Doctoral Student Consortium
Professional Development Workshop
Date: Wednesday 28 October
Time: 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Cost: $45 – ILA Student Member; $75 – All Others
Location: The Westin Harbour Castle, Toronto, Room TBD
Ticket prices do not include food or beverage. We suggest bringing along your favorite beverage and snack to keep you energized throughout the workshop!
Description
The 2026 ILA conference marks the 10th year of the popular Doctoral Consortium Program. This informative program is for doctoral students at any stage of their process. Spend the day with us learning from doctoral faculty, dissertation advisers, writers, researchers, and other students to strengthen your dissertation journey
In understanding that the study of leadership is multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary, students studying leadership from any discipline are welcome to attend and add to the conversations!
The purpose of the doctoral consortium is to create a forum for students to learn together and create a community of future scholars. We will create a space to gather, form a sense of community, get feedback on research agendas, and advance their careers by learning from one another. A cadre of established scholars, dissertation chairs, and practitioners in the field has been assembled to help guide the conversation and contribute ideas and support.
The sessions throughout the day will include discussions with faculty on tips for successful doctoral students, goal setting, and digging into the dissertation process. This year’s consortium is focused on helping the doctoral student focus on their process and see how their development contributes to the final dissertation product. We will discuss voice, methods, and the importance of finding your voice in the research. The day will be spent with faculty members who are scholarly, developmental, authors, with a student focused approach. Your informal conversations with the faculty and your student colleagues will round out the learning focused presentations.
Hear From Past Attendees
“Best day of the Conference. Thank you.”
“Ideas and suggestions that I could incorporate immediately to better inform my work as a new researcher and writer.”
“As I begin to transition from coursework to the research process, I know that the notes I took will help me be more productive.”
Goals & Outcomes
By attending the ILA Doctoral Consortium, participant(s) will:
- Make connections, network, with other doctoral students looking at a leadership focused dissertation for support, ideas, common interests, and community.
- Meet with scholars and practitioners who are advising doctoral students and publishing their own scholarship in leadership outlets.
- Get feedback on their research agendas, dissertation goals, and methods of inquiry.
- Advance their careers by learning from one another and from established scholars and practitioners in the field.
Design
Welcome and Introductions
Overview of Consortium
Rules for Success as a Doctoral Student & Working With Your Chair
This section will focus on practical strategies and tips for a successful doctoral experience. Working with your chair/adviser is a key part of the doctoral experience and especially the dissertation process. Strategies include having the right mindset, keys to good writing, and leveraging your dissertation for life beyond graduate school.
Goal Setting How to Get from Doc Student to Doctor
This section will help guide you through your own personal goals for completing a dissertation. Students will learn how to engage their own best styles to tackle the big task of researching and writing a dissertation. Some tools will be introduced to help with backdating and mini markers of success toward completion.
Theoretical Concept and Conceptual Framework
This aspect of the doctoral dissertation is as important as the research question. The conceptual framework provides a lens and structure for the overall project, the literature review, and your methods.
Which Comes First the Research Question or the Method
Students will explore the process of developing research questions and choosing research methodology. We will discuss the interplay between these elements of a dissertation along with the likely bounding parameters for your research.
The Science of Writing: Strategies and Formulas for Managing Your Writing
Want to get that thesis, dissertation, or research paper done…and done well? This section will cover methodical approaches to getting motivated to write, staying on track with a realistic timeline, avoiding writing burnout or writing in spurts, overcoming writer’s block, and writing resources that every student should know about
Wrap Up and Conclusion
Hosted by ILA's Leadership Scholarship Member Community
The ILA Leadership Scholarship Member Community brings together seasoned and new scholars and researchers sharing an emphasis on leadership from all disciplines, fields of study and research approaches. The Leadership Scholarship Community creates opportunities to share research and theories, encourages rigor and relevance, and fosters collaboration.
Doc Consortium Chair and primary contact is Dr. Rich Whitney, rwhitney@laverne.edu.
The list of this year’s facilitators are forthcoming.
Past facilitators include: Nathan Eva (Monash Business School); L.J. McElravy (University of Nebraska-Lincoln); Darren Pierre (University of Maryland), Corey Seemiller (Wright State University), Kathy Guthrie (Florida State University), Ron Riggio (Claremont McKenna College), Yulia Tolstikov-Mast (Indiana Tech), among many others.
Facilitators
tbd