Managing Dual Roles: Department Head + Doctoral Candidate

Dual roles in PhD research arise in cases such as when you are juggling the responsibilities of a Department Head and a Doctoral Candidate in the same department creates a unique conflict-of-interest landscape. You’re both mentor and peer, evaluator and advise. Left unaddressed, these dual roles can undermine trust, skew feedback, and jeopardize the integrity of your research and teaching environment. This post outlines practical steps to avoid undue influence, establish transparent role-separation plans, and declare dual roles in official ethics and publication processes.

🎯 Why Dual Roles Demand Proactive Management in PhD research

• Power Imbalance: Students may feel pressured to perform “just right” to please their department head.
• Perception of Bias: Colleagues and students may question whether your dual status tilts evaluations or access to resources.
• Ethical Accountability: Institutional review boards and journals expect clear disclosure of potential conflicts.

🛡️ Step 1: Avoiding Undue Influence

1. Delegate Evaluations
   • For courses directly tied to your PhD research (e.g., seminars on your dissertation topic), officially assign grading and performance reviews to a trusted colleague.
   • Ensure that colleague has the autonomy to set and apply assessment criteria independently.
2. Separate Advising from Assessment
   • If you supervise students who may also serve as data collectors or co-investigators on your project, refrain from evaluating their coursework or thesis components during the same term.
3. Use Anonymous Feedback
   • Employ blind grading or anonymized survey tools for teaching evaluations—so students can comment without fear of identification.

📋 Step 2: Crafting a Role Separation Plan

A Role Separation Plan formally documents how you’ll carve clear boundaries between your administrative and research responsibilities. Example components include:

🖋️ Step 3: Declaring Dual Roles Transparently

1. In Your IEC Application
   • Section on Conflicts of Interest: Clearly state your positions as Department Head and PhD researcher, describing measures (like the Role Separation Plan) to mitigate potential bias.
   • Consent Forms: Inform student participants of your dual role and their right to decline participation without penalty.
2. In Thesis & Publications
   • Acknowledgments or Disclosures Section: Note your administrative role and any delegated responsibilities (e.g., “Grading for Course X was conducted by Dr. Rao to avoid conflict of interest.”).
   • Methods or Ethics Statement: Briefly describe how dual roles were managed (e.g., “External examiners provided independent feedback on data analysis chapters.”).

✅ Quick-Start Checklist

• Delegate evaluations for any course linked to your dissertation.
• Document delegation notices and share with students.
• Archive all external examiner feedback in an accessible audit trail.
• Update your IEC application with a dedicated Conflicts of Interest section.
• Disclose dual roles in your thesis acknowledgments and journal ethics statements.

Final Thought on dual roles in PhD research

Holding dual roles can enrich your perspective—if managed with clarity and integrity. By delegating evaluations, formalizing role boundaries, and proactively disclosing potential conflicts, you safeguard both your students’ autonomy and the credibility of your research.

“Transparency isn’t just good ethics—it’s good leadership.”

Explore more ethical research hacks for professors pursuing a PhD in India on our Ethical PhD Research Hacks for Faculty guide page