Breaking the age barrier: A compulsion that turned to passion

“Choosing to do a PhD started off as a compulsion for me as an endeavor for academic growth, but later on, it also became my passion. I worked as a teacher for a decade after my B.E. and did my Master’s while teaching. Although the thought of doing a PhD did cross my mind, I dropped the idea because my children were growing up and with my husband working abroad, I had to fulfill parental as well as other responsibilities single-handedly.

Once they grew older, I recognized the shortcomings in the school environment regarding fostering student curiosity, motivating me to pursue a PhD focused on education. Fortunately, I found the perfect opportunity at IIT Bombay where the Department of Education Technology was just being set up. My PhD focused on design of a technology-based learning environment for engineering students to develop design thinking skills. As a teacher, I was trained to talk and not listen. So I had to change my role and become a good listener in order to conduct my research. Sometimes I found it difficult to connect the research I was doing with the ground-level realities. And I was also quite bad at writing papers initially. My supervisor understood my problem and hand-held me in my initial years with every little problem I faced. Even my department encouraged a very collaborative environment and did not have a junior-senior hierarchy. So I never felt age was a prejudice.

Taking a 3 year sabbatical from work was crucial for my PhD progress. I achieved significant milestones, receiving high praise during my annual seminar. However, after returning to work, balancing both roles proved difficult, affecting my subsequent seminar preparation. Nonetheless, I successfully defended my thesis in 2016.

My PhD journey taught me the importance of fostering a question-driven learning environment over rote memorization. Support systems at home and within the institute were vital, especially for those balancing a full-time job and family responsibilities. I encourage others in similar situations to seek out and rely on such support to succeed in their doctoral endeavors.”

-Madhuri Mavinkurve, PhD in Education Technology, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay

Interviewed and written by Payel Das