In the interests of continuing my transparent doctoral journey, I recently received the examination outcome for my Doctor of Education thesis. I want to share my result because I’ve felt very lonely experiencing this the past few months…we often share about the minor and no revision outcomes (as we should!) but don’t talk about the other outcomes and the process that happens after that.
The result was major revisions – internal review, which means the thesis has successfully passed the external examination and now moves towards an “extra” final revision stage. The next step is to address the (detailed) examiner feedback before submitting the corrected thesis to an internal university panel for final approval.
This outcome took a little longer than expected. The first two examiner reports returned very different recommendations, so a third examiner was appointed. With that process unfolding over the Christmas period, the timeline stretched out more than originally planned. The thesis was submitted in October, and the reports arrived last week.
People don’t really talk about these delays or this aspect of the process and I’ve met a few people recently experiencing similar delays and feeling a bit lost – I was happy to be able to share my experience and reassure them! But also to tell them IT IS OKAY TO FEEL THE FEELS. People kept telling me to focus on something else and while I know they were trying to help, I really wish I’d been able to talk to someone who had been through this.
My three examiners have asked for a number of revisions to strengthen the presentation of the evidence and clarify aspects of the methodology. It’s a substantial amount of work, but it doesn’t change the core of the research. One thing that has really stood out to me is how much the revision stage is about refining and strengthening the work, not tearing it down.
So the next few months will be spent editing, clarifying, and polishing the final version of the thesis before it goes off to that internal panel for a final outcome.
The finish line is getting closer, and I’m incredibly grateful to my supervisors and to the many people who continue to support me along the way.
Melissa Smith 