Studying full time: strategies and success

This episode is part two, comparing full-time study to part time. I speak to Tom, an assistant professor at the University of Warwick. We discuss his educational journey so far and the reasons he chose to study full time, what advice he would give to those looking to make the choice, and how he prioritised his education around his life

Participants

In order of first appearance:

• Emily Slade - podcast producer and host, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ»ÆƬ
• Tom Ritchie - assistant professor and director of student experience, University of Warwick

Transcript

Emily Slade: Hello and welcome to Future You, the podcast run by graduate careers experts, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ»ÆƬ. I'm your host, Emily Slade and this episode is part two, comparing full-time study to part time. I speak to Tom, an assistant professor at the University of Warwick. We discuss his educational journey so far and the reasons he chose to study full time, what advice he would give to those looking to make the choice, and how he prioritised his education around his life.

Tom Ritchie: Hi there. My name is Dr. Tom Richie. I am an assistant professor and director of student experience from the University of Warwick. I'm here today to talk a little bit more about my postgraduate journey through education. So I did my undergraduate degree in 2007 at the University of Kent, I then was sabbatical officer for two years. So I was elected by students as union president, to represent them and to be the kind of face of the university to an extent after that, I, when I started my postgraduate journey, I applied to a series of different universities, including the University of Kent, King's College in London and others to study history at Masters level. I received a number of places but ended up staying at the University of Kent, because I was offered a scholarship to stay there, which made that slightly easier after that, in 2014, I went to work for a graduate scheme in, in London. On my first day in that job, I received a phone call from my Masters supervisor, saying to me, are you interested in doing a PhD, it's with the Science Museum, it's fully funded, feel free to have a think about it, and which I did for a couple of days. I then decided to take it because I was about 2425 at the time, and I thought, I don't think I'm ever going to be offered a fully funded PhD with the Science Museum again, so probably take that, that option as it's available. So I started that in 2015, split between the University of Kent and the Science Museum in London. I did that for four years. And I've worked alongside that, and I'm sure I'll talk a little bit more about that later on. I worked alongside it and completed my PhD in August 2019. I had my Viva just before COVID hit, which was very, very lucky in retrospect. And then I continued after that I went to work for the University of Exeter, that was in a non academic role. So as in a professional services role doing project innovations around how we teach students at university, I started that job on the first day of the COVID, lockdown, which again, was an interesting experience as I work remotely for two years. And then at the end of that role, I moved to work for the government. In London, I worked for them for a little bit before getting a job at the University of Warwick, where I currently work, as I mentioned at the beginning, as assistant professor and director of student experience in the chemistry department.

Emily Slade: Amazing. So you've gone through the sort of educational journey quite extensively there. Did you study and you've sort of alluded to it? Did you study full time or part time.

Tom Ritchie: So for both my Masters and my PhD, I studied on a full time basis, I've done other qualifications in and around those that I've done on a part time basis as kind of continuing professional development. So when I was Exeter, I did a Certificate in Business Administration, with the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, I did that part time while working, which was a really interesting experience. And I'm currently finishing coaching apprenticeship with the OCM, who are a provider, and that's alongside my current role, but again, part time for a year. So it's, so while my formal education, my Masters, my PhD was full time, I have got experience studying part time as well alongside jobs and other responsibilities. So yeah, happy to talk about both of those.

Emily Slade: So what led to you choosing those different options, so talk us through why some were full time and some were part time.

Tom Ritchie: So I think for me, it was not really a choice so much, because because I received a scholarship for my Masters and my PhD there time limited. So you can only ever use that money within for the Masters within a 12 month period. And for the PhD, it was a maximum of three years funding. So you, you couldn't spread that over a part time basis. And so it was more of a that was dictated to me by by the process of studying, I think that if I'd had the option, I probably would have chosen to study full time anyway, just because I was in a stage in my life where I didn't have wider responsibilities, like family and things like that, that would potentially be a reason that you need to study part time. The reason I study part time in in subsequent qualifications, is because I've had a job and because I've had other responsibilities. And so it's been almost contextual, like Where have I been at the time when I've wanted to be studying and, and choosing what was best for me as a result of that?

Emily Slade: Do you think it would have been the case that if you hadn't been offered a full time scholarship, you would have had to almost have completed your studies at apart on a part time basis?

Tom Ritchie: Yeah, 100%. So I wouldn't have been able to afford to do it otherwise. And actually, as it was, I still worked a series of jobs throughout my Masters and my PhD study. There was a point during my PhD that I had four jobs because I just was the scholarship was great. I didn't want to not have any money. You know, you want to be able to finish these things and not be completely destitute and be able to actually survive and thrive and have a life. But I think if if Yeah, if I hadn't got the scholarships, if I ended up just citing to continue studying, it would definitely have been on a part time basis. And I would have worked alongside it to be able to support myself. So I probably would have gone for the Masters, it would have been two years. The PhD, potentially six years is the kind of traditional part time model that you'd move to with those things.

Emily Slade: What were the benefits? Do you think of working full time compared to working part time?

Tom Ritchie: It's a really interesting point, I think that when, for me, when I was studying full time, it allowed me to be completely focused on what I was doing. So whilst I did have these other jobs, they were all in service of what I was studying full time, I think part of the challenge I have with the part time opportunities that I've done since and I'm still doing is that whilst they are a priority, they can never be the main priority, because my job has to be my main priority in a kind of work context. So I think with my PhD, specifically, I was able to give so much more of myself to that because I was able to full time. Whereas I think with the current coaching qualification I'm doing it is part time and I'm really enjoying it. But it's, it's almost never able to be top of my list because I have to do the other parts of my job as well and keep those kind of ticking over. It's I think some of the benefits for me with with the obvious ones are I was able to do those things quicker. So the PhD took me three and a half years, not six, and the Masters took me 12 months rather than 24. And I think, for me at that stage that felt important, I think on reflection, spending an extra 12 months studying something it been easier, which it probably would have been for my Masters. If I could go back, I probably would have done that. Because it was a very, very difficult 12 months, I mean that the Masters was there. If you think about studying as a as an hourglass, you know, funding for undergraduates is unlimited. At the bottom, there'll be essentially unlimited, you can get funding to study something. PhD, there is always funding but Masters is that bit in the middle of a narrow neck where that was a very that was the most difficult part of studying on my postgraduate journey was just the scholarship I received to our great it didn't cover living costs, it didn't allow me to really do anything other than pay my pay my fees, it paid like I think 5% of my rent. And that's that's no issue with the scholarship, it was it was life changing. But it meant that that was a really difficult period of having to try to balance everything and make everything work, which I think sometimes that's where the benefit of studying part time can come in, because you have a little bit more space a little bit more time to kind of get your ducks in a row with those sorts of things. Whereas I was like, I have 12 months, if I don't get this done, I'm in trouble. But I also have to pay my rent. And I have to do this. And I have to do that.

Emily Slade: How did you do it? How did you balance? How did you get your ducks in a row in that time in your life?

Tom Ritchie: I didn't sleep very much. And it's kind of a semi jokey answer, but I think it was we always talked about prioritisation of organisation. And I'm an I'm a fan of a list, I do love a list, being able to write things down that I need to be able to do and kind of break them down into stage by stage. I think looking back, I was very careful to pick jobs that were flexible to allow me to support myself when I was studying full time. So when I was in my Masters, I worked for a department in the university around employability and entrepreneurship. That that allowed me a lot of flexibility when it came to things like deadlines. For my PhD, I worked for a different students union. And they allowed me to work on Student Union at different university. And they allowed me to work compressed hours, which was really important. They were very flexible. And then two of the jobs are held or related to my PhD. So I was an assistant lecturer, which obviously it's in the schools interest to allow me to study. So if I couldn't do a certain week, for whatever reason, there was always support for that. And as a research assistant for my supervisor, and the same thing applies, it's it was in my supervisors interest for me to be able to succeed. The job that wasn't perhaps so much built around that was I worked as a resident life support officer on campus, which meant I actually, my PhD moved back on to campus for two years, which was a slightly challenging time to be back on campus when you're kind of in your mid to late 20s By this point, but I was very lucky that I was in with the postgraduate students and so I was able to support lots of others through their own journeys. And whilst it wasn't flexible in the way that the other roles were, it, it meant that I had very, very cheap rent for two years, which allowed me to not have to focus so much on making money elsewhere to be able to pay expensive rent, which allowed me to focus on my PhD, etc, etc. So, I think for me, and I know it's not the same for everyone, but for me, the biggest challenge was always how do I pay for what I need to pay for this month whether that's read food, whatever, my car at the time. And I think for me, that was always the balance that I looked for was, how can I get a job that I can learn some skills in because I've not mentioned that I always tried to pick jobs that would help me with the next thing I was going to apply for. But also something that was useful for me and would allow me to fit it around my studies, because, as I mentioned earlier, studying full time allowed me to have that as my main focus. So in the way that I mentioned, when I studied part time, the part time qualifications are kind of secondary to my full time job. The same was true in the reverse. So my full time studies were my main priority. And my part time work was the addition the thing I did alongside it,

Emily Slade: I want to circle back to you mentioned support, what support was available to you as both full time and a part time student? Did you find that it differed? Depending on whether you were full time or part time?

Tom Ritchie: Yeah, massively. I think that when you're studying full time, and it depends the mode of study. So if you're on a research degree, it is slightly different than if you're on a teaching degree. So my Masters was PGT, postgraduate taught course. So I had weekly check ins, I had lectures, I had seminars that I would go to that they provided a sense of support. With the PhD, it was a slightly different experience where you are kind of told, here's your area, and to an extent, good luck, go and find some interesting things out. And we'll see you in a couple of years, at least it was my experience. And whilst I did have, you know, monthly check ins, with supervisors and things like that, it was much more hands off, because when you get into studying on a research capacity, it's about being independent. And I think that is perhaps one of the biggest misunderstandings that people have were, to an extent, a postgraduate taught Masters is just a harder version of your undergraduate, you just have to put a bit more effort into those things. I'm massively simplifying that whereas with a PhD, it's nothing like your Masters, at least in my experience, because it's entirely independent. And so the things I was very, very good at, in my Masters. They were helpful in my PhD, but they weren't directly helpful in the way that they had been from undergraduate to Masters where I had to almost entirely relearn that skill set. And so studying my PhD full time meant I was able to be part of research development frameworks that existed at the university, I was part of some other networks within the department, but I'm also aware that my part time colleagues were also able to join those, I think, part of the challenge was that those networks were set up by people who were full time. So as much as they would try to make it work for everyone. There was a almost like a bias towards those who are available full time. So it would be we would have a meeting on a Tuesday at five o'clock. Now. That worked for me, because I'd be on campus anyway. But if you're studying part time, that might not be your day that you're on because of childcare or various other reasons. And so it would mean you'd miss that opportunity. And I think that's, that's a real challenge that exists between full time and part time is, is just understanding that the support that exists, does it work for part time students and flipping to my part time experiences, I found that it is much harder, because not only do you have other priorities, but actually the networks that exist are built around those who are more available, because they're doing it full time. So there are some it's yeah, there are some support structures, definitely, in my part time studies, I think. The challenge comes with, everything takes time to engage with and there's only so much time I can engage with these things overall. And so if I spend a lot of time engaging with the support structures, it means that's less time I can engage with the content or the thing I'm trying to do. So that's always been a consideration of mine, and has impacted how I work now. So when I think about the students I work with, it's generally undergraduate students in the Department of Chemistry, which is not my field of study. So that's always a hurdle to jump over. I, I tried to work really hard to reduce the consistent cause for them to engage in lots of different things and try to create, like high value moments that they can come in and get the support they need or learn something or even sometimes just feeding them very simply because I appreciate that. We only have a limited amount of engagement we can ever give to things and even undergraduate level. And once that's used up, it's very, very difficult to replenish it and it's harder for students now than it's ever been because when I was a student, things felt a little bit easier. Whereas now, I'm going to be undergraduates for a second but this also applies to postgraduates. You have to be able to do your course, you have to be able to develop employability skills, you have to grow up in quotes, whatever that means. I'm still not entirely sure you have to be able to demonstrate that you've grown your networks as well. And so it is really hard to be able to apply yourself to all of those opportunities for engagement in universities as well.

Emily Slade: What advice do you have for anyone looking to make this decision? What sort of things? Would you suggest they weigh up? And including their thought process?

Tom Ritchie: It's a really good question. And it's, again, it's something I talk to my current students about quite a lot is this ability to be honest with yourself with what your capability is, and also what you want to do. And I think that, if you're saying to yourself, you know what I'm going to study this part time. So a PhD now can be six years long, you have to really ask yourself, am I still going to be interested in this in six years time, six years, is a lot of time two years is not something that is a long time. But six years is a big chunk of your life, particularly if you're in your 20s or early 30s. That can be a quarter to a fifth of your life. So you really need to be honest with yourself about what is it I'm willing to put into this? And what is it I'm willing to continue putting into this when the initial adrenaline and excitement runs out? Because speaking from my own experience, I love my PhD, but it was a sock, you know, it was it. I think people think of PhDs and research degrees as this, you have these moments of inspiration, and you go, I've realised this theory or this approach, mine was very much I tied myself to my desk for four years. And I just ground through the work day by day by day. And that was my process, because that's how I worked. And I think you have to recognise that in yourself. And it can be really difficult. I think, when it comes to the route that you choose, I would always be open to speaking to family and supporters and friends. But also bear in mind that everyone has an opinion. But also everyone will forget what they told you in a week. And everyone is the main character in their own lives. So do what works for you where you might be in pressured of do it full time, do it full time, get it done, or do it part time, do it part time, give yourself more space. But I think you have to listen to what you think. Because yeah, while people are good at giving opinions, everyone has one. And actually, you have to be honest with yourself. Because if you're not you end up doing something you don't enjoy. And that's when the challenges really come in. And that that can be impacted by the the mode of study that you've chosen. But also things like your subjects and other things that you choose as well. So a very, very way to kind of precis that would be to say it's very much listen to yourself with this stuff like really reflect think about what's your gut telling you because generally your guts right on these things. I think also be really realistic. So it's very easy to go, oh yeah, I'll just do 50 hours a week working alongside this, and that'll be fine. The reality is on a kind of cold November night, when all you're desperate for is to get home and sleep or watch Netflix or whatever. You still need to go to work, or you still need to come home and study those books that you've not been doing. And I think that you have to have that open conversation with yourself a little bit because, again, otherwise it can cause problems as you get down the line. And particularly to use example again, if you're if you're in year five of a six year course. And you're still having to put that level of commitment in that that's commendable but very difficult. So be really be really honest with yourself, I would say and whilst you should listen to people, you listen to yourself because ultimately everyone will have an opinion, but they aren't living your experience and they most of them won't have been going through the same qualifications that you are.

Emily Slade: Thank you so much for your time today.

Tom Ritchie: Yeah thank you so much Emily, it's been a really good opportunity to speak and reflect about it and I think these are conversations we need to be having more so I think the work your doing is really good, thanks so much.

Emily Slade: Thanks again to Tom for his time today.

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Notes on transcript

This transcript was produced using a combination of automated software and human transcribers and may contain errors. The audio version is definitive and should be checked before quoting.

Find out more

• Listen to Studying part time: balancing education and life.
• Learn about balancing work and study.
• Take a look at the Department of Chemistry at the University of Warwick.
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