Self-care is one of the fastest-growing trends in the world today. People are investing time, money, and energy into themselves and their wellness. How you manage your career is also a reflection of your commitment to personal wellness. Just as a commitment to diet and exercise elevates your health, a commitment to completing a doctoral degree elevates your career.
Why I Chose to Pursue a Doctoral Degree
The doctoral degree is the most advanced degree that you can earn. It is considered the pinnacle degree because it symbolizes that you have mastered a specific area of study, field, or profession. It was always my desire to pursue a doctoral degree, however, I wasn’t sure about the best time to pursue it. I believed that the degree would make me a more competent educator and would make me a more competitive candidate whenever I decided to pursue career advancement.
I made my decision to pursue a doctoral degree shortly after completing my master’s degree when I was serving as an assistant principal. One of my professors from the master’s program came to shadow me on the job and interview my supervising principals. At the end of his visit, my professor advised that I strongly consider immediately continuing my work in the doctoral study. He based this advice on my success with the master’s level course content and my work setting at the time which provided me with opportunities to immediately apply the concepts that I was learning. I trusted my professor’s advice and began my Educational Leadership Ed.D. less than a year after receiving my master’s degree.
How a Doctoral Degree Elevated My Career
Understanding of Leadership
Because the area of concentration for my doctoral degree was educational leadership, many of my courses were geared to provide me with the principles needed to lead in schools and districts. My professors not only had knowledge of leadership theories, but they also had practitioner experience from the field. This allowed my understanding of leadership to be firmly grounded in solid logic. I was also fortunate to be serving in a school leadership position during the time in which I was in the doctoral program. This allowed me to directly apply the concepts as I was learning them. My leadership was immediately impacted in a positive way.
Confidence as a Content Presenter
During my doctoral classes, I was required to study content and present it to my colleagues in specific ways. There were times I needed to present professional development, technical training, book expositions, collaborative activities, and other various sessions. Many times, this was with little notice and very little lead time for preparation. This developed my skills to produce results in time-pressured settings. It also strengthened my confidence as a presenter.
The skill set created from these exercises translated very nicely into my work as a state director, district director, and school principal. Much of the work in these leadership positions requires leaders to be able to produce and present content in compelling and comprehensive ways in time-pressured environments.
What I Learned Through the Degree that I Still Use
The Importance of School Culture
One of the themes that seem to emerge from my leadership coursework in the doctoral program was the importance of school culture. The professors spoke about leadership theory and the best leadership practices, but they made it clear that even the best strategies and theories would not be effective if the school culture is not healthy. They spoke about the importance of building consensus, obtaining buy-in, and keeping a pulse on staff satisfaction.
As a leader, I immediately found this to be true in my work. Healthy school culture always seemed to make leadership easier. In unhealthy or toxic environments, it was always more challenging to implement change or experience progression. As a result, I am always aware of organizational culture, and I seek to lead in ways that create and sustain a healthy culture.
Significance of Research-Based Work
After completing the dissertation process, it was very hard to abandon the practice of seeking out and utilizing credible sources of research. As a leader with a doctoral degree, I found myself citing sources when I presented content to other educators. Strategies and methods that sounded promising but were not backed by research suddenly became less appealing to me. I also challenged staff members to be well acquainted with the research that supports their mindsets and educational practices. It often became apparent that some of the practices we held close were not founded in sound or solid research. I attribute this approach to leadership to my dissertation experience. The dissertation forced me to consult research and apply it to data analysis.
Although achieving a doctoral degree often represents the pinnacle of a person’s academic journey, it should not diminish a person’s quest for knowledge. In fact, it should create a hunger to know and learn more.
Advantages of Gardner-Webb’s Graduate Programs
After receiving the advice from my professor from my master’s program, I decided to begin looking at various programs. I knew that I wanted to experience face-to-face program for doctoral study.
Gardner-Webb University became the best choice for me for three reasons. First, it provided face-to-face instruction. All courses were with in-person professors who I could interact with freely and naturally. Second, it offered a cohort-style progression through the program. The same classmates who started the first class with me would be with me until the last class unless they decided to leave the program. This provided me with the opportunity to build relationships with my classmates. We learned and grew together. The third reason Gardner-Webb became the best choice for me would be the work-friendly scheduling of classes. Classes occurred on Friday nights and all day on Saturdays. This allowed me to work through the week and get enough credit hours to move through the program without having conflicts during the work week.
My doctoral degree challenged my metacognition, strengthened my skills as a leader, and made me a lifelong researcher. As a result, I became a much more competent, confident, and competitive educator.