBMITTING JOINTLY: A synthesis of the attending advisor’s area of research, including the advisors’ use of quantitative ethnographic approaches (if applicable)
5. IF SUBMITTING JOINTLY: A brief description of what the attending advisor may gain from and contribute to the doctoral consortium
3. A 2-page summary of the student’s research including tables, figures and references formatted using the Proceedings template. The summary should include the following:
1. Abstract
2. Goals of the research
3. Background of the project
4. Methodology
5. Preliminary or expected findings
6. Expected contributions
4. A letter of recommendation from the students’ dissertation or thesis advisor (submitted via email to icqeconf@gmail.com). NOTE: a letter of recommendation is required for both individual and joint submissions. Advisors applying to attend the consortium with their students may wish to use the letter to explain what they hope to gain from participation and how they hope to support their student through attendance.

Please submit the cover page, the page personal statement, and the research summary as a single file in DOCX and PDF format named as follows: “Firstname_Lastname_DCproposal”. The application should be written in English, and submitted (coming soon).

Letters of recommendation should be emailed separately to icqeconf@gmail.com.