Graduation to be a family affair
Graduation will be a family affair for mother and son Andrea Dickens and Chris Freeman who are both graduating at this week’s ceremony.
Andrea, who will be graduating with a PhD, was inspired to pursue postgraduate study through her experience at work where she found herself surrounded by colleagues with Master’s degrees and PhDs.
“I’ve worked in an intellectual property law firm for 20 years (on and off), with many super-smart people—almost all with Master’s and many with PhDs. I felt that my undergraduate degree was a little inadequate, so when the children were self-sufficient enough, I started studying towards a post-graduate diploma in management, which then turned into an MBA that I finished in 2012,” says Andrea.
Not content with just an MBA, Andrea decided to hit the books again and pursued a PhD looking at how firms develop dynamic capabilities differently.
“When I started the PhD, I was in a job that I didn’t love, and I wasn’t sure what my future career path would be. I never wanted to be an academic, but I thought it might position me to pursue management consulting at some stage in the future. As it happened, I now have a job that I love, and which directly relates to my thesis,” says Andrea.
Andrea studied towards her PhD part-time while she worked full-time as the Chief Operating Officer at a law firm. While this proved a challenge it also had its benefits.
“Unlike an MBA, which is driven by semesters, lectures, and deadlines, a PhD is very much self-paced. I had to be very disciplined to make sure I committed enough time each weekend to study. On the upside, however, if I needed to do something important, I knew that I could add another weekend to the PhD journey. That removed a lot of the stress, but also meant that it took five years to complete.”
Chris, Andrea’s son, will be graduating with a Bachelor of Commerce in Management and is also currently finishing a building apprenticeship. He intends to combine the two skillsets to start a career in property investment and development.
Chris and Andrea each had different approaches to their study but took pride in seeing each other succeed along the way.
“Chris’s and my study paths didn’t run in parallel. I studied on the weekends, when Chris usually had better things to do! We also studied in different ways and on different timelines—I’m methodical and didn’t study past about 6 pm, whereas he often wouldn’t start studying until the evening and then put in all-nighters. I’m super proud that we both got there in the end,” says Andrea.
“There was always a mutual pride we had for one another which did help me feel more confident about my study,” says Chris. “Mum was really inspiring. Working towards a PhD while continuing to strive in her career—not many people can claim they have done that!”