The methods Individualized Learning Agreement became another opportunity to explore in-depth the method that my intuition was telling me was the right choice for my dissertation research: Q-Method or Q-Methodology. This method’s fit to my epistemological outlook and the question I want to study became very clear and strong. Having a mentor who is considered the leading scholar on the method helped immensely as well. Dr. Steven Brown’s willingness to engage the mentoring relationship and be available to answer questions and explore ideas and clarify procedures will make the use of the method in my dissertation study as smooth as it can be.
Envisioning compelling research questions worthy of a dissertation is another of my goals. The first question that has been on my mind from the outset of beginning my doctoral studies is this: Given that higher education bears a critical responsibility in facilitating society’s transition to greater sustainability, why is it widely perceived to be falling short of that responsibility? For higher education to be effective in this role, it must itself become more sustainable, which in turn requires profound change within institutions of higher education. Is it that change is just hard in any organization? Is it that change is particularly difficult in the higher education context? Is it that change related to sustainability is harder than other kinds of change? As I explored the literature on sustainability in higher education, I became increasingly frustrated that no one seemed to be talking to sustainability personnel – the directors, officers, managers, and coordinators who are the ones now charged with advancing sustainability on more and more campuses across the country and around the world. There were plenty of faculty writing about their classroom victories in teaching sustainability to students, and many authors writing about the merits and success stories of this or that project implemented on their campus, but next to nothing has been written about the lived experience of this new crop of professionals trying to pull it all together and move it forward. And so I have arrived at this question: What are the factors identified by sustainability personnel that affect progress towards sustainability at institutions of higher education?
The Case Study Analysis offered an opportunity to explore this question at my home institution by interviewing the chief sustainability officer at Antioch University New England (AUNE), as well as a student who was a key participant in many of the activities during her studies. As part of the project I developed a kind of diagnostic tool that could be used to assess some of the organizational processes at play, not unlike a force field analysis. This served to reinforce something I learned about myself during my master’s studies – I am a good diagnostician. This has also been evidenced in one of my pursuits outside of work and school – the theatre. I have discovered that perhaps my most important theatrical talent is in casting a show. 