Mother-daughter duo receive PhD degrees together
Shreya Mishra 28-year-old and her mother, Mala Dutta, 56, becomes the first mother-daughter duo to receive their PhD degrees on the same day from Delhi University. The duo had completed their doctoral programme together from the institution although there have been similar cases at the postgraduate level.
Mala Datta is an Indian Economic Service officer working with the Defence Ministry. she said that she always wanted to do a PhD after completing her Master’s in Economics from the Delhi School of Economics in 1985.
“I had to take a break from work in 2012 when my younger daughter had her class 12 board exams. That was the time when I registered for PhD (in finance). I then took study leave from the ministry and worked seriously on my completing the PhD,” Mala said.
Shreya, who works as a consultant at the World Bank, registered for her PhD in psychology two years later. Duo managed to submit their theses and attend their oral exams last year, with a couple of months separating the two.
Shreya said, “The convocation was on November 19, a day after I was getting married. There was no chance of us attending and receiving our degrees together. It was disappointing for us both,”.
Further she added “After I registered for the PhD we realised that we can complete it together and make it the most remarkable moment for us. Though our subjects were totally different, I started seeking guidance from my mother and worked harder to complete it within three years”
Mother-Daughter went to the university on Friday and collected their degrees. “We finally realised our dream and collected our degrees together. Officials there said that we would have made news headlines if we had received the degrees on the day of the convocation. But it doesn’t matter because now my paternal grandparents and my husband are here to share this unique feat,” said the daughter.
Officials at the Delhi University also said that this was the first time they had seen a mother-daughter duo completing their PhD together.
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