Heidi Saucier

Doctoral Journey part 2 – preparing for the dissertation

Last time, I shared highlights of my classroom experiences during my doctoral journey that helped prepare me for my dissertation. Before my research could begin, I had to present my case to the members of my dissertation committee and get their approval. What does that mean?

First, let me explain the dissertation committee. This group was comprised of my program advisor and two faculty members that provided additional insights and support regarding my research. One was well-versed in APA requirements for writing and would be able to ensure I was citing prior research appropriately to prepare me for future publication.

Before I could go before the committee, I had to prepare my dissertation defense. This was a presentation of why I felt there was a need for my research focus, what my research would include, and the timeline for completing my dissertation. I searched for relevant journal articles that provided findings on organizational support and remote workers to support the background of my study and help formulate literature reviews that would correlate with my dissertation artifacts. I created research questions that I would explore through the survey I would later create and identified the research methods I would use for my dissertation.

Part of my proposal also tasked me with considering publications that I would submit each artifact to post-graduation. That allowed me to explore potential journals that would be most appropriate to share my research with.

Once all of this was completed, I presented my proposal to my dissertation committee. This gave the committee the chance to ask questions and clarify what my goals were and the path I wanted to go down for my research. After my presentation, I was excited to learn that my proposal was approved. I was now ready to begin the research path and gather the data I needed for my dissertation.

In my next post, I will share my dissertation adventures and what I learned during that time.

For anyone else that has gone down this path, what were your experiences preparing to start your research? Did  you have to make any adjustments to your dissertation plan? I’d love to hear about it!

Heidi Saucier

The story behind the research

In the middle of 2020 and 2021, I started considering what I wanted to do next. When I earned my master’s degree in 2016, I thought my college education journey was complete. Now, I was thinking about the possibility of researching something that interested me. At my current company, one of the very first things I was tasked with was to identify how we could offer training classes remotely to the salespeople throughout the state of Michigan. I investigated the technological options, which included WebEx and equipment such as Smart Boards to determine if they would allow easy access and engagement during training classes. In those early days, resources were limited to make this work. About five years later, before my son was born, our company started offering a flexible work arrangement that allowed some employees to work from home a select number of days during the week. I participated in this option, enjoying the balance between time in the office and time at home. Fast forward a few years, and much of the workforce was quickly transitioned to five days a week at home to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

In the workplace, employees need organizational support to be successful. This is how a company demonstrates their commitment to growing and supporting the development needs of their workforce (Saucier, 2024). It can come from the organization, one’s leader, or their coworkers. Navigating through this situation with my coworkers, employees, and friends all over the country, I thought about how we still needed to have this in place and how it was even more important because of losing that physical presence and connection that most perceived as being key to their development needs being met. As I talked to friends about my interest, some suggested that the data I was looking for was being created as we spoke. Feeling inspired, I began to explore universities to find a program that would align with my newfound goal. I discovered that Central Michigan University offered a 100% virtual program to earn a Doctor of Educational Technology degree. Once I went through the application and interview process that led to being accepted into the program, I embarked on an almost three-year adventure of research, learning, and connecting with amazing professionals around the country. On May 3, 2024 (which also happened to be my 48th birthday), I graduated from CMU and officially became “Dr. Sauce.”

What did I discover on this journey? That will be the subject of the next few blog posts as I share the classes I took, the projects that led to some unique opportunities, and how resilience played a key part in my path to the finish line.

References

Saucier, 2024. Exploring perceptions of organizational support for onboarding and development of remote workers. [Unpublished manuscript].