Regular Ph.D programs are on the decline, considering the rigorous long-term commitment scholars must go through. It’s a very taxing degree to pursue, which can also severely affect the scholar’s well-being if he/she is not going in the right direction. Nowadays, we are witnessing across forums where scholars have been expressing their bad experiences with toxic guides who are exploiting scholars as figurative punching bags for taking out their frustrations on them, as well as stealing the scholars’ hard work while abusing their authority as a guide.
Hence, when it comes to part-time Ph.D programs, less time will be spent with the guide where the scholar has the option to juggle between a job and coursework/research, like the programs such as the Ph.D for working professionals. There have been cases where regular Ph.D scholars quit due to the earlier-mentioned reasons related to guides; hence, in a part-time Ph.D, the scholar gets to have a backup in the form of work experience that can enhance career prospects.
If a Ph.D aspirant wants to be a research scholar, the safety is in taking up a Ph.D for working professionals but at the same time, he/she should have a proper job on the sidelines so that he/she doesn’t have to waste efforts due to these kind of guides. As a scholar of purpose, the scholar can promote these kinds of programs so that the research field in the country can progress and attract more deserving aspirants.
This post traces the promotional activities that a scholar of a Part-time Ph.D can carry out to revive an audience’s interest in a Ph.D, along with instilling the need to be employed as a working professional as a backup.
Pamphlets & Hoardings
Scholars of Part-time Ph.D can take up marketing campaigns for marketing teams of private universities by providing real-time insights mixed with copywriting skills to attract crowds towards taking up programs such as Ph.D for Working Professionals. This can be done through strategizing offline or ground-level marketing. For starters, there needs to be catchy lines that could be used to make the Part-time Ph.D programs appear to be standing out from a standpoint of research academic pursuits.
Starting with pamphlets, the scholars can distribute them at centers that are near coaching Institutes for State Government & Central Government jobs. These centers generally attract post-graduates so they are the right audience who can upskill through part-time Ph.D. One can open a stall and take up a list of interested candidates who are interested in taking up Part-time Ph.D.
The same kind of setup could be done in areas where there are multiple corporations in the same lane. Corporate candidates understand the importance of upskilling, and hence, they would be the ideal crowd to be taken for admission into the programs. The scholars promoting this must use direct, straightforward language without any sugarcoating. They can get creative in the ad copy of the pamphlet according to corporate culture and trends.
The scholar could also place hoardings at strategic locations that are near centers such as coaching institutes, universities, colleges, etc. This will have a bigger traction, leading to more interested people. Hoardings have a major effect on people’s minds, where they have a few seconds to assimilate the tagline. It uses heavy copywriting skills that involve a lot of research and psychology behind them.
Starting a YouTube channel
YouTube in the past decade has become a destination for promoting stuff, where loads of channels are promoting their content in a highly competitive market for views. For this to be implemented, the scholar needs to learn YouTuber Skills and post videos about the significance of a Part-time Ph.D in the current higher education landscape, and also post real-life experiences via testimonials to substantiate the quintessential features meant to attract an audience.
These audiences demand a relatability factor which should be leveraged by the YouTuber to build connection via content that inspires or enlightens the aspirant. This YouTube channel’s purpose must be to communicate the prowess and advantages of taking a Ph.D for working professionals.
For this, the promoters who are scholars must gather resources such as cameras, audio equipment, a microphone, a PC, etc. With the right team, a YouTube channel can be coordinated to execute a proper video which has to be engaging and, as a result, should gain followers who will be inclined towards taking a Part-time Ph.D as a viable option.
Social Media Accounts
Opening pages on social media platforms can enhance user engagement, which will attract curious minds interested in pursuing a Ph.D. Since we live in an era of people who are losing their attention span every day, social media platforms must be leveraged with posts. These posts consist of little but effective information that is good enough to give concise information that is good enough to pique the interest of users who could be directed towards a gateway of the original website of the scholar’s university.
These scholars can run campaigns that trace the journey, origins, features, and advantages of the Part-time Ph.D through posts, short videos, etc. These can affect establishing clarity of whatever doubts they have about Ph.D for working professionals. The scholars can express their learning and the process of being a student taking a Part-time Ph.D program. It can position itself as a program that is an alternative to a regular Ph.D, where a scholar can get stuck and never get out of the terrors of guides which has been discussed across forums in the country for the past few years.
The scholars can provide their experiences in how to navigate something similar in a Part-time Ph.D. They could also advise social media users to figure out how to take up jobs while doing a Ph.D for working professionals. Via social media for user engagement, the scholars could conduct seminars or webinars that could build a feeling of community which opens up avenues for more enrollment.
Conclusion
Part-time Ph.D programs on a national scale can give higher output in launching more Ph.D holders into the research community, which will eventually add to the prowess of the research institutions of the country. As part-time Ph.D will become the next trend among doctoral aspirants, it will modernize the effective output developed as a research student who will receive all-around development on par with regular Ph.D programs. The scholars promoting Part-time Ph.D in the spirit of spreading awareness can use multiple media such as posters (pamphlets, hoardings, etc.), social media, and YouTube. This will help build more trust among aspirants as well as a fight against regular Ph.D programs and their toxic culture.
