I felt no such freedom in grad school. I was constantly aware that I needed to write a cohesive dissertation, and that I needed to "own" it. This encourages stu

I felt no such freedom in grad school. I was constantly aware that I needed to write a cohesive dissertation, and that I needed to "own" it. This encourages students to continue working on a project just because it's "far enough" along, even though the student may have concluded its actual utility is lower than other projects. It also discouraged true, equal collaboration because the student must own that work enough to claim it as their own. Personally, I feel I have much more freedom not having the dissertation hanging over me head.