Following in their Footsteps: ISBE Conference 2010 & Doctoral Day
Vik Gill
I was thrilled to be selected as a Student Volunteer for the 2010 ISBE Conference held in London. In exchange for helping out with conference registration and roving microphones etc, I was able to attend the Conference at a discounted rate and attend several parallel sessions and other parts of the programme. I met new and established academics and practitioners in Entrepreneurship & Small Business, and heard interesting papers in topics of interest to me, within the Social Enterprise, Gender, and Technology tracks. Everyone I encountered was encouraging, approachable, and friendly, making my first academic conference a thoroughly enjoyable event.
As part of the Conference programme, I also attended the Doctoral Day on 2nd November 2010, held at the Shell Building in Waterloo. I felt that the ISBE Doctoral Day was a particularly useful doctoral training workshop and networking opportunity. Chaired by Dr John Kitching from Kingston University’s Small Business Research Centre (SBRC), with assistance from Dr Julia Rouse (Manchester Metropolitan Business School), Dr Dilani Jayawarna (Manchester Metropolitan Business School), and Dr Tom Wainwright (Kingston University SBRC), the Doctoral Day was attended by both early-stage and later-stage PhD students. I think this mix of delegates particularly benefitted the early-stage students, enabling us to ask questions to peers who are further along the road in this rite of passage.
In addition to several short presentations by the academic speakers, the Doctoral Day programme included a number of break-out sessions designed to foster networking and to encourage stimulating debate and discussion about the topics covered in the presentations. Delegates were divided into small groups for these break-out sessions, which took place several times throughout the day. Delegates were able to get to know other students undertaking research within broadly similar areas of research interest, and – reflecting the mixed experience levels of the delegates attending the Doctoral Day – these small groups also represented delegates at both early and later stages of their doctoral journey. I felt this was an effective structure. I have actually now set up an email list for the people in my ‘group’ on the Doctoral Day, so that we can stay in touch to exchange ideas, seek and offer guidance to and from each other, and potentially collaborate during and beyond our individual doctoral journeys.
Topics covered during the Doctoral Day presentations given by John Kitching, Julia Rouse, Dilani Jayawarna, and Tom Wainwright included developing a good research question, doing a quality literature review, constructing a conceptual framework, identifying a good research question, and data collection & analysis. Break-out sessions reinforced the key points of these presentations, allowing delegates to apply their learning from these presentations within a small-group discussion format which allowed delegates to build upon the day’s earlier presentations and small-group discussions. This programme structure allowed for continuity and reinforcement of delegates’ learning and provided a cohesive structure for thought and discussion, mirroring the actual research process.
Hugely enjoyable – and well worthwhile. Kudos to the organisers and presenters!
Vik Gill, ESRC/SAMS Management & Business Development Fellow, Kingston University (SBRC), First Year PhD Student, v.gill@kingston.ac.uk
