How to get a PhD at Edinburgh University

BY DOTUN AYENI

This is a quick explainer for everyone asking why I chose Edinburgh, pursued a PhD via an MSc route (why not an MBA?) and for those asking how to go about their own journeys.

I was 36 when I began my Master’s in International Human Resource Management (IHRM) programme at the University of Edinburgh Business School (UoEBS) and was just about to turn 37 when I began my PhD studies at the same University.

At 36, I had completed two degrees (at undergraduate and postgraduate levels), married a gentleman I met at university, had two children, and founded three thriving businesses. Returning to school full-time as an international student meant different things and new challenges.

Before settling on Edinburgh University, I considered two other Russell Group Universities: the University of Southampton and the University of Warwick. I also applied to the University of Stirling (not a Russell Group University, but hands down, one of the most beautiful, picturesque Universities in the UK I’ve ever visited!).

I wanted to study at a UK University and knew for a long time that I didn’t want to live in London- a city that reminded me too much of the hustle and bustle of Lagos. This meant Universities in the vicinity were out. I had heard of Scotland but never visited. I knew they had great schools, including Edinburgh University. Other Universities on my list were Warwick and Southampton. These were highly-ranked universities, and I closely monitored their rankings (the reliability of University ranking sites is a discussion for another day). Also, being mum to a 4 and 7-year-old at the time, I wanted to study in an environment that would not compromise the carefully curated life my husband and I had designed for them.

So I crawled the websites of all schools, found out about their open days, and signed up to attend sessions at the Universities of Edinburgh, Warwick, and Southampton. Stirling did not have an open day on at the time, so I wrote to their admission office and requested a postgraduate programme visit, which they graciously agreed to.

Satisfied with my groundwork, I set out in November of 2016 on a chemistry-check journey from Nigeria to the UK. The trip auspiciously coincided with my attendance of the CIPD conference for HR Professionals in Manchester, which saved me travel costs.

Using Glasgow as my hub, I set out to Stirling first. If there ever is a most beautiful University award, Stirling would win this without fail. Nestled amidst the most colourful trees, with resplendent hills as its backdrop, the campus effortlessly takes your breath away. I met with a lecturer who offered further insights into their postgraduate degree programmes. I loved my visit to Stirling and swore I would return someday.

Up next on my list was Edinburgh University. I visited the business school, toured Teviot Row House– the oldest purpose-built student union building in the world, enjoyed a bubbly or two with other open-day attendees at Playfair Library, took a stroll through South Bridge and North Bridge and admired some of the most magnificent buildings I had ever seen. I marvelled at how the University was situated right in the middle of the city, with the two blending so much you almost couldn’t tell one apart from the other. I loved it. I saw strangers strolling past, parents pushing baby strollers, and people of all ages, professions and cultures going about their day. Being Scotland’s capital city, Edinburgh provided the city feel I was used to, but without being overly fast-paced and overcrowded.

Satisfied with my Edinburgh visit, I set out to Warwick Business School, connecting via train and using Milton Keynes as a hub for the England phase of my tour. I visited the Business School and loved the swanky feel. It felt newer and more purpose-built as a business school than Edinburgh. However, the location didn’t seem family-friendly enough and did not offer the lifestyle choices I sought.

Up next on my itinerary was the University of Southampton, and my visit there was such a treat! I visited the Business School and the National Oceanography Centre and loved it! I marvelled at the school and the city, particularly because of its coastline location—I love the sea. However, Southampton didn’t offer the charm and character of Edinburgh. Edinburgh had spoiled me for all other schools. No others would do, not even my beautiful Stirling.

Why PhD via an MSc route? Why not an MBA? 

Before beginning my studies at Edinburgh, I had co-founded two successful businesses with my husband and had started a third. I had learned many business lessons and gained experiences that an MBA couldn’t offer. Pursuing a PhD wasn’t always a lifelong dream. However, by 2015, I had started toying with returning to school to learn more about the theories shaping most of what we do as leaders of people and organisations. At this time, I had already completed an Executive Master’s in Managerial Psychology at the University of Lagos. So, I opted for a PhD through an MSC in International Human Resource Management (IHRM) route, and this was because our organisation was expanding, and learning more about managing people on a global scale had become a critical leadership priority.

For me, doing an MSc in IHRM would help me kill the proverbial two birds with one stone: (i) develop an understanding of the global talent management landscape, its issues and challenges, and how to potentially solve them, and (ii) use the degree as a route towards understanding the UK academic system and how to apply for and successfully complete a PhD.

So, in September of 2017, I began my Master’s programme in Edinburgh. By December 2017, before the end of the first semester, I had started putting together a PhD proposal. I got some help from some of my lecturers on the MSC programme, who helped me read and suggest improvements. I polished my proposal further, applied for the PhD at the end of January 2018 and received a conditional offer by the end of March 2018 with a caveat that my results at the end of the MSc programme had to be excellent. Knowing this, I doubled down to ensure I did a damn good job of the courses I had left. With a sense of satisfaction, I was awarded my MSc in IHRM with distinction in October of 2018, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Did I get a scholarship for my PhD? No, I didn’t. I was self-funded for different reasons. Firstly, it takes time to find scholarships, and waiting longer than August  2018, when I completed the MSc IHRM programme, would mean leaving the UK, which would disrupt the children’s school arrangements yet again. Secondly, after carefully considering the cost of self-funding, we decided it was something we could afford, given the cost at the time and the instalment payment plans for tuition fees offered by Edinburgh University. This meant I could pay my fees up to three times in each year of study. Moreover, there were students needing a scholarship much more than I did, and it didn’t feel right to rob others of the opportunity.

If you are considering scholarships for your study at Edinburgh, there are various scholarship options available to students based on their nationalities, including those provided by Edinburgh University Business School for Masters and PhD programmes. Some external organisations offering funding for postgraduate degree programmes at Masters and/or PhD levels are the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Programme and Commonwealth Scholarships. Other PhD-specific funding for studies in the UK and other countries can be found at Find A PhD, Jobs.ac.uk, and Scholarships for Development, which curates scholarships, grants, and fellowships aimed at women from the Global South.

How much did the Master’s and PhD degrees cost in total?

For the MSc in IHRM, I paid an application fee of £50 and tuition fees of £20,100 in 4 instalments. This included an acceptance deposit of £1500, which was paid before the programme started to confirm my place. My PhD tuition fees were due annually, ranging from £18,200 to £20,300 each year, and paid in three instalments. All PhD fees included an annual administrative fee of £200. You can check here for the current costs for an MSc in IHRM degree in Edinburgh, as this will be different now.

During my time, annual fees were payable for the first three years of study as the 4th year is considered the writing-up year. However, students were required to pay administrative fees for every additional year they extended their PhD studies beyond the period where annual fees were payable.

In addition to tuition fees, other costs to consider as a student at Edinburgh University are rent, utility bills (gas and electricity), council tax, feeding, transportation, mobile phone charges and other subsistence expenses. You can take a look here for more.

How did I manage to study full-time with two primary-aged children?

Leaving the comfort and familiar way of life I knew back home in Nigeria to a new city to study with my children meant I had to adjust quickly to a new way of life. This entailed understanding how to manage a new educational system for my children and the challenges that came with it, learning to raise my children without the support system I was used to in Nigeria while juggling a full-time PhD, helping my children navigate new cuisines different from what they were used to, living apart from my husband for weeks on end when work called in another city or continent, gradually losing touch with friends and family and learning to live up North in the UK with long and dark winters which left most people depressed for months on end.

I had a lot of help. My husband, who, although saddled with overseeing our growing business, made sure he was available for the times I needed him the most. This included when I had to travel for international conferences and, most importantly, while the children were on school breaks, and I couldn’t travel or take time off my studies. In the early days, while the girls were still in primary school, I registered them with an after-school club that collected children from school (2:50 pm Monday to Thursdays and 12:30 pm on Fridays) and fed and engaged them until 5:45 pm during the week. This cost us an average of £260 per month for two children.

During half-term breaks, I enrolled the girls in holiday camps offering swimming, basketball, tennis, dance, and many more activities. These activities occupied the girls for several hours during the holidays, sometimes from 8 am to 6 pm. Having time to myself during such periods helped me get some reading, analysis, and reading done. For the days when I needed to be at events happening after 6 pm, I engaged registered sitters to watch the children.

Living at the University of Edinburgh’s family accommodation at Blacket Avenue in the first few years of my studies also provided a close-knit community and opportunities to lean on other families for emergency childcare support when needed. However, when I had to travel outside the country for an extended time during my data collection, I asked my retired mum and dad to come to Edinburgh to be with the children. They were happy to do this and helped watch the children for over 7 months- 4 months longer than we agreed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Thank you, mum and dad!

So why a paper-based PhD and not the traditional monograph?

Three reasons- (i) I knew I didn’t want to be saddled with the work of converting my thesis to publishable papers after completing my PhD, (ii) I wanted to learn about publishing in journals and doing a paper-based PhD provided the opportunity to learn the process (my supervisors did an excellent job of showing the ropes in this area), and (iii) I had heard that publishing during the PhD could offer PhDs a route towards a lectureship, and I thought why not! I must mention here that the University of Edinburgh Business School does not require written papers to be published before students can submit their thesis for examination. Written papers only have to be of publishable standards.

What are the benefits of doing a PhD at Edinburgh University? 

One benefit of studying at UoEBS is the funding available to join leading international management bodies and present your working papers at any of their conferences and workshops. Some of the conferences I was accepted to present papers at include the 8th European Institute for Advanced Studies in Management Workshops in Toulouse, The Academy of Management Annual Meeting in Seattle, The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development Applied Research Conference in Manchester and the 4th International Conference of the HR Division (Academy of Management) in South Africa. At such conferences, you have an opportunity to receive feedback from leading scholars in your field, meet other scholars and initiate conversations on new projects, including submitting articles together to peer-reviewed journals. However, UoEBS also encourages PhDs to organise their own workshops and offers some funding to support this.

Another benefit I enjoyed was the funding available for developmental purposes, which included supporting my trip to Nigeria for data collection and providing some financing to help transcribe most of my data. (I interviewed over 100 participants from 5 organisations, each lasting over 45 minutes).

My first academic paper, written with my advisors, was submitted to a peer-reviewed journal in July 2021 and accepted for publication in Group and Organization Management (GOM) in July 2022. The paper was nominated ‘Best Paper’ at the Academy of Management and earned the ‘Exemplary Paper Award’ at UoEBS. I have since submitted more papers from my PhD to other journals for publication- two of which were rejected after first-round reviews with extensive feedback. Yes, having papers rejected after putting in so much effort can be unnerving. However, one positive is that such rejections can provide an opportunity to revisit your work and find another, more suitable platform.

My PhD Timelines

Although my full-time PhD was designed to be completed within 4 years, I completed mine in 5 years (i.e. 5 years, 1 month and 22 days). There are newer and longer PhD pathways available now depending on student needs.

As for timelines, I began my studies on September 10, 2018, and submitted my thesis for examination on October 31, 2023. I spent the first year of the PhD on different coursework that included supervised readings (to refine students’ research), learning more about research methods and doing data analysis.

In the second year, I travelled to Nigeria for data collection after securing access to 6 firms. The COVID-19 pandemic happened during my 2nd year, and I was one of the few who made it out of Nigeria before the global shutdown. I became ill during the period and requested a 2-month interruption of studies, which was granted.

My 3rd year was spent transcribing, analysing and writing. Unfortunately, I was infected with COVID-19 that year, which impacted my submission timelines for year 4. To make up the time, I requested a 12-month extension (Full-time PhDs can extend their studies for up to 24 months in addition to the 4 years provided for research and writing-up) before the end of my 4th year, which was granted. I then doubled down to ensure I submitted my thesis for examination on or before my due date, which I did.

My viva was held on January 11, 2024, and my results were ratified in March 2024, in time for the summer graduations. The sheet here shows all critical components of my PhD and their end dates.

In sum, my PhD path may or may not be the best for everyone. However, it made the most sense for me in light of my objectives and desired endpoint. My recommendations to anyone considering this path, particularly women with children, is to plan carefully, identify what matters most to you, and choose a path that works best for you in light of your circumstances, your anticipated endpoint, and the resources available to you.

Now, off to some more R&R!

Dọ̀tun Ayẹni is an entrepreneur, business leader and management scholar. You can contact her via [email protected]