Unlike other courses offered at B-schools, FPM is not one which begins with an induction programme and concludes with a convocation day. It is a journey. Of course, formally it has entry and exit points and a structure too (which we’ll discuss about later). But, coming back to what I said - FPM is a journey, research is a journey. Reading about current research, literature review, identifying a research question and then madly looking out for its solution – is an addiction (and you’ll fall in love with it sooner or later). Yes, there are periods of imposter syndrome, loneliness, inability to understand where we are heading towards, helplessness (especially when the results do not support your hypotheses ;) ), but as Albert Einstein rightly said – “If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it”.
Now, let us look at how the course is designed. Looking at the description I gave above, one may consider FPM a never ending journey, but no my dear-Time management is a critical habit which must be inculcated into a researcher/FPM participant starting from day one. And a unique structure for this course at IIM Indore helps overcoming the issue of Time Management. The rigorous course is structured around making participants equipped with research and teaching skills in parallel. At IIM Indore, the first 18 months are dedicated to coursework (including the 3 months where the first year FPM participants organize a conference, CERE). During these 18 months, participants grasp theoretical knowledge around their subject, research methodologies and pursue a few courses with PGP participants. Each participant also gets the opportunity to assist as Professor in their research work (Research Assistance Programme), which I believe has helped me a lot and made me more confident and aware of what am I going to do next.
Soon after the coursework, one has to clear a comprehensive examination and the next 2-2.5 years are devoted to the research and theses work. The other milestones such as theses proposal, theses seminar and finally the thesis defence help in keeping the participant on track during the journey. After the Comprehensive Exam, the participants also get the opportunity to assist a Professor in teaching. Planning for classes, designing the course content, preparing for a 75-minute session wherein one has to teach the best minds of the nation, evaluation etc may sound easy but are challenging.
So, I look FPM as a course full of rigor (bringing it closer to science) and practice followed by learning, practicing, re-learning (bringing it closer to how we define art). Although I am still in my coursework but the past 15 months at IIM Indore have brought me closer to understand life, society and the people around me. It has changed my perspective towards management and social science as fields of study and yes, I am still learning !!!
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About the Author:
Swati Ghulyani is a student of FPM 2015 batch, IIM Indore.
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