Finding the ‘Right' Research Mix
Sticking to what they know and love helps some scholars chart successful research careers
By Kendra Hamilton

The research enterprise is the cornerstone of the modern academy. It is so much a feature of the landscape that perhaps it's not surprising that no aspect of the scholarly condition has been subject to more hand-wringing, myth-making and conjecture even as there has been very little in the way of formal study.

Everyone knows the importance of starting one's career by picking the right research question. But from there, things get fuzzy. The question must be neither too narrow nor too broad, but just right.

Actually, "right" is a word one hears frequently in the context of research, as in the venerable old saw: "Don't worry about getting the research right; just make sure you're doing the right research."

And along with vague admonitions such as the foregoing, one finds a proliferation of five- and 10-step formulae that, scrupulously followed, will result in the perfect dissertation/research project/scholarly monograph.

Of course, the simple fact is that, while everyone longs for one, there is no road map from graduate school to a professional career that features a school of the "right" size with the "right" colleagues and the "right" mix of teaching and research. But the experiences of individual scholars can often be quite helpful.

And so Black Issues talks to three scholars about their research. They are at different stages of their careers, based at very different types of institutions — but united in the fact that each feels that he or she is exactly where they need to be to do the work that they're passionate about.

We asked what they were working on, the similarities — or differences — between those projects and their dissertations. We talked about the role of grants, colleagues and community. The result is not exactly a 10-step formula to success, but a timely reminder of some important general principles.