Steve Tippins Ph.D.Helping doctoral students get their dissertation accepted, succeed in their careers, & change the world | Academic Career Advisor | Dissertation Chair & Founder, Beyond PhD Coaching | 35 + years of experience.

3 Things Your Committee Wants at Defense

12 Feb 2026 · 1 min

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In this brief advisory video, Steve Tippins Ph.D. outlines the three core expectations a dissertation committee has: the candidate must demonstrate ownership of the work, understand its position within the broader field, and discuss it with curiosity rather than defensiveness. He emphasizes that committees are generally inclined to pass candidates, a fact many overlook, which fuels unnecessary anxiety. Tippins advises candidates to reconnect with their original motivation and to have a solid grasp of their statistics, data, and methodology so they can answer questions confidently. He concludes with an invitation to join a free Dissertation Help community for further support.

Chapters

At defense. Your committee wants to see three things above all else that you own your own work, that you understand its place in the field, and that you can talk about it with curiosity, not defensiveness. Your committee already wants to pass you, and that's something that a lot of people don't even think about when they prepare for defense. And that's why they go in feeling so, so scared. Spend your time really remembering why it is that you're doing this work. Understand what your statistics mean, understand what the data means, and understand your method so that you can confidently explain all of that when ask Comment Help and we will send you the link to our free Dissertation Help community. You've got this.