thesis defense clothing

Stack Exchange Network

Stack Exchange network consists of 183 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow , the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers.

Q&A for work

Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search.

What to wear for a PhD/ MSc thesis defense?

Is it better to wear formal clothes for a PhD or MSc thesis defense or can we wear something as simple as a T-shirt?

• outward-appearance

• Can you clarify presentation ? Are you presenting an informal talk on your research, or is this a formal defense? –  Moriarty Commented Jul 10, 2014 at 8:13
• 5 So is it a formal defense or not? Either way, it's going to ultimately depend on the culture of your country and department. For an informal talk, your everyday dress will usually be fine. For a formal defense, it might be a good idea to wear a long-sleeved shirt and pants. –  Moriarty Commented Jul 10, 2014 at 8:18
• 9 I think it really depends on the country and culture. E.g. mine was in the hot summer (35+ degrees Celsius). As a girl, I went in a dress (not too formal, but as I usually don't wear dresses/skirts at all, for me it was a big step up). But, I've seen boys present in jeans and T-shirts, jeans and (short sleeve) shirts, jeans with shirts and ties, suit-pants and shirts (and ties), one with a wacky tie, but also several in short pants and T-shirts... and they all defended successfully. –  penelope Commented Jul 10, 2014 at 8:45
• 6 The appropriate attire is the one that won't distract the audience form the content of your talk. Don't try to be original or to make a statement ('I'm a genius, I can dress the way I want' etc.). I think a bit formal never hurts, it shows that you are taking it seriously but ultimately it's highly unlikely that your attire will influence your grade. –  Cape Code Commented Jul 10, 2014 at 11:30
• 3 Have you asked your advisor? –  Thorbjørn Ravn Andersen Commented Mar 15, 2015 at 22:33

4 Answers 4

Almost anything will be fine, provided you feel comfortable on them. The clothes you are wearing will influence the first impression, but you are going to be talking about your project for at least 20 min, and the confidence and clarity will wipe whatever the first idea was. Make sure they are you feel good on them, and don't use them for the first time this day in case they itch or something (specially important for underwear!).

The right level of formalism is very dependent on the culture and setting, but it is probably not so important. It will also depend on whether the event is public or not: if the audience are going to be the people that have been seeing you in normal clothes all year round, or if the public is going to attend and the University wants to shine. Of course, a frock and a top hat or just a swimming suit will look ridiculous, but anywhere in the middle would work.

For reference, I have been present to two PhD defences in Sweden (where they are quite lax in formalities). In one, the doctorand was wearing plain business-like clothes, slightly more formal than a normal day; in the other, he was wearing a normal shirt, quite less formal than his normal attire. And, for the record, both passed.

Edit: Jigg is right in pointing that some universities do require a certain dress code. In this case, it will probably be clearly stated by the centre. Being rejected is possible, but extremely unlikely, as it can get the university in all sorts of legal troubles. Also, these regulations can get to absurd levels (the story seems to be a legend, but the third comment may be legit).

• 10 +1 for formalism depending on the setting. A friend of mine who got his Masters in an Italian engineering school was dismissed from the exam before saying the first word because he didn't wear a tie. –  Cape Code Commented Jul 10, 2014 at 12:21
• 1 @Jigg really ??????!!!! –  user14487 Commented Jul 10, 2014 at 12:33
• 2 @begueradj a doctor told me that in his first day of work in a hospital in the UK he was sent back home for the same reason; being a pathologist, so he never interacts with alive patients. In cases like Jigg's friend (very uncommon, I must say), the school should specify the dress code somewhere. –  Davidmh Commented Jul 10, 2014 at 12:44
• 2 Yes, it's an anecdote. I doubt it was an official university dress code, just the opinion of an old prof with a penchant for conservatism. –  Cape Code Commented Jul 10, 2014 at 13:03
• 2 At Oxford vivas (defences) count as examinations, and full academic dress is required, meaning a dark suit, white shirt or blouse, white bow tie or black ribbon, mortarboard and gown. This is, of course, made very clear to candidates beforehand, though. –  dbmag9 Commented Dec 18, 2014 at 22:15

Think of it as a job interview, but actually much more important than that. There is such a thing as unconscious bias - first impressions count and you should therefore aim to make a good one. If you look professional, then they will think you are professional, and are more likely to trust and believe in you. It may not be fair, but that is how it is. I recommend being smartly dressed.

• 7 But keep in mind that in some fields, "professional" means a new T-shirt. –  JeffE Commented Apr 23, 2015 at 2:47

In job interviews it's actually a mistake to dress up fully formally for jobs (like software) that don't require it. Your grad student culture has a range probably from t-shirts to business casual.

I do think it's important to say, "Hey, I'm taking this seriously, this is a serious occasion, and I'm prepared." Comfort is the other important thing.

In one sentence, wear something in the top third of your wardrobe, but not in the top tenth. Smarter/sharper is good, fancy pants dinner or gala attire is bad.

That being said, here's my attempt at male fashion advice (sorry, I can't really help the women here too much) if you really do feel like a more detailed breakdown will help you.

• Street shoes (c.f. sneakers)
• dark wash jeans or slacks
• collared shirt tucked in, or similar such as nice sweater
• neatly shaven to your level of grooming (beard or clean okay, just whatever you wear)
• not looking like you "need a haircut" but don't get a fancy or special haircut. Wear your normal accessories, whether it be watch or necklace.
• If tattoos are part of your look they've got you this far, don't worry about covering them or not ("within reason").
• Try not to look like a sloppy student who never dresses up: wear clothes straight from the cleaner.
• A tie if you like, in my mind I picture that as a nice addition but not necessary.

I think a jacket is too much: it will make you look too "other" compared to the professors. If you over-dress you will make yourself look "on the spot" more than you already are, and who wants that?

This might sound too analytical for fashion (unless you're really into fashion in which case it sounds fun!), but this shouldn't sound daunting. Just dress normal, normal, normal, nice.

• 7 +1 for "wear something in the top third of your wardrobe, but not in the top tenth". –  J. Zimmerman Commented Dec 19, 2014 at 16:50
• What about a suit or a bow tie instead of a tie? –  Rrjrjtlokrthjji Commented Apr 22, 2015 at 21:05

You can wear something as informal as a t-shirt and, as others have said, it probably won't swing the decision one way or another. I've seen very informal defense dress from passing students. That said, most people dress up at least slightly more formally than normal and many wear business attire. If you're extremely uncomfortable or resistant to dressing up, don't worry too much. Otherwise: Why not?

Showing up wearing a suit and tie or similarly formal business attire is a strong signal that you are taking the defense seriously. Although they're not everything, first impressions matter and formal dress can also help you look (and feel) authoritative, knowledgeable, and a way you can show that you've taken the time to be prepared.

I am extremely casual on a day-to-day basis but I wore a suit for my defense. Although my own advisor teased me that my defense was the first time he'd seen me dressed up, the fact that he knew that I rarely dressed that way made it very clear how seriously I took the process. Would I have passed anyway? Sure. But even if the effect is one person challenges you a little bit less in the Q&A, that could be worth it.

• 1 This answer is probably rather country-specific. In Germany, I have seen an MSc student show up for his (CS) defense in a business attire exactly once, and by that, he made (later, in his absence) the whole department laugh about him because he was hopelessly overdressed (both compared to other students and compared to everyone in the department ...). We seriously wondered whether he was trying to be funny in a weird way. (That applies only to defenses by students, though; for PhD defenses, things are very different.) –  O. R. Mapper Commented Dec 19, 2014 at 15:58
• 1 @O.R.Mapper: I'm in the US and my opinion is pulling mostly from my experience. It's also going to vary based on the culture of the school and place in general. Folks dressed up for more defenses, and in general, at MIT and in Boston than they do at the University of Washington and in Seattle. –  mako Commented Dec 19, 2014 at 16:50

You must log in to answer this question.

• Featured on Meta
• Upcoming sign-up experiments related to tags

Hot Network Questions

• How to make the battle against Tiamat last longer?
• Conjure Animals Control Range
• Starlink Satellite Orbits
• Non-universal and non classically simulatable gate set?
• Is there a phrase like "etymologically related" but for food?
• Is it possible to retract an acceptance for a full time lecturer position?
• Story Identification with Pirates, Sand Sharks, and Chicken Leg Trees
• Is Earth's Atmospheric Thickness Related to Cosmic Ray Radiation?
• Instrumentation amp output not matching voltage drop in LTspice
• What tools does Mathematica have for solving indefinite integrals?
• What type of aircraft is this?
• On a probability density generated by the sum of reciprocols of divisors of integers
• Is this deck post getting cracks due to it being overloaded?
• Falling damage based on creature size
• Scoot airlines charged me $1,625 for one extra luggage at the airport. Is it legit?
• Theoretically, can perfectly flat space exist in the universe?
• Why is finding a mathematical basis for the fine-structure constant meaningful?
• Why was the 1540 a computer in its own right?
• Difference in field of view between JWST and Euclid
• Reproducing Ómar Rayo's "Fresh Fog" Painting
• How does the June 2024 Ukraine peace summit hope to achieve peace, if Russia is not invited?
• I will not raise my voice to him ever again
• Gradient stops for metallic cylinder effect
• What is the maximum number of fish possible in your tank?

The best free cultural &

educational media on the web

• Online Courses
• Certificates
• Degrees & Mini-Degrees
• Audio Books

What to Wear to a Successful PhD Thesis Defense? A Skirt’s Worth of Academic Rejection Letters

in Creativity , Education , Fashion , Life , Science | November 8th, 2019 Leave a Comment

Some peo­ple are par­a­lyzed by rejec­tion.

Oth­ers, like Michi­gan State University’s  Earth and Envi­ron­men­tal Sci­ences  PhD can­di­date,  Caitlin Kir­by , sport rejec­tion like a man­tle of hon­or… or more accu­rate­ly, a pleat­ed skirt falling to just below mid-thigh.

“Suc­cess­ful­ly defend­ed my PhD dis­ser­ta­tion today!” Kir­by wrote in a Tweet that has since gar­nered over 25,000 likes. “In the spir­it of acknowl­edg­ing & nor­mal­iz­ing fail­ure in the process, I defend­ed in a skirt made of rejec­tion let­ters from the course of my PhD.”

The cus­tom gar­ment, which Kir­by teamed with a dark blaz­er and red waist­band, was orga­nized in two tiers, with a tulle ruf­fle peep­ing out beneath.

MSU’s Career Ser­vices Network’s Direc­tor of Employ­er Rela­tions, Karin Han­son, told the  Lans­ing State Jour­nal   that rejec­tion comes as a shock to many high achiev­ing MSU stu­dents.

Kirby’s deci­sion to upcy­cle 17 dis­ap­point­ing let­ters received over the course of her aca­d­e­m­ic career was par­tial­ly inspired by a Parks and Recre­ation episode in which the skirt of  Leslie Knope’s wed­ding dress is a wear­able col­lage of news­pa­per arti­cles  about the char­ac­ter, drawn from ear­li­er episodes

More to the point, Kirby’s skirt is part of an ongo­ing cam­paign to acknowl­edge rejec­tion as a nec­es­sary, if painful, part of aca­d­e­m­ic growth.

The whole process of revis­it­ing those old let­ters and mak­ing that skirt sort of remind­ed me that you have to apply to a lot of things to suc­ceed. It seems coun­ter­in­tu­itive to wear your rejec­tions to your last test in your Ph.D, but we talked about our rejec­tions every week and I want­ed them to be a part of it.

And, as she lat­er  not­ed in a tweet :

Accep­tances and rejec­tions are often based on the tra­di­tion­al val­ues of acad­e­mia, which excludes POC by not valu­ing the approach­es, research ques­tions, and expe­ri­ences that POC tend to bring to their work.

Kirby’s let­ters were culled from a vari­ety of sources—scholarship appli­ca­tions, sub­mis­sions to aca­d­e­m­ic jour­nals, and pro­pos­als for con­fer­ence pre­sen­ta­tions.   Unfor­tu­nate­ly  and  We regret to inform you  are recur­rent motifs. About 8 let­ters were left on the cut­ting room floor.

But she is pre­pared to low­er her hem­line, when she starts apply­ing for jobs, fol­low­ing a stint at the Research Insti­tute for Urban and Region­al Devel­op­ment in Dort­mund, Ger­many, the result of a  suc­cess­ful Ful­bright appli­ca­tion .

Fol­low Kirby’s exam­ple and turn your tem­po­rary set­backs into a pow­er skirt, using the tuto­r­i­al above.

via  Boing Boing 

Relat­ed Con­tent:

Read Rejec­tion Let­ters Sent to Three Famous Artists: Sylvia Plath, Kurt Von­negut & Andy Warhol

T.S. Eliot, as Faber & Faber Edi­tor, Rejects George Orwell’s “Trot­skyite” Nov­el Ani­mal Farm (1944)

Gertrude Stein Gets a Snarky Rejec­tion Let­ter from Pub­lish­er (1912)

Ayun Hal­l­i­day  is an author, illus­tra­tor, the­ater mak­er and Chief Pri­ma­tol­o­gist of  the East Vil­lage Inky  zine.  Join her in NYC on Mon­day, Decem­ber 9 when her month­ly book-based vari­ety show,  Necro­mancers of the Pub­lic Domain,  res­ur­rects Dennison’s Christ­mas Book (1921). Fol­low her  @AyunHalliday .

by Ayun Halliday | Permalink | Comments (0) |

Related posts:

Comments (0).

Be the first to comment.

Add a comment

Leave a reply.

Name (required)

Email (required)

XHTML: You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

Click here to cancel reply.

• 1,700 Free Online Courses
• 200 Online Certificate Programs
• 100+ Online Degree & Mini-Degree Programs
• 1,150 Free Movies
• 1,000 Free Audio Books
• 150+ Best Podcasts
• 800 Free eBooks
• 200 Free Textbooks
• 300 Free Language Lessons
• 150 Free Business Courses
• Free K-12 Education
• Get Our Daily Email

Free Courses

• Art & Art History
• Classics/Ancient World
• Computer Science
• Data Science
• Engineering
• Environment
• Political Science
• Writing & Journalism
• All 1500 Free Courses
• 1000+ MOOCs & Certificate Courses

Receive our Daily Email

Free updates, get our daily email.

Get the best cultural and educational resources on the web curated for you in a daily email. We never spam. Unsubscribe at any time.

FOLLOW ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Free Movies

• 1150 Free Movies Online
• Free Film Noir
• Silent Films
• Documentaries
• Martial Arts/Kung Fu
• Free Hitchcock Films
• Free Charlie Chaplin
• Free John Wayne Movies
• Free Tarkovsky Films
• Free Dziga Vertov
• Free Oscar Winners
• Free Language Lessons
• All Languages

Free eBooks

• 700 Free eBooks
• Free Philosophy eBooks
• The Harvard Classics
• Philip K. Dick Stories
• Neil Gaiman Stories
• David Foster Wallace Stories & Essays
• Hemingway Stories
• Great Gatsby & Other Fitzgerald Novels
• HP Lovecraft
• Edgar Allan Poe
• Free Alice Munro Stories
• Jennifer Egan Stories
• George Saunders Stories
• Hunter S. Thompson Essays
• Joan Didion Essays
• Gabriel Garcia Marquez Stories
• David Sedaris Stories
• Stephen King
• Golden Age Comics
• Free Books by UC Press
• Life Changing Books

Free Audio Books

• 700 Free Audio Books
• Free Audio Books: Fiction
• Free Audio Books: Poetry
• Free Audio Books: Non-Fiction

Free Textbooks

• Free Physics Textbooks
• Free Computer Science Textbooks
• Free Math Textbooks

K-12 Resources

• Free Video Lessons
• Web Resources by Subject
• Quality YouTube Channels
• Teacher Resources
• All Free Kids Resources

Free Art & Images

• All Art Images & Books
• The Rijksmuseum
• Smithsonian
• The Guggenheim
• The National Gallery
• The Whitney
• LA County Museum
• Stanford University
• British Library
• Google Art Project
• French Revolution
• Getty Images
• Guggenheim Art Books
• Met Art Books
• Getty Art Books
• New York Public Library Maps
• Museum of New Zealand
• Smarthistory
• Coloring Books
• All Bach Organ Works
• All of Bach
• 80,000 Classical Music Scores
• Free Classical Music
• Live Classical Music
• 9,000 Grateful Dead Concerts
• Alan Lomax Blues & Folk Archive

Writing Tips

• William Zinsser
• Kurt Vonnegut
• Toni Morrison
• Margaret Atwood
• David Ogilvy
• Billy Wilder
• All posts by date

Personal Finance

• Open Personal Finance
• Amazon Kindle
• Architecture
• Artificial Intelligence
• Beat & Tweets
• Comics/Cartoons
• Current Affairs
• English Language
• Entrepreneurship
• Food & Drink
• Graduation Speech
• How to Learn for Free
• Internet Archive
• Language Lessons
• Most Popular
• Neuroscience
• Photography
• Pretty Much Pop
• Productivity
• UC Berkeley
• Uncategorized
• Video - Arts & Culture
• Video - Politics/Society
• Video - Science
• Video Games

Great Lectures

• Michel Foucault
• Sun Ra at UC Berkeley
• Richard Feynman
• Joseph Campbell
• Jorge Luis Borges
• Leonard Bernstein
• Richard Dawkins
• Buckminster Fuller
• Walter Kaufmann on Existentialism
• Jacques Lacan
• Roland Barthes
• Nobel Lectures by Writers
• Bertrand Russell
• Oxford Philosophy Lectures

Receive our newsletter!

Open Culture scours the web for the best educational media. We find the free courses and audio books you need, the language lessons & educational videos you want, and plenty of enlightenment in between.

Great Recordings

• T.S. Eliot Reads Waste Land
• Sylvia Plath - Ariel
• Joyce Reads Ulysses
• Joyce - Finnegans Wake
• Patti Smith Reads Virginia Woolf
• Albert Einstein
• Charles Bukowski
• Bill Murray
• Fitzgerald Reads Shakespeare
• William Faulkner
• Flannery O'Connor
• Tolkien - The Hobbit
• Allen Ginsberg - Howl
• Dylan Thomas
• Anne Sexton
• John Cheever
• David Foster Wallace

Book Lists By

• Neil deGrasse Tyson
• Ernest Hemingway
• F. Scott Fitzgerald
• Allen Ginsberg
• Patti Smith
• Henry Miller
• Christopher Hitchens
• Joseph Brodsky
• Donald Barthelme
• David Bowie
• Samuel Beckett
• Art Garfunkel
• Marilyn Monroe
• Picks by Female Creatives
• Zadie Smith & Gary Shteyngart
• Lynda Barry

Favorite Movies

• Kurosawa's 100
• David Lynch
• Werner Herzog
• Woody Allen
• Wes Anderson
• Luis Buñuel
• Roger Ebert
• Susan Sontag
• Scorsese Foreign Films
• Philosophy Films
• February 2024
• January 2024
• December 2023
• November 2023
• October 2023
• September 2023
• August 2023
• February 2023
• January 2023
• December 2022
• November 2022
• October 2022
• September 2022
• August 2022
• February 2022
• January 2022
• December 2021
• November 2021
• October 2021
• September 2021
• August 2021
• February 2021
• January 2021
• December 2020
• November 2020
• October 2020
• September 2020
• August 2020
• February 2020
• January 2020
• December 2019
• November 2019
• October 2019
• September 2019
• August 2019
• February 2019
• January 2019
• December 2018
• November 2018
• October 2018
• September 2018
• August 2018
• February 2018
• January 2018
• December 2017
• November 2017
• October 2017
• September 2017
• August 2017
• February 2017
• January 2017
• December 2016
• November 2016
• October 2016
• September 2016
• August 2016
• February 2016
• January 2016
• December 2015
• November 2015
• October 2015
• September 2015
• August 2015
• February 2015
• January 2015
• December 2014
• November 2014
• October 2014
• September 2014
• August 2014
• February 2014
• January 2014
• December 2013
• November 2013
• October 2013
• September 2013
• August 2013
• February 2013
• January 2013
• December 2012
• November 2012
• October 2012
• September 2012
• August 2012
• February 2012
• January 2012
• December 2011
• November 2011
• October 2011
• September 2011
• August 2011
• February 2011
• January 2011
• December 2010
• November 2010
• October 2010
• September 2010
• August 2010
• February 2010
• January 2010
• December 2009
• November 2009
• October 2009
• September 2009
• August 2009
• February 2009
• January 2009
• December 2008
• November 2008
• October 2008
• September 2008
• August 2008
• February 2008
• January 2008
• December 2007
• November 2007
• October 2007
• September 2007
• August 2007
• February 2007
• January 2007
• December 2006
• November 2006
• October 2006
• September 2006

©2006-2024 Open Culture, LLC. All rights reserved.

• Advertise with Us
• Copyright Policy
• Privacy Policy
• Terms of Use

Reference management. Clean and simple.

How to prepare an excellent thesis defense

What is a thesis defense?

How long is a thesis defense, what happens at a thesis defense, your presentation, questions from the committee, 6 tips to help you prepare for your thesis defense, 1. anticipate questions and prepare for them, 2. dress for success, 3. ask for help, as needed, 4. have a backup plan, 5. prepare for the possibility that you might not know an answer, 6. de-stress before, during, and after, frequently asked questions about preparing an excellent thesis defense, related articles.

If you're about to complete, or have ever completed a graduate degree, you have most likely come across the term "thesis defense." In many countries, to finish a graduate degree, you have to write a thesis .

A thesis is a large paper, or multi-chapter work, based on a topic relating to your field of study.

Once you hand in your thesis, you will be assigned a date to defend your work. Your thesis defense meeting usually consists of you and a committee of two or more professors working in your program. It may also include other people, like professionals from other colleges or those who are working in your field.

During your thesis defense, you will be asked questions about your work. The main purpose of your thesis defense is for the committee to make sure that you actually understand your field and focus area.

The questions are usually open-ended and require the student to think critically about their work. By the time of your thesis defense, your paper has already been evaluated. The questions asked are not designed so that you actually have to aggressively "defend" your work; often, your thesis defense is more of a formality required so that you can get your degree.

• Check with your department about requirements and timing.
• Re-read your thesis.
• Anticipate questions and prepare for them.
• Create a back-up plan to deal with technology hiccups.
• Plan de-stressing activities both before, and after, your defense.

How long your oral thesis defense is depends largely on the institution and requirements of your degree. It is best to consult your department or institution about this. In general, a thesis defense may take only 20 minutes, but it may also take two hours or more. The length also depends on how much time is allocated to the presentation and questioning part.

Tip: Check with your department or institution as soon as possible to determine the approved length for a thesis defense.

First of all, be aware that a thesis defense varies from country to country. This is just a general overview, but a thesis defense can take many different formats. Some are closed, others are public defenses. Some take place with two committee members, some with more examiners.

The same goes for the length of your thesis defense, as mentioned above. The most important first step for you is to clarify with your department what the structure of your thesis defense will look like. In general, your thesis defense will include:

• your presentation of around 20-30 minutes
• questions from the committee
• questions from the audience (if the defense is public and the department allows it)

You might have to give a presentation, often with Powerpoint, Google slides, or Keynote slides. Make sure to prepare an appropriate amount of slides. A general rule is to use about 10 slides for a 20-minute presentation.

But that also depends on your specific topic and the way you present. The good news is that there will be plenty of time ahead of your thesis defense to prepare your slides and practice your presentation alone and in front of friends or family.

Tip: Practice delivering your thesis presentation in front of family, friends, or colleagues.

You can prepare your slides by using information from your thesis' first chapter (the overview of your thesis) as a framework or outline. Substantive information in your thesis should correspond with your slides.

Make sure your slides are of good quality— both in terms of the integrity of the information and the appearance. If you need more help with how to prepare your presentation slides, both the ASQ Higher Education Brief and James Hayton have good guidelines on the topic.

The committee will ask questions about your work after you finish your presentation. The questions will most likely be about the core content of your thesis, such as what you learned from the study you conducted. They may also ask you to summarize certain findings and to discuss how your work will contribute to the existing body of knowledge.

Tip: Read your entire thesis in preparation of the questions, so you have a refreshed perspective on your work.

While you are preparing, you can create a list of possible questions and try to answer them. You can foresee many of the questions you will get by simply spending some time rereading your thesis.

Here are a few tips on how to prepare for your thesis defense:

You can absolutely prepare for most of the questions you will be asked. Read through your thesis and while you're reading it, create a list of possible questions. In addition, since you will know who will be on the committee, look at the academic expertise of the committee members. In what areas would they most likely be focused?

If possible, sit at other thesis defenses with these committee members to get a feel for how they ask and what they ask. As a graduate student, you should generally be adept at anticipating test questions, so use this advantage to gather as much information as possible before your thesis defense meeting.

Your thesis defense is a formal event, often the entire department or university is invited to participate. It signals a critical rite of passage for graduate students and faculty who have supported them throughout a long and challenging process.

While most universities don't have specific rules on how to dress for that event, do regard it with dignity and respect. This one might be a no-brainer, but know that you should dress as if you were on a job interview or delivering a paper at a conference.

It might help you deal with your stress before your thesis defense to entrust someone with the smaller but important responsibilities of your defense well ahead of schedule. This trusted person could be responsible for:

• preparing the room of the day of defense
• setting up equipment for the presentation
• preparing and distributing handouts

Technology is unpredictable. Life is too. There are no guarantees that your Powerpoint presentation will work at all or look the way it is supposed to on the big screen. We've all been there. Make sure to have a plan B for these situations. Handouts can help when technology fails, and an additional clean shirt can save the day if you have a spill.

One of the scariest aspects of the defense is the possibility of being asked a question you can't answer. While you can prepare for some questions, you can never know exactly what the committee will ask.

There will always be gaps in your knowledge. But your thesis defense is not about being perfect and knowing everything, it's about how you deal with challenging situations. You are not expected to know everything.

James Hayton writes on his blog that examiners will sometimes even ask questions they don't know the answer to, out of curiosity, or because they want to see how you think. While it is ok sometimes to just say "I don't know", he advises to try something like "I don't know, but I would think [...] because of x and y, but you would need to do [...] in order to find out.” This shows that you have the ability to think as an academic.

You will be nervous. But your examiners will expect you to be nervous. Being well prepared can help minimize your stress, but do know that your examiners have seen this many times before and are willing to help, by repeating questions, for example. Dora Farkas at finishyourthesis.com notes that it’s a myth that thesis committees are out to get you.

Two common symptoms of being nervous are talking really fast and nervous laughs. Try to slow yourself down and take a deep breath. Remember what feels like hours to you are just a few seconds in real life.

• Try meditational breathing right before your defense.
• Get plenty of exercise and sleep in the weeks prior to your defense.
• Have your clothes or other items you need ready to go the night before.
• During your defense, allow yourself to process each question before answering.
• Go to dinner with friends and family, or to a fun activity like mini-golf, after your defense.

Allow yourself to process each question, respond to it, and stop talking once you have responded. While a smile can often help dissolve a difficult situation, remember that nervous laughs can be irritating for your audience.

We all make mistakes and your thesis defense will not be perfect. However, careful preparation, mindfulness, and confidence can help you feel less stressful both before, and during, your defense.

Finally, consider planning something fun that you can look forward to after your defense.

It is completely normal to be nervous. Being well prepared can help minimize your stress, but do know that your examiners have seen this many times before and are willing to help, by repeating questions for example if needed. Slow yourself down, and take a deep breath.

Your thesis defense is not about being perfect and knowing everything, it's about how you deal with challenging situations. James Hayton writes on his blog that it is ok sometimes to just say "I don't know", but he advises to try something like "I don't know, but I would think [...] because of x and y, you would need to do [...] in order to find out".

Your Powerpoint presentation can get stuck or not look the way it is supposed to do on the big screen. It can happen and your supervisors know it. In general, handouts can always save the day when technology fails.

• Dress for success.
• Ask for help setting up.
• Have a backup plan (in case technology fails you).
• Deal with your nerves.

Preparing For Your Dissertation Defense

13 Key Questions To Expect In The Viva Voce

By: Derek Jansen (MBA) & David Phair (PhD) . Reviewed By: Dr Eunice Rautenbach | June 2021

Preparing for your dissertation or thesis defense (also called a “viva voce”) is a formidable task . All your hard work over the years leads you to this one point, and you’ll need to defend yourself against some of the most experienced researchers you’ve encountered so far.

It’s natural to feel a little nervous.

In this post, we’ll cover some of the most important questions you should be able to answer in your viva voce, whether it’s for a Masters or PhD degree. Naturally, they might not arise in exactly the same form (some may not come up at all), but if you can answer these questions well, it means you’re in a good position to tackle your oral defense.

Viva Voce Prep: 13 Essential Questions

• What is your study about and why did you choose to research this in particular?
• How did your research questions evolve during the research process?
• How did you decide on which sources to include in your literature review?
• How did you design your study and why did you take this approach?
• How generalisable and valid are the findings?
• What were the main shortcomings and limitations created by your research design?
• How did your findings relate to the existing literature?
• What were your key findings in relation to the research questions?
• Were there any findings that surprised you?
• What biases may exist in your research?
• How can your findings be put into practice?
• How has your research contributed to current thinking in the field?
• If you could redo your research, how would you alter your approach?

#1: What is your study about and why did you choose to research this in particular?

This question, a classic party starter, is pretty straightforward.

What the dissertation or thesis committee is assessing here is your ability to clearly articulate your research aims, objectives and research questions in a concise manner. Concise is the keyword here – you need to clearly explain your research topic without rambling on for a half-hour. Don’t feel the need to go into the weeds here – you’ll have many opportunities to unpack the details later on.

In the second half of the question, they’re looking for a brief explanation of the justification of your research. In other words, why was this particular set of research aims, objectives and questions worth addressing? To address this question well in your oral defense, you need to make it clear what gap existed within the research and why that gap was worth filling.

#2: How did your research questions evolve during the research process?

Good research generally follows a long and winding path . It’s seldom a straight line (unless you got really lucky). What they’re assessing here is your ability to follow that path and let the research process unfold.

Specifically, they’ll want to hear about the impact that the literature review process had on you in terms of shaping the research aims, objectives and research questions . For example, you may have started with a certain set of aims, but then as you immersed yourself in the literature, you may have changed direction. Similarly, your initial fieldwork findings may have turned out some unexpected data that drove you to adjust or expand on your initial research questions.

Long story short – a good defense involves clearly describing your research journey , including all the twists and turns. Adjusting your direction based on findings in the literature or the fieldwork shows that you’re responsive , which is essential for high-quality research.

#3: How did you decide on which sources to include in your literature review?

A comprehensive literature review is the foundation of any high-quality piece of research. With this question, your dissertation or thesis committee are trying to assess which quality criteria and approach you used to select the sources for your literature review.

Typically, good research draws on both the seminal work in the respective field and more recent sources . In other words, a combination of the older landmark studies and pivotal work, along with up-to-date sources that build on to those older studies. This combination ensures that the study has a rock-solid foundation but is not out of date.

So, make sure that your study draws on a mix of both the “classics” and new kids on the block, and take note of any major evolutions in the literature that you can use as an example when asked this question in your viva voce.

#4: How did you design your study and why did you take this approach?

This is a classic methodological question that you can almost certainly expect in some or other shape.

What they’re looking for here is a clear articulation of the research design and methodology, as well as a strong justification of each choice . So, you need to be able to walk through each methodological choice and clearly explain both what you did and why you did it. The why is particularly important – you need to be able to justify each choice you made by clearly linking your design back to your research aims, objectives and research questions, while also taking into account practical constraints.

To ensure you cover every base, check out our research methodology vlog post , as well as our post covering the Research Onion .

#5: How generalizable and valid are the findings?

This question is aimed at specifically digging into your understanding of the sample and how that relates to the population, as well as potential validity issues in your methodology.

To answer question this well, you’ll need to critically assess your sample and findings and consider if they truly apply to the entire population, as well as whether they assessed what they set out to. Note that there are two components here – generalizability and validity . Generalizability is about how well the sample represents the population. Validity is about how accurately you’ve measured what you intended to measure .

To ace this part of your dissertation defense, make sure that you’re very familiar with the concepts of generalizability , validity and reliability , and how these apply to your research. Remember, you don’t need to achieve perfection – you just need to be aware of the strengths and weaknesses of your research (and how the weaknesses could be improved upon).

Need a helping hand?

#6: What were the main shortcomings and limitations created by your research design?

This question picks up where the last one left off.

As I mentioned, it’s perfectly natural that your research will have shortcomings and limitations as a result of your chosen design and methodology. No piece of research is flawless. Therefore, a good dissertation defense is not about arguing that your work is perfect, but rather it’s about clearly articulating the strengths and weaknesses of your approach.

To address this question well, you need to think critically about all of the potential weaknesses your design may have, as well as potential responses to these (which could be adopted in future research) to ensure you’re well prepared for this question. For a list of common methodological limitations, check out our video about research limitations here .

#7: How did your findings relate to the existing literature?

This common dissertation defense question links directly to your discussion chapter , where you would have presented and discussed the findings in relation to your literature review.

What your dissertation or thesis committee is assessing here is your ability to compare your study’s findings to the findings of existing research . Specifically, you need to discuss which findings aligned with existing research and which findings did not. For those findings that contrasted against existing research, you should also explain what you believe to be the reasons for this.

As with many questions in a viva voce, it’s both the what and the why that matter here. So, you need to think deeply about what the underlying reasons may be for both the similarities and differences between your findings and those of similar studies.

#8: What were your key findings in relation to the research questions?

This question is similar to the last one in that it too focuses on your research findings. However, here the focus is specifically on the findings that directly relate to your research questions (as opposed to findings in general).

So, a good way to prepare for this question is to step back and revisit your research questions . Ask yourself the following:

• What exactly were you asking in those questions, and what did your research uncover concerning them?
• Which questions were well answered by your study and which ones were lacking?
• Why were they lacking and what more could be done to address this in future research?

Conquering this part dissertation defense requires that you focus squarely on the research questions. Your study will have provided many findings (hopefully!), and not all of these will link directly to the research questions. Therefore, you need to clear your mind of all of the fascinating side paths your study may have lead you down and regain a clear focus on the research questions .

#9: Were there any findings that surprised you?

This question is two-pronged.

First, you should discuss the surprising findings that were directly related to the original research questions . Going into your research, you likely had some expectations in terms of what you would find, so this is your opportunity to discuss the outcomes that emerged as contrary to what you initially expected. You’ll also want to think about what the reasons for these contrasts may be.

Second, you should discuss the findings that weren’t directly related to the research questions, but that emerged from the data set . You may have a few or you may have none – although generally there are a handful of interesting musings that you can glean from the data set. Again, make sure you can articulate why you find these interesting and what it means for future research in the area.

What the committee is looking for in this type of question is your ability to interpret the findings holistically and comprehensively , and to respond to unexpected data. So, take the time to zoom out and reflect on your findings thoroughly.

#10: What biases may exist in your research?

Biases… we all have them.

For this question, you’ll need to think about potential biases in your research , in the data itself but also in your interpretation of the data. With this question, your committee is assessing whether you have considered your own potential biases and the biases inherent in your analysis approach (i.e. your methodology). So, think carefully about these research biases and be ready to explain how these may exist in your study.

In an oral defense, this question is often followed up with a question on how the biases were mitigated or could be mitigated in future research. So, give some thought not just to what biases may exist, but also the mitigation measures (in your own study and for future research).

#11: How can your findings be put into practice?

Another classic question in the typical viva voce.

With this question, your committee is assessing your ability to bring your findings back down to earth and demonstrate their practical value and application. Importantly, this question is not about the contribution to academia or the overall field of research (we’ll get to that next) – it is specifically asking about how this newly created knowledge can be used in the real world.

Naturally, the actionability of your findings will vary depending on the nature of your research topic. Some studies will produce many action points and some won’t. If you’re researching marketing strategies within an industry, for example, you should be able to make some very specific recommendations for marketing practitioners in that industry.

To help you flesh out points for this question, look back at your original justification for the research (i.e. in your introduction and literature review chapters). What were the driving forces that led you to research your specific topic? That justification should help you identify ways in which your findings can be put into practice.

#12: How has your research contributed to current thinking in the field?

While the previous question was aimed at practical contribution, this question is aimed at theoretical contribution . In other words, what is the significance of your study within the current body of research? How does it fit into the existing research and what does it add to it?

This question is often asked by a field specialist and is used to assess whether you’re able to place your findings into the research field to critically convey what your research contributed. This argument needs to be well justified – in other words, you can’t just discuss what your research contributed, you need to also back each proposition up with a strong why .

To answer this question well, you need to humbly consider the quality and impact of your work and to be realistic in your response. You don’t want to come across as arrogant (“my work is groundbreaking”), nor do you want to undersell the impact of your work. So, it’s important to strike the right balance between realistic and pessimistic .

This question also opens the door to questions about potential future research . So, think about what future research opportunities your study has created and which of these you feel are of the highest priority.

#13: If you could redo your research, how would you alter your approach?

This question is often used to wrap up a viva voce as it brings the discussion full circle.

Here, your committee is again assessing your ability to clearly identify and articulate the limitations and shortcomings of your research, both in terms of research design and topic focus . Perhaps, in hindsight, it would have been better to use a different analysis method or data set. Perhaps the research questions should have leaned in a slightly different direction. And so on.

This question intends to assess whether you’re able to look at your work critically , assess where the weaknesses are and make recommendations for the future . This question often sets apart those who did the research purely because it was required, from those that genuinely engaged with their research. So, don’t hold back here – reflect on your entire research journey ask yourself how you’d do things differently if you were starting with a  blank canvas today.

Recap: The 13 Key Dissertation Defense Questions

To recap, here are the 13 questions you need to be ready for to ace your dissertation or thesis oral defense:

As I mentioned, this list of dissertation defense questions is certainly not exhaustive – don’t assume that we’ve covered every possible question here. However, these questions are quite likely to come up in some shape or form in a typical dissertation or thesis defense, whether it’s for a Master’s degree, PhD or any other research degree. So, you should take the time to make sure you can answer them well.

If you need assistance preparing for your dissertation defense or viva voce, get in touch with us to discuss 1-on-1 coaching. We can critically review your research and identify potential issues and responses, as well as undertake a mock oral defense to prepare you for the pressures and stresses on the day.

Psst... there’s more!

This post was based on one of our popular Research Bootcamps . If you're working on a research project, you'll definitely want to check this out ...

You Might Also Like:

13 Comments

Very interesting

Interesting. I appreciate!

Really appreciating

My field is International Trade

Interesting

This is a full course on defence. I was fabulously enlightened and I gained enough confidence for my upcoming Masters Defence.

There are many lessons to learn and the simplicity in presentationmakes thee reader say “YesI can”

This is so helping… it has Enlightened me on how to answer specific questions. I pray to make it through for my upcoming defense

Lovely to hear that 🙂

Really educative and beneficial

Interesting. On-point and elaborate. And comforting too! Thanks.

Thank you very much for the enlightening me, be blessed

Thankyou so much. I am planning to defend my thesis soon and I found this very useful

Very interesting and useful to all masters and PhD students

Wow! this is enlightening. Thanks for the great work.

Submit a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

• Print Friendly

Privacy Settings

Etsy uses cookies and similar technologies to give you a better experience, enabling things like:

• basic site functions
• ensuring secure, safe transactions
• secure account login
• remembering account, browser, and regional preferences
• remembering privacy and security settings
• analysing site traffic and usage
• personalized search, content, and recommendations
• helping sellers understand their audience
• showing relevant, targeted ads on and off Etsy

Detailed information can be found in Etsy’s Cookies & Similar Technologies Policy and our Privacy Policy .

Required Cookies & Technologies

Some of the technologies we use are necessary for critical functions like security and site integrity, account authentication, security and privacy preferences, internal site usage and maintenance data, and to make the site work correctly for browsing and transactions.

Personalized Advertising

To enable personalized advertising (like interest-based ads), we may share your data with our marketing and advertising partners using cookies and other technologies. Those partners may have their own information they’ve collected about you. Turning off the personalized advertising setting won’t stop you from seeing Etsy ads, but it may make the ads you see less relevant or more repetitive.

Personalized advertising may be considered a “sale” or “sharing” of information under California and other state privacy laws, and you may have a right to opt out. Turning off personalized advertising allows you to exercise your right to opt out. Learn more in our Privacy Policy. , Help Center , and Cookies & Similar Technologies Policy .

Our House Rules

Get to know Etsy's legal terms and policies

• Privacy Policy
• Terms of Use
• Third parties

Sanctions Policy

Etsy provides a direct connection between buyers and sellers around the world. When you use Etsy’s services (we’ll refer to Etsy.com, Pattern by Etsy, our mobile apps, and other services as our “Services”), you are responsible for complying with this policy, regardless of your location.

This policy is a part of our Terms of Use . By using any of our Services, you agree to this policy and our Terms of Use.

As a global company based in the US with operations in other countries, Etsy must comply with economic sanctions and trade restrictions, including, but not limited to, those implemented by the Office of Foreign Assets Control ("OFAC") of the US Department of the Treasury. This means that Etsy or anyone using our Services cannot take part in transactions that involve designated people, places, or items that originate from certain places, as determined by agencies like OFAC, in addition to trade restrictions imposed by related laws and regulations.

This policy applies to anyone that uses our Services, regardless of their location. It is up to you to familiarize yourself with these restrictions.

For example, these restrictions generally prohibit, but are not limited to, transactions involving:

• Certain geographic areas, such as Crimea, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, Russia, Belarus, and the Donetsk People’s Republic (“DNR”) and Luhansk People’s Republic (“LNR”) regions of Ukraine, or any individual or entity operating or residing in those places;
• Individuals or entities identified on sanctions lists such as OFAC’s Specially Designated Nationals (“SDN”) List or Foreign Sanctions Evaders (“FSE”) List ;
• Nationals of Cuba, regardless of location, unless citizenship or permanent residency outside of Cuba has been established; and
• Items originating from areas including Cuba, North Korea, Iran, or Crimea, with the exception of informational materials such as publications, films, posters, phonograph records, photographs, tapes, compact disks, and certain artworks.
• Any goods, services, or technology from DNR and LNR with the exception of qualifying informational materials, and agricultural commodities such as food for humans, seeds for food crops, or fertilizers.
• The importation into the U.S. of the following products of Russian origin: fish, seafood, non-industrial diamonds, gold, and any other product as may be determined from time to time by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce.
• The exportation from the U.S., or by a U.S. person, of luxury goods, and other items as may be determined by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, to any person located in Russia or Belarus. A list and description of ‘luxury goods’ can be found in Supplement No. 5 to Part 746 under the Federal Register.
• Items originating outside of the U.S. that are subject to the U.S. Tariff Act or related Acts concerning prohibiting the use of forced labor.

In order to protect our community and marketplace, Etsy takes steps to ensure compliance with sanctions programs. For example, Etsy prohibits members from using their accounts while in certain geographic locations. If we have reason to believe you are operating your account from a sanctioned location, such as any of the places listed above, or are otherwise in violation of any economic sanction or trade restriction, we may suspend or terminate your use of our Services. Members are generally not permitted to list, buy, or sell items that originate from sanctioned areas. This includes items that pre-date sanctions, since we have no way to verify when they were actually removed from the restricted location. Members are also generally not permitted to ship items to or from sanctioned areas. Etsy reserves the right to request that sellers provide additional information, disclose an item's country of origin in a listing, or take other steps to meet compliance obligations. It is important that members provide complete and accurate information regarding the origin of items on the Etsy marketplace to ensure compliance with sanctions programs. We may disable listings or cancel transactions that present a risk of violating this policy.

In addition to complying with OFAC and applicable local laws, Etsy members should be aware that other countries may have their own trade restrictions and that certain items may not be allowed for export or import under international laws. You should consult the laws of any jurisdiction when a transaction involves international parties.

Finally, Etsy members should be aware that third-party payment processors, such as PayPal, may independently monitor transactions for sanctions compliance and may block transactions as part of their own compliance programs. Etsy has no authority or control over the independent decision-making of these providers.

The economic sanctions and trade restrictions that apply to your use of the Services are subject to change, so members should check sanctions resources regularly. For legal advice, please consult a qualified professional.

Resources: US Department of the Treasury ; Bureau of Industry and Security at the US Department of Commerce ; US Department of State ; European Commission

Last updated on May 15, 2024

• Graduate School

40 Thesis Defense Questions

Practicing answering thesis defense questions in a mock thesis defense is the best way to get ready for this challenging step in your academic career. Aside from knowing your research project inside and out, you must have solid strategies for tackling different question types and talking about why you chose your research topic. You might have already answered questions related to your research interests in your research interest statement and grad school interview questions , but now after years for in-depth study, it's time to really test what you have accomplished! Check out some of the hardest thesis defense questions below and read our expert responses!

>> Want us to help you get accepted? Schedule a free strategy call here . <<

Article Contents 11 min read

What to expect in a thesis defense.

A thesis defense is your chance to demonstrate your in-depth knowledge and expertise in the topic of your research thesis. While you will be able to take charge of the narrative and present your research to those on your thesis committee, the professors will prod you to test how well you know and understand your topic. The questions are mostly open-ended and give you the chance to showcase your knowledge and understanding, as well as any future plans you may have regarding your research topic.

A thesis defense usually lasts between one and two hours, depending on the area of your research. It starts with you giving a presentation of your interest, findings, and conclusions. After you have finished, the committee members will ask you questions based not only on your presentation, but also on your written thesis as they will have read it before your presentation. Lastly, the committee might approve your thesis or suggest changes to your paper.

Preparing thesis defense questions requires you to start well in advance. While the duration of your thesis defense might vary as per your institution's requirements, the major idea is to defend your research. Thus, you should go about preparing for your thesis defense questions by taking the following steps.

Interested in a quick overview of the section below? Check out this infographic:

Re-read your thesis for clarity

Your thesis defense questions will be based on what you have written in your research paper. Hence, it is a good idea to re-read your paper. You should be clear on the concepts and understand your research well. It might have been some time since you would have submitted your paper, so a revision should be the starting point of your preparation.  

Have an answer strategy and structure

Plan a strategy to answer the panel’s questions. Keep your answers direct, but elaborate on the research details wherever necessary. If you do not know the answer to a question, that is alright. The key is to be able to formulate an answer even if you do not possess enough knowledge to answer at that point in time. For instance, if a question is about the content of your research, you can say something like “I am not certain my research touches on the question you are asking, but my research has led me to Dr. X. Based his evidence, I would have to conclude that…” Having a strategy for answering even the most unexpected questions can be a life saver in these situations!

Most of the thesis defense questions can be easily predicted based on your research. You can prepare a list of possible questions when you are going through your paper. Getting to know the committee can help you in preparing better. Their areas of expertise can help you in determining what they might ask. Once you have a list of questions, you can start brainstorming how you might answer them. 

Prepare your slides in advance

If you require visual aids such as slides, it is a good idea to prepare them beforehand. You can double-check the slides and make sure that your presentation will run smoothly on the day of your thesis defense. Make sure your slides are arranged in the correct order. 

Attend a thesis defense of other candidates if it is an open event

If your institution allows it, you can visit a thesis defense of other candidates. This will give you an excellent idea of what you can expect in your meeting. If it is not possible to attend the event, you can speak to your peers to find out how their meeting went and what questions were asked.

Dress appropriately for your meeting

The thesis defense meeting is a formal event, and hence you should be dressed in formal clothes. While there are no strict dressing rules, you should consider it something equivalent to a job interview. Don’t just wear your T-shirt and appear in front of the committee. Your formal suit is a better option for the occasion.

Practice speaking for your meeting

Take your preparation to the next level by practicing your presentation. This activity will give you the confidence for the actual meeting and presentation. You can request your academic peers to help you out in the practice task. Based on their feedback in the mock session, you can improve for the actual session. Make sure to prepare well for the mock session as if you are preparing for the actual session. You can also practice your speech and body language in the mock session. If you used thesis writing services , these professionals would also be the ideal people to test you in a mock thesis defense – don’t hesitate to reach out to them again!

Sample Thesis Defense Questions and Answers

1.    what is your research study all about.

In your answer, you should summarize your research in a few sentences. The question is simple but requires technical expertise for a better explanation of concepts. For instance, if you completed a thesis in an attempt to explain the constituents of dark matter in the universe and particle accelerators, you could frame your answer like this:

In this research, the different aspects of dark matter and its detection models have been investigated. The cosmic ray positron excess observed by the PAMELA detector has been discussed and explained through the construction of models of decaying dark matter. The cosmic-ray electron and positron spectra were studied assuming a general Dirac structure for the four fermion contact interactions of interest. A supersymmetric leptophilic Higgs model was constructed to explain the possible excess of gamma rays in the galactic center. Finally, by the use of Razor analysis, an improvement on the dark matter collider searches is considered.  

2.    Why did you choose this study?

This question requires you to answer what motivated you to pursue the study in the first place. Your answers could touch on your interests in the area of the study. For example, if you conducted a study called “Media Combat: The Great War and the Transformation of American Culture” then you can shape your answer like this:

The First World War (1914-1918) has always been a topic of fascination for me, and my prime interest lies in exploring the state of society at that time. I wanted to analyze the formation of a nationalized, wartime cultural apparatus during the United States' involvement in the war and how theatre and music transformed the relationship between the government and American citizens. 

3.    Why did you choose this particular title for your research?

The title of your thesis captures the main point of your research, which is why it is so important to use an appropriate title. Your committee will want to know how you came to the final decision of naming your work. For example,

I chose the title “Dark matter in the heavens and at colliders: Models and constraints” for my research thesis because my research attempts to explain the constituency of dark matter as it occurs in the universe. “The heavens” is another word for the universe. Dark matter can also be created in particle accelerators such as the CERN collider. I have attempted to provide an explanation for both of the cases through the use of models, along with describing the constraints which exist in the current times due to certain scientific limitations.

4.    What is the scope of your study?

In your answer, you have to define the boundaries of your project and define exactly what you are studying. There can be several elements involved but you have to define the parameters that you have chosen to study. For example,

My study is on the efficacy of equity stocks in the US market. For my study, I have chosen 50 companies listed on the NASDAQ. You can review the names of these companies on page 5 of my thesis.

5.    What phenomenon were you trying to understand with this research?

Describe the focus concept of your thesis in the answer. For example,

In our study “Motivation to volunteer”, we were looking to study the Theory of Planned Behavior by analyzing the behavioral and normative beliefs that influence attitudes and subjective norms.

Want increase your productivity and mainain a healthy work life balance to help get you through your thesis project? Here are some tips straight from our CEO:

6.    Who will be most interested in your research?

You can talk about who may be affected by your research and the parties who can potentially benefit from the research. Take a look at this example:

My sociology thesis on “Impact of social media on youngsters” can be of interest to sociology academics, social media companies, education experts, and parents of youngsters in general.

7.    Did your research questions evolve during the process? If so, how?

Often, qualitative research questions change over time with respect to the responses that you might get from your focus group. Or you might just change your question as you do lab research or general text research. You can describe the change to the evaluating committee. For example,

We started our study to understand the impact of the new public policy change on recycling of vinyl waste through installation of garbage bins specifically for vinyl products. However, after interviewing some of the respondents in the target community, we found that the rule is actually irrelevant to their behavior and thoughts because the percentage of vinyl waste in that specific locality was very low and it didn’t need the installation of dedicated bins for the purpose. Going by their frustrations with the current economic insecurity, our study evolved into the impact of costs incurred by public policy changes.           

8.    What gaps did you intend to bridge with your research?

Your research thesis must eliminate the present gaps in the concepts related to your subject topic.

The relationship between hard water and its effect on the size of the kidney stone is not clear yet, so we analyzed the mineral composition of hard water to determine its impact on the size of the kidney stone.

9.    Why is your research significant?

The answer to this research question should outline the impact of your research on your field of study. You may talk about the new insights contributed by your research and its impact on society.

Through my study on “The effect of chamomile in reducing stress and promoting better sleep,” patients with insomnia and anxiety will be able to find alternative treatments without the use of medicinal drugs. The medical abilities of chamomile will promote the usage of ingredients in nature and will encourage the community to plant more herbs and trees.

10. What did you find in your research?

You may describe your research in a few sentences in this answer. For instance,

In our study on “Impact of artificial fluoride in water on the human body,” we found that excessive exposure to high quantities of Fluoride can result in tooth discoloration and bone issues in humans since it has neurotoxic qualities. 

11. What research findings surprised you?

When you conduct research, you come across findings that you were not expecting earlier. If you had such an experience, you might describe the same to the evaluation committee when you answer this question. For example,

I was expecting that business promotion through social media would not be a good idea for rural enterprises in developing countries in my comparative analysis of the usage of traditional and contemporary marketing methods. But I was surprised to learn that 68% of rural textile businesses in Nigeria promote their products on Instagram.

12. What is the validity of your findings?

You have to talk about the conditions in which your research findings would be valid.

In my research, I have considered test anxiety to be involving both nervous system activation and negative thoughts. Thus, my measure of test anxiety has included the elements of both nervous feelings and negative thoughts, the conditions in which my findings are valid.

For example,

For studying the differential protein expression, its localization, and distribution at different levels, we used the method of immunostaining in our research.

14. What sources did you use for data collection?

You would have used several sources to search for data for your topic. You may elaborate on those sources. You might have referred to databases, content on the web, or even conducted primary research by interviewing prospects. Thus, you can talk about these sources. Refer to the following answer:

To understand the impact of the current tax regime on skilled workers, we interviewed 150 subjects in 5 months. Additionally, we referred to databases and scholarly works available by authors who had previously conducted such studies for previous tax laws and rates. 

15. How can your research be put into practice?

This question talks about the practical implications of your research. You should talk about how your research is beneficial for society and how it can help in eliminating current issues.

In our research titled “Effectiveness of Meditation on Reducing the Anxiety Levels of College Students in the US,” we discovered that students who practiced meditation at least thrice a week were two times more likely to score better in their exams, owing to the positive impact of meditation. So, this research finding can help in the reduction of mental health issues among students. A suitable course of action would be to hold meditating sessions a couple of times a week. 

16. How will your findings contribute to the related area of knowledge?

Our study on medicinal analysis of herbs conveys information about various medicinal benefits of chamomile in treating depression and contributes to the area of medicinal botany.

17. Did you experience any limitations in your research?

Our research on “Impact of smoking on β-cell function and risk for type 2 diabetes in US citizens” finds that smoking increases the risk of diabetes among smokers. However, smokers might be affected by some genetic conditions which can protect them from diabetes. 

18. What sampling techniques did you use?

When conducting research, it is practically not possible to study the entire number of elements. So, you would be using a method to select a sample population.

In our study “Impact of consumption of soda on the health of teenagers in Corpus Christi”, we used area sampling to divide the city into several areas and then selected some clusters for our sample group.

19. What are the dependent and independent variables in your research?

In research, several variable factors impact your study. You can describe these variables. Independent variables have values which are not affected by other variables in your study. On the other hand, the dependent variables have values that change with changes in the independent variable. For example,

In our study on “Impact of online tutoring on test scores”, the independent variable is the nature of the classes i.e., online and the participants' test score is the dependent variable.

20. What areas do you suggest for further research?

As a researcher, you should be able to describe what further areas are open for research with the addition of your research to the field. This can act as a starting point for future researchers. For example,

In my research on “Effectiveness of Acetaminophen in treating sports induced injuries”, I discovered that administering Acetaminophen is not very effective for treating joint pains such as the knee. This further suggests measures for the regulation of Acetaminophen in the production of painkillers for body pain and the search for alternative compounds.

Practice Questions

After taking a look at the sample answers, now try answering these questions by yourself:

Do you have any closing comments? "}]">

After submitting your research thesis for evaluation, you have to appear before a panel of professors and present your work; afterwards, they will ask you questions about your research.

You have to plan and prepare for your thesis defense. Review your paper and anticipate the questions that the committee can ask. Practice with mock defense sessions using professional servicesand make improvements based on their feedback. Be prepared with a strategy for answering any question asked by the panel.

Your research thesis should be on a topic of your interest. Scan your course syllabus to find something that makes you curious. Or, you can even refer to your grad school career goals statement to review what got you interested in grad school in the first place. Shortlist a few topics and zero down to the one that excites you the most.

The first step in preparing for a master’s thesis defense is to revise your research paper and write down a list of questions that the committee might ask. Find answers to those questions and get ready for your presentation. Practice your presentation beforehand. Try to attend a thesis defense of other candidates to know what you can expect in your session. 

You will get questions related to what you have mentioned in your research paper. The most common starting questions are “what is your research about?" and “what was your motivation behind choosing this topic?” Later on, the committee asks you more detailed questions on research methodology, literature review, study variables, research findings, recommendations, and areas of further research.

You can get help from a grad school essay tutor for your research thesis writing. They can help you in developing writing skills and reviewing your work. They can proofread your work and provide recommendations on areas of improvement.

You can include your research thesis on your grad school CV to show your practical knowledge and skills. You can add the details of the study in a separate section for research experience.

Immediately after the thesis defense, the evaluation panel will decide whether to approve your paper as submitted or request some changes, or reject it.

To pass a thesis defense, a majority of the panel members must approve the defense. In case of more than one vote against you, you can fail the thesis.

A thesis defense can last for two hours or longer, depending on your area of research.

Your thesis defense presentation should include the focus concept, findings, recommendation, and conclusion.

The contribution of your thesis towards your degree differs as per institution. You can refer to your course handbook for exact details. In most cases, the committee needs to approve your thesis for you to graduate from your degree.

Want more free tips? Subscribe to our channels for more free and useful content!

Apple Podcasts

Like our blog? Write for us ! >>

Have a question ask our admissions experts below and we'll answer your questions.

why did you choose this place for a research locale

BeMo Academic Consulting

Hi Jeff! Yes, this can also be one of the questions you are asked in a thesis defense!

That is good

Hello Eshetu! Thanks for your comment. Glad you found this helpful!

Very helpful

Thanks, Abel. Glad you found this helpful. 

Helpful thank you.

Hi Lagat! Thanks!

As an 11th-grade student, I don't have any experience in thesis or research defense in general. Me and my groupmates will be conducting our research title defense next week, this is invaluable information for us. Thank you!

You are very welcome, Kate!

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS, I REALLY APPRECIATE.

Hello Stephanie! Thanks for your comment.

EMELDA NAFULA NYONGESA

This is a good guideline to post graduate students (Masters and PhD) CPA:Emelda Nyongesa

Hi Emelda! Thanks!

Get Started Now

Talk to one of our admissions experts

Our site uses cookies. By using our website, you agree with our cookie policy .

FREE Training Webinar:

How to make your grad school application stand out, (and avoid the top 5 mistakes that get most rejected).

Time Sensitive. Limited Spots Available:

We guarantee you'll get into grad school or you don't pay.

Swipe up to see a great offer!

The top 10 thesis defense questions (+ how to prepare strong answers)

Crafting a thesis is significant, but defending it often feels like the ultimate test. While nerve-wracking, proper preparation can make it manageable. Prepare for your thesis defense with insights on the top questions you can expect, including strategies for answering convincingly.

Mastering the thesis defense: cultivate a success mindset

Nurturing a success mindset for your defense is pivotal. This means adopting a mental outlook geared towards achieving favorable outcomes during your thesis defense. To truly excel in this pivotal academic moment, it’s imperative to cultivate both confidence and composure.

Remember, you know your thesis best, so trust in your expertise.

In essence, a success mindset encompasses the belief in your abilities, coupled with the ability to remain calm and focused under pressure.

By embracing these principles and staying confident and adaptable, you’ll navigate your thesis defense with ease.

Question 1: Why did you choose this particular topic for your research?

Additionally, highlight any personal or academic experiences that played a pivotal role in steering you towards your chosen topic. Whether it was a transformative educational experience, a profound personal interest, or a meaningful encounter, these experiences can offer valuable insights into the origins of your scholarly pursuits.

Question 2: How does your research contribute to the existing body of knowledge?

Next, describe how your work engages with or challenges current conversations in your field. Discuss the existing paradigms or theories your research builds upon or critiques. Articulate how your findings contribute to ongoing debates or reshape prevailing understandings. By positioning your research within the broader context of scholarly discourse, you showcase its relevance and impact on the evolving landscape of your field.

Question 3: What are the key findings of your research?

Furthermore, relate these findings to the broader implications they hold for your field. Articulate how your research contributes to advancing knowledge or addressing pressing issues within your academic discipline. Consider the potential impact of your findings on theory, practice, or policy, highlighting their relevance and significance within the larger scholarly community.

Question 4: Can you defend your research methodology?

Begin by elucidating the reasons for selecting the chosen methodology over alternatives. Discuss the specific advantages or suitability of the selected approach in addressing the research questions or objectives. Consider factors such as feasibility, appropriateness for the research context, and compatibility with the theoretical framework guiding your study.

Question 5: How did you analyze the data and what challenges did you encounter?

Addressing the intricacies of data analysis involves not only outlining the techniques employed but also navigating the challenges encountered and evaluating the reliability and validity of the interpretations drawn. When responding to inquiries about data analysis, it’s essential to provide a comprehensive understanding of the methodologies employed, the obstacles faced, and the strategies utilized to ensure the accuracy and credibility of the findings.

Question 6: What theoretical frameworks or references underpin your research?

Exploring the theoretical underpinnings of your research involves delving into the foundational frameworks and seminal works that informed your study’s conceptual framework and analytical approach. When responding to inquiries about theoretical frameworks , it’s essential to provide a comprehensive understanding of the theories and references that shaped your research, elucidate their influence on your hypothesis and analysis, and reflect on the potential contributions or revisions your study may offer to existing theoretical foundations.

Begin by naming the key theories and seminal works that guided your research. Identify the theoretical frameworks that provided the conceptual scaffolding for your study, as well as the seminal works that shaped your understanding of the research area. Discuss how these theories and references informed your research design, methodology, and analytical approach, providing a theoretical lens through which to interpret your findings.

In summary, when addressing inquiries about theoretical frameworks, consider the following key points:

Question 7: How did you address ethical considerations in your research?

When addressing ethical considerations in your research, it’s essential to demonstrate a commitment to upholding ethical standards and protecting the rights and well-being of participants. Responding to inquiries about ethical protocols involves explaining the steps taken to ensure ethical conduct throughout the research process, describing the consent process and data protection measures implemented, and mentioning any institutional review board (IRB) approvals obtained.

Question 8: In what ways does your research contribute to the field?

When discussing the contributions of your research to the field, it’s essential to highlight the novel insights and potential impact your thesis offers. Responding to inquiries about your research’s significance involves detailing the unique perspectives and fresh understanding it brings to the academic discourse, as well as considering its implications for future research or practice and arguing its relevance within the broader academic community.

Question 9: How did you ensure your research was free from bias?

When ensuring the integrity of your research and minimizing bias, it’s crucial to maintain objectivity and rigor throughout the study. Responding to inquiries about bias involves discussing the steps taken to uphold objectivity, describing any blind or double-blind procedures employed, and acknowledging and mitigating any unavoidable biases that may have arisen during the research process.

Question 10: Where can future research go from here?

When considering the potential trajectory of your research topic, it’s essential to identify areas where further investigation could yield valuable insights, discuss unexplored questions that emerged from your research, and reflect on the limitations of your study as starting points for future research endeavors. Responding to inquiries about the future direction of research involves suggesting fruitful areas for further investigation, highlighting unresolved questions, and leveraging the limitations of your study as opportunities for future exploration.

Master Academia

Get new content delivered directly to your inbox, how to harness theoretical and conceptual frameworks for groundbreaking research, 25 short graduation quotes: inspiration in four words or less, related articles, getting the most out of thesis supervision meetings, 75 linking words for academic writing (+examples), how to write a fantastic thesis introduction (+15 examples), why you cannot write a phd thesis in 3-6 months.

Get the Reddit app

Discussion forum for current, past, and future students of any discipline completing post-graduate studies - taught or research.

Comments on clothing for my thesis defense.

I have my MSc defense in two days, it will be online so I am looking for a nice top to wear. I honestly don't have elegant clothing so I was thinking about using this beige turtle neck sweater. Do you think it is okay?

*Please go to my profile and the pics are there, I don't want to create an account on igmur just to share some pics*

Also, ladies, do you recommend me going with the long hair or should I use a ponytail?

Thank you! And yes, it might be weird asking that here but.. I have no one else in mind lol

• [email protected]

Molyko, Southwest Region - Buea, Cameroon

(+237) 654770619

Research Key

50 Top Thesis Defense Questions With Answers(2023)

This blog article contains all the possible thesis defense questions that can be applied to all departments.

Do you have an upcoming thesis defense and you have been wandering the kind of questions your professors will ask you

Click to Read: Navigating Your Thesis Defense: Common Thesis Defense Questions and How to Prepare

Top 25 Likely Questions and Answers for Thesis Defense

Do you have the ability to briefly describe the purpose of your study to us?

Right, the query is straightforward.

Most students choke on a topic like this, as many professors will attest to.

In any case, the question is simple but a little complicated.

You need to comprehend every aspect of your scientific study, starting with chapter one, to respond to this question.

To ace this particular topic, you would want to comprehend every aspect of your abstract because the question requires a reply that functions as a sort of summary of the entire subject.

If your abstract was truthful, this question will be a cross-over for you.

What inspired you to conduct this research?

You now need to exercise caution.

These questions are frequently highly challenging, and it helps greatly in persuading your panel that your study is worth their time.

What’s THE RESEARCH PROBLEM is another way to phrase this query.

You’ll want to go into more detail on the subject of the study as you respond to this.

You become motivated by your enthusiasm to find a solution to this issue.

Don’t use the need to graduate or financial constraints as motivations since you’ll quickly lose your audience.

3. How will this research add to the body of knowledge?

When the need for explanation arises, you will be required to explain how your study, if allowed, will add to the body of available evidence.

Here, you’ll get to defend it using your research methodologies, a case study, or any special models or conceptual frameworks that were used in the study.

4 What is the study’s significance?

You will get to discuss the significance of your study in the same way that you will discuss how it will add to the body of knowledge.

In your response, you should emphasise how your study will benefit organisations and society as a whole, how it will assist the government in developing and implementing policies, and how it will benefit other students who might want to research the subject.

5. Did you fill in any gaps in your research?

Every research project needs to have a challenge.

You receive all of the points allotted for answering this question because of your abilities to solve this puzzle and research topics that have not yet been studied.

You must be prepared to persuade the committee members that your method is unique and that it addressed areas where other researchers haven’t done a lot of work.

6. What restrictions did you face? 

Another easy but challenging question is this one. Most of the time, the question is asked to criticise your work rather than to feel sorry for you.

You should use caution when responding to this question to avoid implicating yourself. Be careful not to sell yourself short.

Discussing your approach or data analysis constraints could imply that your paper is prejudiced or poorly researched, therefore avoid doing so.

Instead of limiting your studies, use minor constraints like the challenges associated with juggling projects and lectures.

7. What conclusions have you reached?

You now need to clearly and succinctly present your study’s outcomes or findings.

Always relate your conclusions to the goals and/or questions of your research.

Your panel members will become passive as a result.

What techniques or methods did you use for sampling?

You need to be familiar with your research approach to responding to this question.

You must have access to your chapter three (in Most Projects).

Your ability to defend your sample size and methodology will be greatly rewarded in this situation.

Get the most recent career advice, an online degree, and scholarships for US and UK universities, it is advised.

8. Why did you select this approach?

As was already mentioned, you should not just describe the study’s methodology.

Additionally, you must be prepared and able to convincingly defend your decision to use the tactic.

You are currently free to cite sources or studies that used similar methodologies.

9. What recommendations do you make in support of your findings?

Every research study needs recommendations, and they won’t be taken lightly.

In essence, you should be able to recall your recommendations.

You need the best PowerPoint for your thesis: Hire a writer to Draft a PowerPoint that will shock your professors

10. Regarding your findings, what areas of study will you recommend for the future?

Just to be sure you’re thinking clearly and are an authority in your field of study, questions like these exist.

You should be prepared to offer additional research areas related to your subject based on your conclusions from a manageable scope of the study.

One legitimate subject for additional research, for instance, would be other types of taxation, such as VAT, Company tax, etc., if I looked into the difficulties of collecting private taxes in Cameroon.

11. What practical applications may your research work lead to?

The majority of management and social science projects are more abstract, making them a little more challenging for management and social science students than science and engineering students.

But you should make an effort to be reasonable in this situation.

Relate your research to contemporary trends in your home, workplace, industry, polity, institutions of higher learning, etc.

You’ll get points for using pertinent examples and illustrations in this situation.

13. How would you briefly characterise your study for a practitioner in ?

14 What would you change if you were to rerun the research?

Hmmm. Be cautious! Avoid being overly merry. There is a gap in this! Similar to your restrictions, this question is frequently posed to identify your weaknesses.

What measurement instrument do you use?

What approach to data collecting did you take for the project, to put it simply?

Here, you specify whether surveys were given out or secondary sources were used to obtain the data.

for additional details about measuring devices.

16: What variables are you using in your research?

Here, you get to persuade the members of your panel that you merely are knowledgeable in the subject at hand.

To convince them that you are correct, you should explain your independent and dependent variable(s). Your project topic contains your variables.

To excel at your defence, you should be able to recognise these variables and know what they mean.

What are your research questions, number 17?

Simple to answer.

If you are completely prepared, you should be able to respond to this question in 0.015 seconds.

Continue reading to see a sample complaint letter for the omission of exam marks.

Following graduation, what do you choose to do with your scientific research?

You are free to express your thoughts in this area.

If you intend to publish it, this is frequently the easiest time to speak with the committee members and engage in conversation; perhaps a professor present might be of assistance.

What type of knowledge source was used for the study?

You must now identify the source or sources from which you obtained the data. Generally speaking, you must specify if the data came from primary, secondary, or both sources.

By going over the study’s theoretical and empirical literature review, you can persuade the committee members even more.

What theories or theoretical framework is the foundation of your study?

Although extremely technical, this question is intriguing.

You should have a working knowledge of at least two relevant theories related to your research before entering the defence room.

For instance, Maslow’s Theory and other theories of motivation will support the “impact of motivation on employee productivity.”

Consult your supervisor for assistance if you are having trouble finding suitable theories to replicate your research

How would you connect your findings to the study’s prevailing theories?

One will need to read a lot to ace this test.

You should be familiar with both empirical studies and the current ideas surrounding the subject.

It would significantly help to validate your study if you can relate your conclusions to earlier research investigations, regardless of whether they concur or not. I’ll bet you’ll win this debate.

What suggestions do you have for upcoming research? Question 22

Your capacity for problem-solving is tested here.

You should be able to spot topics that require more investigation.

What is the study’s scope, question 23?

This one might be a throwaway or bonus query.

Here, you succinctly explain the study’s boundaries.

What queries does one have for the committee? Question 24

Although this is not a question that can be asked in our African context, I have nonetheless defended a seminar project where it was, and I was astounded to the core.

This is frequently an opportunity to talk with the members of your committee and to ask some insightful questions. Avoid asking pointless or overly challenging questions because the committee members should feel a sense of loyalty to the “boss” rather than you.

It will also go a long way toward demonstrating that you are a superb person.

Question 25: Is there anything further you would like to add?

It’s time to give thanks! Take this opportunity to express your gratitude to the committee for their time and inquiries.

Tell them how much you learned from them and how you intend to fix any mistakes (if any) found in your work. Your internal and external supervisors will be greatly impressed by this.

We hope the best for you!

Regarding the following additional services, we give direction and instruction.

topic selection advisory

Writing proposals: Consultancy

Analysis of Data

interpretation of data

training in data analysis (SPSS)

PowerPoint Construction

editing solutions

correction services

Plagiarism Eradication

Thesis Defense Questions, Thesis Defense Questions, Thesis Defense Questions, Thesis Defense Questions, Thesis Defense Questions, Thesis Defense Questions, Thesis Defense Questions, Thesis Defense Questions

Thesis Defense Questions, Thesis Defense Questions, Thesis Defense Questions, Thesis Defense Questions, Thesis Defense Questions, Thesis Defense Questions, Thesis Defense Questions, Thesis Defense Questions, Thesis Defense Questions, Thesis Defense Questions

9. Why is your study important?

The response to this research question should describe how your findings have affected your field of study.

You could discuss the novel understandings your study has provided and how it has affected society.

My research on “The effect of chamomile in lowering stress and encouraging better sleep” can help people with insomnia and anxiety find non-pharmaceutical remedies for their conditions.

The chamomile plant’s medicinal properties will encourage the use of natural products and motivate the community to grow additional herbs and trees.

10. What conclusions did your research yield?

In this response, you are permitted to briefly summarise your study. For example,

In our study on the “Impact of Artificial Fluoride in Water on the Human Body,”

we discovered that since Fluoride has neurotoxic properties, excessive exposure to high levels of it might cause tooth discolouration and bone problems in people.

11. What research results caught you off guard?

When you undertake research, you often discover results that you did not initially anticipate.

When answering this question, you can mention the same to the evaluation committee if you had such an event. For instance,

In my comparative research of the use of conventional and modern marketing techniques,

I anticipated that business promotion through social media would not be a good concept for rural firms in developing countries.

But I was quite aback to learn that 68% of Nigeria’s rural textile manufacturers advertise their goods on Instagram.

12. How reliable are your findings?

The circumstances under which the results of your investigation might be valid must be discussed.

In my research, I have assumed that both nervous system activation and negative thoughts contribute to exam anxiety.

Thus, to ensure that my results are accurate, I included both apprehensive feelings and negative thoughts in my measure of test anxiety.

13. Why did you decide on this research design?

For instance,

In our investigation, we employed the immunostaining technique to examine the differential protein expression, its localisation, and dispersion at various levels.

14. What resources did you draw on to gather the data?

To find information for your topic, you would have looked at a variety of sources. From those sources, you can get into further detail.

You might have consulted databases, and online articles, or even conducted primary research by speaking with potential customers.

So you can discuss these sources. Consider the following response:

We spoke with 150 people over five months to better understand how the existing tax system affects skilled professionals.

In addition, we made use of academic databases and books written by authors who had previously undertaken similar analyses for earlier tax legislation and rates.

15. What applications are there for your research?

The practical ramifications of your findings are covered in this query.

You should explain how your study benefits society and how it may be used to solve existing problems.

In our study, “Effectiveness of Meditation in Reducing the Anxiety Levels of College Students in the US,” we found that due to meditation’s beneficial effects, students who practiced it at least three times a week were twice as likely to perform well on exams.

Therefore, this research’s findings may contribute to fewer student mental health difficulties. Holding meditation classes a few times a week might be a good line of action.

16. What new information will your findings provide to the field?

Our study on the medicinal analysis of herbs contributes to the field of medicinal botany and provides information on the many therapeutic benefits of chamomile in treating depression.

17. Did your study encounter any obstacles?

According to our study, smoking raises a person’s risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

The study is titled

“Impact of smoking on -cell function and risk for type 2 diabetes in US citizens.”

Smokers, however, may have specific hereditary factors that can shield them from developing diabetes.

18. What sampling methods did you employ?

It is nearly impossible to study every element when performing research.

So you would be choosing a sample population using a method.

We employed area sampling to divide the city into various zones for our study, “Impact of soda intake on the health of teenagers in Corpus Christi,” and then we chose a few clusters as our sample population.

19. What are the research’s dependent and independent variables?

Several varying factors have an impact on your research project.

These variables can be described. Independent variables in your study have values that are unaffected by other variables.

The dependent variables, on the other hand, have values that alter as the independent variable does. For instance,

Our study, “Impact of Online Tutoring on Test Results,” uses the participants’ test scores as the dependent variable and the online aspect of the classes as the independent variable.

20. What areas do you recommend for additional study?

When your research is added to the field, you should be ready to explain what new areas will be available for study. Future researchers can use this as a place of departure. For instance,

My research on the “Effectiveness of Acetaminophen in treating sports-generated injuries” led me to the conclusion that treating joint symptoms like knee pain with Acetaminophen is not particularly effective.

This also raises the possibility of taking action to limit the use of acetaminophen in the creation of bodily pain medications and to look for substitutes.

Practice Issues

Try answering these questions on your own after looking at the sample responses:

What steps did you take to address the moral ramifications of your work?

What is the research’s strongest point?

Why do you believe your research to be trustworthy?

Do your findings align with the body of previous research?

Do you believe that your research may have certain biases?

What suggestions do you have based on your research?

What statistical tools do you employ?

Describe the research’s sample population.

What are the practical applications of your findings?

What would you change if you were to conduct your research again?

What significance does your research have for other scientists?

What are the most pressing problems in your fields?

Do you believe your research to be accurate?

What method did you use for your study?

What does your study alter about your field of study?

How general are your research contributions?

What applications does your research have for decision-makers?

What is your research process for qualitative analysis?

How did you go about taking standard measurements?

Do you have any final remarks?

Top 25 Likely Questions and Answers for Thesis Defense (2023)

The top 25 academic research defence questions that you can come across during a tutorial research defence are listed below.

Please utilise this checklist to determine whether you are truly prepared for your research defence.

Keep in mind these inquiries and the suggested methods for responding to them.

We reviewed the list of prior academic research project defence inquiries.

To make sure you are not limiting yourself to only these inquiries, Research Key Consulting Services also suggests that you go further and ask former students about some of the academic scientific research defense questions they ran across during their defence.

Anticipate the obvious inquiries and be ready for them.

Based on your research, you may readily predict the majority of the thesis defense questions.

When you are reading your work, you can make a list of potential questions.

Knowing the committee will help you prepare more effectively.

You can anticipate what questions they may ask by looking at their areas of expertise.

Once you have a list of inquiries, you may begin considering potential responses.

Get your slides ready in advance.

It is a good idea to prepare any visual aids, such as slides, in advance.

You can check the slides again to ensure that everything will go according to plan on the day of your thesis defense.

Make sure the order of your slides is proper.

If a candidate’s thesis defense is an open event, go to it.

You are welcome to attend another candidate’s thesis defense if your institution permits it.

You will have a very good notion of what to anticipate from your meeting after reading this.

If you can’t make it to the event, you might ask your peers about their meeting to see what was discussed and what questions were posed.

Get dressed for your meeting.

You should wear formal attire since the thesis defence meeting is a formal occasion.

You should treat it like a job interview even though there are no rigorous clothing codes.

Don’t just show up in front of the committee wearing your T-shirt.

The ideal choice for the situation is your formal suit.

Prepare your speech for the meeting.

Practice making your presentation to advance your preparation.

You will feel more confident going into the meeting and presentation after this activity.

You might ask your fellow students for assistance with the practice task.

You can enhance your performance for the real session based on their input during the mock session.

Make careful to adequately prepare for the fake session, just like you would for the real session.

In the simulated session, you can also work on your body language and speaking.

Don’t be hesitant to get in touch with these experts again if you hired thesis writing services as they would be the best ones to put you to the test in a simulated thesis defence!

Examples of Questions and Answers for Thesis Defense

1. What is the focus of your research study?

You should provide a brief synopsis of your research in your response.

Although the issue is straightforward, a better understanding of the concepts requires technical knowledge.

If your thesis, for instance, attempted to explain the components of dark matter in the universe and particle accelerators, you may phrase your response as follows:

The various facets of dark matter and its detection models have been looked into in this study.

The development of decaying dark matter models has been addressed and used to explain the cosmic ray positron excess detected by the PAMELA detector.

Assuming a general Dirac structure for the four fermion contact interactions of interest, the cosmic-ray electron and positron spectra were investigated.

To account for the conceivable excess of gamma rays in the galactic core, a supersymmetric leptophilic Higgs model was developed.

Finally, an enhancement to the dark matter collider searches is taken into consideration using Razor analysis.

2. Why did you select this research?

You must respond to this question by stating what inspired you to start the study in the first place.

Your responses can reflect your interests in the study’s subject.

For instance, if your study was titled “Media Combat: The Great War and the Transformation of American Culture,” you may formulate your response as follows:

I’ve always been interested in learning more about the First World War (1914–1918), and my main focus is on examining the social climate of the era.

I wanted to examine how theatre and music changed how the government interacted with American civilians during the American involvement in the war and the emergence of a nationalised, wartime cultural infrastructure.

3. Why did you decide on this specific title for your study?

It is crucial to select a title that accurately conveys the main idea of your thesis because it serves as a summary of your research.

Your selection of a final title for your work will be questioned by your committee. For instance,

For my research thesis, I chose the subject “Dark matter in the heavens and at colliders: Models and limitations,” as my work aims to shed light on the nature of dark matter as it manifests itself in the cosmos.

The universe is often referred to as “the skies.” Particle accelerators like the CERN collider can also produce dark matter.

Through the use of models and a description of the current constraints brought about by specific scientific limitations, I have made an effort to explain both circumstances.

4. What is the purview of your research?

You must specify the scope of your project and the precise subject matter you are researching in your response. There may be several factors at play, but you must first establish the study criteria. For instance,

My research focuses on how effective equities stocks are on the US market.

I’ve selected 50 NASDAQ-listed companies for my analysis. The names of these businesses are listed on page 5 of my thesis.

5. What phenomenon were you attempting to comprehend with this study?

In your response, explain your thesis’ central idea. For instance,

We sought to investigate the Theory of Planned Behavior in our study on “Motivation to Volunteer” by examining the behavioural and normative ideas that shape attitudes and subjective norms.

6. Who will be most curious about your study?

You can discuss the people who your research may affect as well as those who may gain something from it. Look at this illustration:

Sociology professors, social media firms, education professionals, and parents of children, in general, may be interested in my sociology thesis on “Impact of social media on youngsters.”

7. Did your research questions change as you conducted them? How, if so?

Qualitative research questions frequently evolve in response to the feedback you could receive from your focus group.

Alternatively, as you conduct laboratory research or general text study, your question may simply alter.

You can inform the evaluation panel of the modification. For instance,

With the installation of trash cans designated for vinyl items, we set out to understand the effects of the new public policy change on the recycling of vinyl waste.

However, after speaking with a few of the target community’s responders, we discovered that the law has no bearing on their actions or beliefs because the locality’s vinyl waste proportion was so low that no special bins needed to be installed.

Our study, which originally focused on the expenses associated with public policy changes, changed as a result of their discontent with the current state of economic insecurity.

8. What holes did your research attempt to fill?

Your research thesis must close any conceptual gaps connected to your subject issue that exist now.

We examined the mineral makeup of hard water to ascertain its effect on the size of the kidney stone since the relationship between hard water and its effect on kidney stone size is not yet evident.

How to Prepare for Questions During Thesis Defense

You need to get started on your thesis defense questions well in advance.

The main goal of your thesis defense is to defend your study, even though the length may vary depending on your institution’s requirements.

As a result, you should follow the procedures below to prepare for your thesis defense questions.

For clarity, read your thesis again.

Your research paper will serve as the basis for your thesis defense questions. Rereading your article is therefore an excellent idea.

You should have a firm grasp of the topics and be aware of your research.

A revision should be the first step in your preparation as it may have been some time after you sent in your work.

Have a plan for your responses and a structure

Create a plan for your response to the panel’s questions.

Keep your responses succinct, but whenever required, provide more specifics about the research.

It’s okay if you don’t know the answer to a question.

The trick is to be able to come up with a response even if you don’t have the knowledge to do so right now.

Having a plan for responding to even the most unexpected questions can be a lifesaver in these circumstances!

For example, if a question is about the content of your research, you can say something like

“I am not sure my research touches on the question you are asking, but my research has led me to Dr X. Based on this evidence, I would have to conclude that…”

The best approach to prepare for this difficult stage in your academic career is to practice answering thesis defense questions in what we called a  thesis Pre-defense.

Many Universities in the world always have Pre-defenses before the Final Defense.

For you to have a  thesis defense that will beat the imagination of all your professors, you need to read this blog article till the end and you will notice all the secrets of answering thesis defense questions

First of all, You need to have effective tactics for dealing with various question types and explaining why you choose your research topic in addition to having a thorough understanding of your research project.

It’s time to put your years of in-depth study to the test now that you may have previously responded to inquiries about your research interests in your research interest statement and graduate school interview questions.

 Below are some of the trickiest thesis defense queries, along with our knowledgeable answers.

Note: Schedule a free strategy call if you’d like our assistance with your applications, interviews, or standardized testing.

Visit our collaborations page if you represent a university, company, or student organization and would want to collaborate with us.

How Should a Thesis Defense Go?

You get the opportunity to showcase your in-depth understanding and subject competence at a thesis defense.

The members of your thesis committee will be able to direct the narrative and hear about your study, but the instructors will push you to demonstrate your command of the material.

Since most of the questions are open-ended, you can demonstrate your knowledge and expertise as well as any potential future plans you may have for your research topic.

Depending on the subject of your research, a thesis defense typically lasts between one and two hours. You start by presenting your area of interest, your research, and your conclusions.

The committee members will quiz you once you’ve completed based on both your oral presentation and your written thesis, which they will have already read.

Finally, the committee may endorse your thesis or make suggestions for improving your paper.

Related Posts

Top Tourism and Hospitality Management Research topics(2023)

This blog article you are about to read will provide you with Tourism and Hospitality Management Research topics. Do you intend to write a research paper about hospitality? Are you looking for the top…

sexual abuse lawyer/10 Top sexual Abuse Lawyers to Hire

Have you been wondering about a sexual abuse lawyer when you face sexual abuse in a relationship?  This article constitutes all that you need to know about sexual abuse, sexual abuse in a relationship…

What is research definition/1 Best definition

What is research definition Kerlinger in 1973 defined research as a systematic control, empirical and critical investigation of hypothetical prepositions about the presumed relation among natural phenomena. Tuchman 1978 described the research as a…

Components of a complete research paper/5 Top components

Components of a complete research paper Preliminary pages Preliminary pages are those sections of a project or research paper that appear before the first chapter. The first page of a research paper is the…

Research-key (RKCS) is a center for Academic Research service in Cameroon aimed at providing academic support to students at all levels. Learn more...

• 12 Sep 2022 Research/project Tips 50 Top Thesis Defense Questions With Answers(2023)

Quick Links

• All Departments
• Terms & Conditions
• Privacy Policy
• Work with us
• Hire A writer
• +237 654770619
• Molyko, Sourthwest Region - Buea, Cameroon

Research-key (RKCS) is a center for academic research service aimed at providing academic support to students at all levels. Learn more...

• ASSESSMENT OF MOTHERS KNOWLEDGE ON THE PREVENTION OF HOME ACCIDENT IN CHILDREN 1-5 YEARS IN THE MUTENGENE HEALTH AREA
• MOTHERS KNOWLEDGE ON THE COMPLICATIONS OF POOR WEANING PROCESS OF CHILDREN AT THE MUEA COMMUNITY
• THE MANAGEMENT OF A PATIENT WITH DIABETES MELLITUS TYPE 2
• THE KNOWLEDGE OF NURSE AND MIDVIVES ON THE PREVENTION OF POST-PARTUM HAEMORRHAGE AT THE REGIONAL HOSPITAL BAMENDA
• ASSESSMENT OF MOTHERS KNOWLEDGE ON NEONATAL DANGER SIGNS AND THE CHALLENGES THEY FACED IN IMPLEMENTING ESSENTIAL NEONATAL CARE IN THE BUEA HEALTH DISTRICT
• INVESTIGATING OLDER ADULTS KNOWLEDGE ON DEHYDRATION, PREVENTION, AND ITS CHALLENGES IN THE MUEA COMMUNITY

PhD in Clothes

Clothes. Career. Thrifting. Productivity.

5 things that have helped me make peace with summer

What’s your favorite season? And why is summer your least favorite? Is it the sunburns, mosquitoes, or getting back into a hot car? For me, summer has always been a tad rough, but starting last year, something changed, and that thing was: I decided to be a mermaid.

Summer Conference Outfits and Packing List

A summer academic conference is so challenging–the weather is brutal, but the AC is freezing, and it’s hard to find professional outfits that work for both. Here are a few ideas, plus a packing list!

10 colorful, fun commencement dresses for 2024

I’ve been having fun sharing grad school graduation dresses on Instagram this week–we are looking for dresses that are professional enough, but still fun and full of personality. And most importantly, we’re looking at non-white graduation dresses! Because it’s your day so you should wear any color you want 🙂 Here are 10 great options.

What to wear to your thesis / dissertation defense, 2024 edition

Every March my “what do I wear to my thesis defense” post starts popping off, and I know it’s time. Masters students and PhD candidates everywhere are submitting final drafts and sitting in that two week waiting period between paper and oral defense, and the outfit question starts to creep in. Dressing for a dissertation defense can be such a strange prompt–so I asked three recent grads what they would wear. Their ideas, and outfit options, below.

What to wear to PhD interviews/visit weekend

Congratulations on being accepted to grad school! Now it’s the season of visiting grad programs. Which leads to the question, what should you wear to visit weekend?? Here are some tips whether you are interviewing or going on a casual visit to a PhD department.

Advice for the academic job fair

If you are looking for a professor job, you may encounter an academic job fair at a conference or professional meeting! These are very strange events…what to wear? How to prepare? Here’s some advice based on my experiences with them…

Reader questions: Help, I’m on the news

Today, a reader question that comes up semi-frequently: what to wear on the news!

5 pairs of office sneakers you can wear this spring

Do you wear sneakers to work? As a professor, grad student, or teacher, there is a chance you work in an office where the line between business casual and casual style is murky! So, how to style comfy sneakers in the office? Here are a few pairs I love and how I would wear them.

Universal Standard Style Club Box Review

If you loved Universal Standard’s mystery boxes you might love their new monthly style boxes, called US Club Boxes! Here is my review of their first box, and why I think it’s an improvement on the mystery boxes (hint: you can return them!). Plus, I have a discount code for you!

How do you decide what trends to participate in?

As I wore my cowboy boots to teach this week, I got to thinking about fashion trends. I know plenty of stylish academics who don’t “do” trends, yet I am frequently pulled into them, and have made PLENTY of purchase mistakes over the years as a result. So, how do you decide what fashion trends to pick or skip? Plus, why I think just ignoring them is impossible 🙂 Here are my buying rules…

• Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
• Subscribe Subscribed
• Report this content
• View site in Reader
• Manage subscriptions
• Collapse this bar

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

The (female) graduate: choice and consequences of women’s clothing.

• 1 School of Psychology, University of Surrey, Guildford, United Kingdom
• 2 Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL), CIS-IUL, Lisbon, Portugal
• 3 Dipartimento di Psicologia dello Sviluppo e della Socializzazione, Università di Padova, Padua, Italy
• 4 Facoltà di Psicologia, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
• 5 Dipartimento di Scienze Politiche, Università degli Studi di Perugia, Perugia, Italy

This research investigates how female students choose their graduation outfit and how clothing affects observers’ judgments. In Study 1, we manipulated the students’ graduation outfit so as to look professional or sexy. Female peers, adults, and professors formed a first impression about the students, their thesis work and guessed their graduation scores (thesis points and final mark). All participant groups judged the professionally dressed students as more competent, as having put more effort in their thesis, and as having obtained better scores than when the same students dressed sexy. In Studies 2 and 3 we replicated previous findings by using photos portraying real students in their actual graduation outfits. We found that sexy clothing, considered inappropriate for the occasion, affected estimated and actual graduation scores negatively and that this effect was mediated by perceived incompetence. Results are discussed with respect to women’s evaluation on the basis of their appearance.

Introduction

In Western societies it is common and culturally legitimate to consider women’s value in relation to the pleasantness of their appearance ( Bartky, 1990 ; Loughnan and Pacilli, 2014 ). Clothing choices are a crucial part of this appearance. Also, the physical attractiveness of women is increasingly equated with sexiness ( Allen and Gervais, 2012 ). As a consequence, women tend to mold their public self-image through a sexualized appearance ( Ward et al., 2016 ).

Often, this sexualized appearance is required in an explicit way, such as when famous women were banned from the red carpet in Cannes or receptionists were sent home because they were not wearing high heels and, thus, were not conforming to the “dress code” and norms associated to this specific context ( Barnes, 2015 ; Johnston, 2016 ). At other times, sexualized outfits are considered inappropriate. For instance, female students were punished, or even banned from college, because their skirts were judged too short or their tops and pants too tight for the school context ( Valenti, 2015 ). Thus, women constantly need to monitor their looks and modify their outfits depending on what is required in a given setting ( Smolak et al., 2014 ). Whether an outfit is too sexy for certain contexts and whether a woman should or should not wear a given outfit is a question of debate. Yet, women necessarily need to make a choice.

The present research aims at examining how female students choose their outfits for their graduation. In Italy, where the current research was run, thesis defense and graduation generally constitute a single, rather formal event at the end of which the student is publically declared “Laureate” (as we will explain in greater detail below). On the one hand, we investigated the effects of wearing a sexy (vs. professional) graduation outfit on observer judgments. On the other hand, we examined how students choose their graduation outfit and which image they want to convey. In so doing, we also tested the impact of objectifying TV consumption and self-objectification as potential moderators of outfit choice and of the observers’ judgments. Indeed, being exposed to objectifying media and focusing on the own appearance influence women’s self-perception and clothing choices ( Ward, 2016 ).

Clothing Choices and Observers’ First Impression

Clothes are elements that are used to express one’s identity ( Piacentini and Mailer, 2004 ). Individuals have control over what they wear and are conscious of what they may communicate through clothing ( Crane, 2012 ). Compared to men, women are believed to invest more time and money in choosing their clothes ( Goldsmith et al., 2012 ). Moreover, women choose clothing more thoughtfully to match the social activities they have to perform ( Kwon, 1997 ), probably because wearing an outfit that is perceived as appropriate for the occasion increases their satisfaction ( Lee and Choo, 2015 ). Since adolescence, women decide what to wear depending on how they feel, what they want to express, and what reflects their idea of beauty ( Piacentini and Mailer, 2004 ). Hence, clothing choices depend on how individuals perceive themselves. In fact, women’s weight, body confidence and level of self-objectification influence their clothing choice either for fashion or for comfort ( Tiggemann and Andrew, 2012a , b ; Grogan et al., 2013 ).

If clothes express an individuals’ identity, they also provide clues that observers can use to form first impressions. For instance, women wearing sensual and “revealing” clothes are usually perceived to be less competent, intelligent and moral than those women who are more fully or more appropriately dressed for the context ( Gurung and Chrouser, 2007 ; Graff et al., 2012 ; Smolak et al., 2014 ; Daniels and Zurbriggen, 2016 ; Fasoli et al., 2018 ). In addition, women wearing provocative clothes are usually targets of negative evaluations and more likely to be blamed if they happen to be victims of sexual harassment, rape or domestic violence ( Loughnan et al., 2013 ; Pacilli et al., 2017 ). On the contrary, women wearing a masculine outfit, such as a suit, are perceived to be more professional, as having better managerial skills and a higher likelihood of succeeding in a manager career ( Forsythe, 1990 ; Thurston et al., 1990 ).

However, these judgments vary across contexts and situations. Glick et al. (2005) have demonstrated that women in high-status (i.e., managerial) positions are perceived to be less competent if they are dressed sexy (e.g., low-cut shirt and short skirt) rather than professional (e.g., black trousers and business jacket). In contrast, the same outfits did not have this impact on judgments of women enrolled in a low-status job (i.e., receptionists). Recently, similar effects have been observed for minimal changes in a woman’s clothes, such as skirt length and number of unfastened buttons on a blouse ( Howlett et al., 2015 ). Hence, it seems that dressing sexy can have negative consequences on how competent women are perceived, especially when little other information is available and in professional contexts in which sexy clothing is considered inappropriate (e.g., management).

Mass Media and Sexual Objectification

Mass media play a critical role in shaping women’s ideals and in affecting their self-perception. Over the last years, magazines have increasingly portrayed women and girls in sexualized clothes such as low cut skirts, short tops, and high-heels ( Graff et al., 2013 ). Simultaneously, mass media – especially television – are portraying women as sexual objects by dressing them sexily ( Collins, 2011 ). Such mass media portrayals influence women’s clothing and make-up styles ( Hirschman and Thompson, 1997 ) and define beauty ideals that women try to reach and represent in their everyday life ( Grabe et al., 2008 ).

Women’s portrayals in mass media are known to affect how women see themselves, their body satisfaction and self-objectification ( Ward, 2016 ). As a consequence, Gurung and Chrouser (2007) have suggested that media exposure may also affect observers’ judgments of provocatively dressed women in everyday life. Hence, in our research we will explore whether habitual consumption of objectifying TV would affect students outfit choice and observers’ judgments of women wearing graduation outfits varying in “professionalism” vs. “sexiness”. We predict that students wearing a sexy outfit will receive more negative judgments especially from those observers who are not frequently exposed to objectifying TV. On the contrary, observers who report a high consumption of objectifying TV will not perceive sexy dressed students that negatively, because they are likely to consider women’s sexualization as normative.

At the same time, we will examine whether self-objectification plays a role on observers’ judgments of other individuals. It is well documented that mass media affect people’s self-objectification, which, in turn, impacts on people’s behaviors ( Smolak and Murnen, 2011 ). However, to our knowledge, less is known about the extent to which individuals’ own appearance focus and body image concerns impact on how they judge other people on the basis of the clothes they wear. We expect more negative judgments of sexy dressed students by those observers who self-objectify less. In contrast, observers who self-objectify strongly should show less bias against sexy dressed students because they may perceive sexy clothing as more normative and acceptable.

The Research Context

In Italy, graduation consists in presenting and defending a thesis in front of a committee, typically composed of 5/7 professors. This is a public and formal event attended by family and friends. The committee evaluates the student’s performance and thesis work by assigning a grade to the thesis (usually ranging from 0 to 8), which is then added to the grade point average (GPA) obtained by the students during their entire academic career. The sum of GPA and thesis points constitutes the final graduation mark that ranges from a minimum of 66 to a maximum of 110 (plus the additional honor “cum laude”). Since in such occasion the students do not wear a robe, this context provides an ideal opportunity to test how observers evaluate a female student and her work depending on the outfit she chooses for a formal event like her graduation. At the same time, it also offers an opportunity to examine how female students choose to dress depending on the impression they want to make and on their personal characteristics. Moreover, Italy, compared to other European countries, has a significant history of objectifying mass media ( CENSIS, 2006 ; see also Volpato, 2011 ) both in Italian advertisements and TV ( Guastini et al., 2014 ). Hence, Italy represents an ideal context to investigate whether chronic exposure to objectifying TV has an impact on TV-consumers’ judgments and choices.

Overview of Research

Across three studies, we examined how women choose their graduation outfit and what inferences observers draw on the basis of their outfit. In so doing, we extend previous research that merely examined work-related situations ( Glick et al., 2005 ; Howlett et al., 2015 ) to a context (i.e., university) where students’ outfits are often question of debate and where competence and diligence are highly valued. In Study 1, we investigated whether the graduation outfit worn by female students would impact the observers’ perception of the students’ competence and sexiness, two aspects that are typically tested in research on women’s sexualization. Also, we examined whether and how the outfit influenced the perception of students’ effort and final outcomes. Hence, we not only focused on person perception, but we move forward to test how the attire influenced expectations about the students’ diligence and ability of graduating successfully.

Moreover, we considered the observer’s perception of different observer samples varying in age, status, and experience with Thesis committees. Students’ attires may indeed be perceived very differently by people who have different fashion styles, belong to different generations, have different backgrounds and experiences (young female peers and adults), or hold different roles (students and professors). Students and professors are known to have different opinions about clothing, with faculty members favoring students’ conservative clothing and students preferring trendy clothing ( Ruetzler et al., 2012 ). Also, a recent study ( Cabras et al., 2018 ) has shown that teachers perceive sexualized (vs. non-sexualized) students as more likely to engage in behavior impeding learning (e.g., not paying attention in class, copying homework, etc.). Thus, the inclusion of female peers, adults from the general population, and professors allowed us to gauge the generality or specificity of reactions to professional vs. sexy clothing.

In Study 2, we examined the reasons behind students’ outfit choices and, importantly, we tested observers’ impressions with reference to students’ outfit used in real life. In particular, we asked students who had recently graduated to indicate what motivated them to choose their graduation outfit. At the same time, the students and their outfits were evaluated by a group of observers who also guessed the final mark obtained by the students. This allowed us to test the link between students’ outfit and observers’ perceptions. In Study 3, we extended results of Study 1 by using photos of real female graduates wearing professional or sexy outfits, providing generalizability and higher ecological validity to our research. Finally, across studies, we explored the role of objectifying TV consumption and self-objectification in guiding the observers’ judgments and the students’ outfit choices.

In Study 1 we tested whether students’ outfit would influence observers’ judgments. We predicted that students wearing a professional outfit would be judged as more competent (and as considering competence more important; Hypothesis 1) and as less sexy (and as considering appearance less important; Hypothesis 2) than those wearing a sexy outfit. Moreover, we expected that, the professionally (vs. sexily) dressed students would be thought to have earned better grades for their thesis, resulting in a higher overall graduation mark (Hypothesis 3). We also hypothesized that observers would expect professionally dressed students to have produced a thesis of higher quality (Hypothesis 4) and to be more likely to succeed in their future careers (Hypothesis 5). Importantly, these hypotheses were tested on three different samples, namely female student peers, an adult population, and university professors. Hence, we explored differences due to age and status on observers’ judgments.

Participants

Six hundred and sixty-seven participants accessed the survey. Inclusion criteria to define the final sample were the following: (a) being Italian, (b) not knowing the person in the picture, and (c) having completed the survey in all of its parts. The final sample consisted of 573 participants. In particular, the sample involved 223 female university students (“female peer” sample, M age = 20.66, SD = 1.81), 295 adults (“adult” sample, 104 men, 3 unknown; M age = 48.58, SD = 8.56) and 55 university professors (“professor” sample, 25 men, M age = 51.11, SD = 10.11). The majority of the three samples came from Northern Italy (73.5%, n = 421), was Catholic (57.1%, n = 327), not politically identified (34.9%, n = 200) or left/center-left (27.1%, n = 155). Students were all undergraduate and mostly unemployed (83.6%, n = 179), all professors held a Ph.D., and the majority of the adult sample had a high school diploma or higher education (76.5%, n = 178) and was employed (71.9%, n = 212).

The majority of professors (81.5%) indicated that, in their Schools, the student’s evaluation and graduation takes places immediately after the defense. Moreover, they neither strongly agreed nor strongly disagreed with the fact that students of their Schools usually wear professional graduation outfit [ M = 3.54, SD = 1.44; t -test against midpoint (4) on a scale from 1 = completely disagree to 7 = completely agree: t (53) = −2.37, p = 0.02] and they did not find, on average, students’ outfits either very appropriate or inappropriate to the context [ M = 4.04, SD = 1.54; t -test against midpoint: t (53) = 0.17, p = 0.86].

Participants were recruited through students’ contacts and social networks, with the exception of the professors who were recruited among contacts of the researchers. Participants were invited to take part in a study about first impressions and provided with a link to an online survey. After consenting to participate in the study, they reported their demographic information (i.e., gender, age, nationality, geographical background, occupational status, religion and political orientation), were introduced to the study, and then viewed a photo of a female student in her graduation outfit. The cover story mentioned that the student obtained a M.Sc. degree and the picture portrayed her right before the defense. Participants were randomly exposed either to a student in a sexy or in a professional outfit (with pictures randomly taken from the pool of materials described below). Then, they were asked to rate the student’s performance and career success. Next, they rated the student and indicated their outfit choice. Finally, they completed the Objectified Body Consciousness Scale and objectifying TV consumption scale. At the very end, before being debriefed and thanked, participants indicated whether they knew the person portrayed in the picture (yes/no) and the degree of certainty (from 1 = not at all to 7 = completely ).

Photos of 37 female students ( M age = 22.59, SD = 1.49) were taken to assure a broad range of stimuli. Photographed students were all White, all Italian except for one, and mostly coming from Northern Italy (77.8% of participants). Following previous research on this topic ( Glick et al., 2005 ; see also Lennon et al., 2017 ), we considered two types of outfit: “sexy” outfits were provocative and revealing clothes and “professional” outfits consisted of business and formal clothing. Thus, each student volunteer was asked to dress up with two different outfits, namely a professional (e.g., trousers or semi-long skirt, shirt covering neckline and breast, jacket, and flat shoes) and a sexy outfit (e.g., short skirt or mini dress, evident neckline, and high heels). Pictures of the person wearing the two outfits were taken in the same position (i.e., frontal, standing and with a thesis in her hands) and from the same distance. Faces were blurred in order to protect the person’s privacy and to avoid effects of other appearance related features (e.g., make-up). The background was always a white wall. For the female peer and adult samples, all 74 photos were used, whereas for the professor sample we selected 4 target students shown either in a professional and sexy outfit, resulting in eight photos to which participants were randomly assigned. Photographed students also judged their own outfits as reported in the Supplementary Information S1 .

Students’ perception

Participants rated the student’s competence (competent, intelligent; α = 0.81), sexiness (sexy, attractive; α = 0.83), and beauty (elegant, fashionable, and feminine; α = 0.67). They then indicated how much they believed the student cared about appearing competent and intelligent (importance of competence, α = 0.85), and about appearing beautiful, elegant, feminine, fashionable (importance of beauty; α = 0.89). Answers were provided on a scale from 1 ( not at all ) to 7 ( completely ). Indexes were created by averaging the ratings referring to each variable.

Students’ performance

Participants were asked to guess the number of points (from 0 to 8) the student had earned for her thesis and her final mark (from 66 to 110, where “66” represents the minimum a student could obtain as a final mark in order to graduate). Participants also made guesses about the student’s thesis work by answering three questions (i.e., “how much effort do you think she put in her thesis work?”, “How logical and organized do you think her thesis is?”, “How original do you think her thesis is?”). Answers were provided on a scale from 1 ( not at all ) to 7 ( completely ). An index of thesis evaluation (α = 0.87) was calculated by averaging the ratings for the three items. The higher the score, the better the performance.

Career success

Participants indicated the likelihood that the student would have a successful career by responding to two items (i.e., “How easily do you think she will find a job?”, “How successful do you think she will be in her career?”). Answers were provided on a scale from 1 ( not at all ) to 7 ( completely ). An index of career success (α = 0.82) was calculated by averaging the ratings for the two items with higher scores indicating a higher likelihood of success.

Outfit choice

Participants also indicated the likelihood that they would have worn that outfit if they were the student on a scale from 1 ( not at all ) to 7 ( completely ).

Objectified body consciousness scale

Participants – with the exception of the professors – completed the 18 items of the body shame and body surveillance subscales of the Objectified Body Consciousness Scale (OBCS; McKinley and Hyde, 1996 ). Answers were provided on a scale from 1 ( not at all ) to 7 ( completely ). Since the same pattern of results emerged when considering the two subscales, an index of self-objectification (α = 0.87) was calculated, with higher scores indicating higher self-objectification.

Objectifying TV consumption

Participants indicated how frequently they watched popular TV shows on a scale from 1 ( never ) to 4 ( always ), with an additional response option indicating that they did not know the program. The TV shows had been pretested ( n = 38 men and n = 35 women) by asking participants to judge the degree to which the show was objectifying (i.e., portraying women as sexual objects or as ornaments) and paying attention primarily to women’s bodies rather than to their personality (responses’ scale from 1 = never to 4 = always ). Eight of the TV shows were classified as objectifying ( M = 3.17, SD = 0.67) and 8 as non-objectifying ( M = 1.50, SD = 0.79). Five additional TV shows, located in the middle range ( M = 2.93, SD = 0.79), were included as fillers but not considered in the analyses. The three groups of TV shows were all significantly different from each other, t s > 7.19, p s < 0.001. An objectifying TV consumption index was calculated by subtracting the frequency of watching non-objectifying TV from that of objectifying TV. Thus, the higher the score, the higher was the consumption of objectifying TV.

Effects of Clothing on Observer Ratings

ANOVAs were run for each dependent variable, including outfit (professional vs. sexy), participants’ gender (male vs. female) and sample (female peer vs. adults vs. professors) as between-participants variables. Effects, means and standard deviations by experimental condition on each dependent variable are reported in Table 1 .

TABLE 1. Cronbach’s alpha, means and standard deviation, and main effects of outfit on all the dependent variables (Study 1).

Significant effects of outfit were found on all dependent variables with the exception of beauty and career success. In particular, confirming hypotheses 1 and 2, participants judged the target students in a professional outfit as being more competent and less sexy, and as giving more importance to competence and less to beauty than when the outfit was sexy. Moreover, confirming hypothesis 3, participants attributed more thesis points and a higher final mark to the students when wearing a professional rather than a sexy outfit. The same students were rated as having put more effort into their thesis work when dressed professionally, as predicted by hypothesis 4. Finally, participants also indicated that they would have chosen the professional rather than the sexy outfit if they were the student.

Mediation Analyses

Previous studies ( Glick et al., 2005 ; Howlett et al., 2015 ) merely tested whether clothing affected the target’s perceived competence. Here, we wanted to explore whether such perception could affect perception of the student’s performance. Hence, two mediation analyses predicting an impact of outfit on final mark and thesis points via perceived competence were run by using Hayes ’ ( 2013 ) PROCESS macro (Model 4) for SPSS and bias-corrected intervals (5000 bootstrap resamples). The analysis on thesis points showed that professional outfit was associated with higher perceived competence ( b = 0.25, SE = 0.05, t = 4.92, p < 0.001) and competence was also positively associated with thesis points ( b = 0.42, SE = 0.04, t = 10.13, p < 0.001). Supporting a partial mediation, the direct effect of outfit on thesis points ( b = 0.24, SE = 0.05, t = 4.46, p < 0.001) was reduced when considering competence as mediator ( b = 0.13, SE = 0.05, t = 2.67, p = 0.008). Confirming the mediated path, the indirect effect was statistically significant ( a ∗ b = 0.10, SE = 0.02, 95% CI [0.06, 12)] as was the Sobel test ( z = 4.41, p < 0.001). Similarly, the direct effect of outfit on final mark ( b = 1.57, SE = 0.44, t = 3.60, p = 0.003) was reduced when entering competence as mediator ( b = 0.93, SE = 0.43, t = 2.17, p = 0.030). The significant indirect pathway of students’ outfit on final mark was mediated by perceived competence ( a ∗ b = 0.65, SE = 0.15; 95% CI [0.38, 0.99]; z = 4.12, p < 0.001). Together, these results indicate that a sexy attire decreased perceived competence which, in turn, led observers to imagine that the student must have performed worse.

The Role of Exposure to Objectifying Television on Observer Ratings

Next, we ran a moderation analysis on each dependent variable to test whether participants’ consumption of objectifying TV moderated the effects of outfit (−1 = sexy and 1 = professional) on the perception of students and of their graduation outcomes. Analyses were performed using Hayes ’ ( 2013 ) PROCESS macro (Model 1) and bias-corrected intervals (5000 bootstrap resamples), introducing the mean centered moderator and controlling for the participants’ gender and age as covariate. Among all analyses only one significant result involving objectifying TV consumption was found. Specifically, the interaction term between outfit and objectifying TV consumption was significant for thesis points ( b = −0.13, SE = 0.05, t = −0.2.41, p = 0.01). Participants low in objectifying TV consumption estimated more thesis points obtained by the professionally than by the sexy dressed students ( b = 0.37, SE = 0.08, t = 4.86, p < 0.001), whereas participants high in objectifying TV consumption did not differentiate between thesis points attributed to professionally and sexy dressed students ( b = 0.11, SE = 0.08, t = 1.46, p = 0.14).

The Role of Self-Objectification on Observer Ratings

A significant interaction was found for thesis points ( b = −0.12, SE = 0.06, t = −2.06, p = 0.04), suggesting that low self-objectified participants attributed more thesis points to the professionally than to the sexy dressed students ( b = 0.33, SE = 0.08, t = 3.94, p < 0.001), whereas no difference was found for participants with higher level of self-objectification ( b = 0.08, SE = 0.08, t = 1.03, p = 0.30). Similarly, as shown by the significant interaction on students’ career success ( b = −0.14, SE = 0.06, t = −0.2.29, p = 0.03), low self-objectified participants perceived the students wearing a professional outfit as more likely to be successful in their career than when the same students were dressed in a sexy fashion ( b = 0.22, SE = 0.09, t = 2.51, p = 0.01). On the contrary, high self-objectified participants did not perceive differences in success likelihood depending on how the students were dressed ( b = −0.06, SE = 0.09, t = −0.73, p = 0.47).

Interestingly, the interaction effect on perceived competence ( b = −0.11, SE = 0.06, t = −2.04, p = 0.04), showed that all participants perceived the professionally dressed students as more competent than the sexy ones, but the effect was more evident for those reporting low ( b = 0.40, SE = 0.08, t = 5.09, p < 0.001) than high levels of self-objectification ( b = 0.17, SE = 0.08, t = 2.20, p = 0.028). The significant interaction on perceived sexiness ( b = −0.16, SE = 0.07, t = −2.22, p = 0.026) showed the opposite pattern: high self-objectified participants ( b = −0.53, SE = 0.10, t = −5.14, p < 0.001) judged the students sexier when dressed in a sexy rather than professional way than participants low in self-objectification did ( b = −0.20, SE = 0.10, t = −1.98, p = 0.047).

Study 1 illustrates the risks associated with sexy clothing during thesis defense and graduation. Women were judged approximately equally beautiful regardless of outfit, which may not be surprising given that they were the same women photographed in identical poses. Provocatively dressed women were generally judged as more sexy and as caring more about their appearance. However, when students dressed sexy, they were generally thought to perform worse (they were associated with less thesis points, a lower final mark, and a thesis of lower quality) and were perceived as less competent and as caring less about competence. Importantly, these effects emerged for all participant groups, indicating that female peers, adults and professors made similar judgments based on the attire. Hence, no group seems to be immune to the outfit bias. Importantly, our mediational analyses suggest that participants “penalized” students dressed sexy because they perceived them as less competent (see Cabras et al., 2018 ).

The only variable judged differently by the three groups was anticipated career success. Whereas female peers thought that the professional attire would facilitate finding a job and succeeding in a career, the general adult population and the professors (albeit the trend was non-significant in the latter case) thought that the sexy attire was advantageous. This result is open to different interpretations: students may believe that dressing professionally not only conveys the idea of being competent and skilled, but also communicates the ability to conform to job norms. Hence, for young people, communicating competence (rather than sexiness) through clothing should be advantageous. Adults, instead, may believe that looking sexy implies advantages when applying for a job and this is why they associated a sexy outfit with higher career success likelihood. However, these are only speculations and whether the observed differences reflect generational or age differences remains an open question for future research.

Study 1 also investigated two potential moderators of the outfit effects, namely exposure to objectifying TV and the degree of self-objectification. TV consumption turned out to be relevant only for thesis points’ attribution. Only participants with low levels of objectifying TV consumption thought that the sexy (vs. professionally) dressed student had obtained fewer thesis points. The same pattern was found for participants low in self-objectification. Furthermore, self-objectification exerted effects on other dependent variables. The less participants self-objectified, the more they rated the professionally dressed students as competent and the more optimistic they were about their career perspective. Together, the moderating function of TV consumption and self-objectification was limited to a few dependent variables, but, where moderation was found, a consistent pattern emerged. In all cases, participants less exposed to objectifying TV and with lower levels of self-objectification attributed greater competence and success to women dressed in a professional rather than sexy fashion, thus showing a stronger outfit bias. Participants with high objectifying TV consumption and high self-objectification were less likely to distinguish between sexy and professional attire, possibly because they consider sexy clothing as more “normative.”

Study 2 moved to the “real world” and investigated how students choose their graduation outfits and how these clothes are perceived by observers. In particular, we asked female students who had graduated in the last few years to provide a photo portraying them on the graduation day along with ratings concerning their outfit. Different participants were then exposed to these pictures and asked to draw inferences about the students and to evaluate their attire.

Hence, we extended our previous findings in different ways. First, we explored how graduation outfits are chosen in real life and which student characteristics relate to this choice. In particular, we predicted that students with lower self-objectification and lower consumption of objectifying TV, and those who attribute greater importance to competence will be more likely to have chosen an outfit that was expressing their competence rather than their beauty or personality (Hypothesis 1). Second, we examined what inferences external observers would draw about these students and whether impressions about the students and their outfits would affect observers’ expectations of obtained thesis points and final mark. In line with Study 1, we expected that a perception of the student as more competent and less sexy would predict an estimation of more thesis points and a higher final mark (Hypothesis 2a). Moreover, a perception of their outfit as more appropriate was predicted to be linked to higher estimated final mark and thesis points (Hypothesis 2b).

Third, we tested whether the perception of the students’ outfit could explain their actual thesis points that determined the students’ final mark. We were interested in examining whether the outfit perception would predict the evaluation given by the committee. If the outfit affected the raters’ estimation of thesis points (as already shown in Study 1), then the committee may have been influenced in much the same way, assigning more thesis points to the professionally dressed students. In particular, we not only asked our raters to judge how appropriate the outfit was for the occasion, but also how sexy and masculine it was. We relied on (a) appropriateness as it was an important aspect reported by students themselves (see Supplementary Information S2 ), (b) on sexiness because findings of Study 1 showed a negative effect of sexy outfits on observers’ judgments, and (c) on masculinity as research has shown that a more masculine outfit (e.g., suit) is preferred in more formal contexts and conveys greater competence ( Kelan, 2013 ). Hence, we predicted that perception of the outfit as more appropriate, masculine and less sexy would be positively associated with more thesis points obtained by the student (Hypothesis 3). This prediction should not regard the pre-defense GPA based on exams since it should not be affected by graduation outfit.

In this phase, 114 out of 140 female students ( M age = 25.32, SD = 2.32) completed a survey, provided their graduation photos and consented to their use in our research. The majority of them (68.4%, n = 78) graduated in Humanities (e.g., foreign languages) and received a Master’s degree (64%, n = 73). Also, they were mostly from Northern Italy (77.2%, n = 88), Catholic (66.7%, n = 76), and of varied political orientation (41.6% of participants, n = 47, preferred not to answer this question). Moreover, 26.5% of participants, n = 30, were currently continuing their studies, whereas half of the remaining sample was employed (50.9%, n = 58).

In the second phase of the study, after excluding 5 non-Italian participants and 8 participants who indicated they knew one or more persons portrayed in the pictures, we had a sample of 383 Italian participants (177 men, M age = 27.73, SD = 9.01) rating the students in the photos. The sample was mostly from Northern Italy (78.0%, n = 296) and Catholic (57.9%, n = 220), with approximately half of the participants having a left or center-left political orientation (49.3%, n = 185) and being employed (45.8%, n = 172).

In the third phase of the study, four psychology interns (three female and one male student, M age = 22.25, SD = 0.96) rated the outfit of students portrayed in all photos of Phase 1.

Materials and Procedure

Participants were recruited through students’ contacts and, if necessary criteria (i.e., recent graduation, defense in front of a committee, pictures with a visible outfit) were fulfilled, they provided a photo of themselves during their graduation defense. Then, they completed the following measures and reported their demographic information (i.e., age, nationality, geographical background, religion, political orientation and employment status) in an online survey.

Performance

Participants reported their GPA that testified their academic career before the defense as well as the thesis points and the final mark obtained after the defense.

Outfit perception

Participants indicated to what degree they thought the chosen attire represented their competence (e.g., competence, being professional; α = 0.72), their beauty (i.e., beauty, body shape, femininity, elegance, and fashion; α = 0.78), and their personality (i.e., expressing their personality, making them feel at ease, α = 0.83). All answers were provided on a scale from 1 ( not at all ) to 7 ( completely ). Indexes of outfit perception were calculated by averaging the ratings for each dimension. Participants were also asked to indicate whether they had chosen the attire autonomously, which was true in 80% of the cases and to answer an open-ended question specifying how and why they had chosen their outfit (see Supplementary Information S2 ).

Self-perception

Participants reported how much appearing competent (i.e., intelligent, competent; α = 0.58) or beautiful (i.e., beautiful, elegant, fashionable, elegant, feminine; α = 0.76) was important for them. All answers were provided on a scale from 1 ( not at all ) to 7 ( completely ). Indexes of outfit perception were calculated by averaging the ratings for each dimension.

OBCS and objectifying TV consumption

Participants completed the OBCS (α = 0.83) and objectifying TV consumption scale (α = 0.83). Indexes were calculated as in Study 1.

Participants were recruited through students’ contacts. Each participant was exposed to 6 pictures randomly selected from the pool of photos provided by students in Phase 1. As in Study 1, for each picture, participants filled in the measures below, reported the same demographic information as in Phase 1 and indicated whether they knew any of the persons portrayed in the photos (yes/no).

Student performance

Participants guessed the number of thesis points (from 0 to 8 where the minimum corresponded to a poor and the maximum to an excellent evaluation) and the final mark (from 66 to 110) obtained by the student after the defense.

Student perception

Participants rated the students’ competence (“how competent/intelligent is the student?”) and sexiness (“How sexy/attractive is the student?”) on a scale from 1 ( not at all ) to 7 ( completely ). Two indexes were calculated by averaging the ratings referring to each variable.

Outfit appropriateness

A single-item (“How appropriate is the outfit for the thesis defense?”) was used. Answers were provided on a scale from 1 ( not at all ) to 7 ( completely ).

The raters, blind to the hypotheses of the research, judged the attire of all 114 photos on masculinity, appropriateness, and sexiness. The advantage of this procedure was that the raters saw the entire range of photos rather than only a subset and judged the outfit instead of the student. According to Landis and Koch ( 1977 ; see also Cicchetti and Sparrow, 1981 ), all raters showed a good internal agreement (ICC) on outfit masculinity ratings (ICC = 0.63), but only a fair (ICC = 0.42) and a poor (ICC = 0.34) agreement on outfit appropriateness and sexiness, respectively. Thus, for the last two dimensions, we decided to consider only ratings of two raters (a male and a female) that showed an adequate agreement as it is important to have ratings that refer to the same idea of outfit sexiness and appropriateness. Note, however, that the same pattern of results emerged when using average scores of all four raters.

Outfit masculinity

A single item measured the perceived masculinity associated with the outfit (i.e., “How feminine vs. masculine do you consider this outfit?”). Answers were provided on a scale from 1 ( very feminine ) to 7 ( very masculine ). Inter-rater agreement between the four raters was good (ICC = 0.63).

As in Phase 2, a single item (i.e., “How appropriate do you consider this outfit for a thesis defense?”) from 1 ( not at all ) to 7 ( completely ) was used. Inter-rates agreement among two raters was good (ICC = 0.61).

Outfit sexiness

A single item measured perceived sexiness of the outfit [i.e., “How professional vs. sexy do you consider this outfit?” from 1 ( very professional ) to 7 ( very sexy )]. Inter-rates agreement was good for two raters (ICC = 0.70).

Analyses were performed in three steps, according to the study phases and hypotheses.

Phase 1: Self-Perception

Phase 2: observers.

As a second step, we tested whether observers’ impressions of the students as competent and sexy and of their outfits as appropriate for the occasion affected their expectations about the estimated thesis points and final mark obtained. Hence, we used observers’ ratings obtained in Phase 2, and ran analyses considering the 114 students/photos as unit of analysis.

Regression analysis on estimated thesis points [ R 2 = 0.60, F (3,110) = 55.40, p < 0.001] yielded a significant effect of outfit appropriateness (β = 0.76, t = 11.64, p < 0.001), indicating that the more appropriate the outfit was considered for the occasion, the higher the number of thesis points attributed to the students by observers. The same analysis performed on the estimated final mark [ R 2 = 0.51, F (3,110) = 38.74, p < 0.001] showed a significant negative effect of sexiness (β = −0.20, t = −2.81, p = 0.006) suggesting that the more sexy the students were judged, the lower the estimated final mark. Moreover, a significant effect of outfit appropriateness (β = 0.77, t = 10.64, p < 0.001) indicated that the more appropriate the attire was judged for the occasion, the higher the estimated final mark. Overall, although no significant effects of perceived competence were found, these findings supported Hypotheses 2a and 2b indicating that observers expected more sexy students to have obtained lower final marks, but it also showed that appropriateness of outfit specifically mattered to them when making inferences.

Phase 3: Raters

Overall, the more sexy the students’ attire was judged, the less appropriate for the occasion, r (114) = −0.493, p < 0.001, and the less masculine it was perceived, r (114) = −0.491, p < 0.001; in contrast masculinity and appropriateness were unrelated, r (114) = 0.027, p = 0.78.

We then tested whether students with less sexy, more masculine or more appropriate outfits (as judged by the raters) had actually been assigned more thesis points by their respective committees. Due to the great variance in the points typically assigned to a thesis both between subject areas and between B.Sc. and M.Sc. level, we limited this part of the analyses to the five subject areas with comparable standards (i.e., social and political sciences, communication, education, psychology and humanities), while excluding those areas that had significantly higher or lower mean Thesis points ( p < 0.05). Also, we excluded students from this analyses if their GPA exceeded 105 points, given that the number of points that can be assigned to students with such excellent GPAs are by definition limited (for instance a student with a GPA of 108 can at most receive an additional 2 thesis points, given that the maximum grade is 110). For the 5 comparable subject areas we then standardized both the GPA and the Thesis points separately for BS and for MS thesis. In line with Hypothesis 3, fewer thesis points were assigned to students whose attire was judged as more sexy (β = −0.64, t = −2.55, p = 0.019) and, as a non-significant tendency, as more masculine (β = −0.36, t = −1.89, p = 0.066), after controlling for GPA [β = 0.27, t = 1.81, p = 0.079; Model: R 2 = 0.22, F (3,38) = 2.73, p = 0.043]. As expected, GPA was not predicted by rated appropriateness, masculinity or sexiness of the outfit worn on the day of the defense (all p s > 0.86).

To investigate whether the rater judgments reflected the self-presentation intentions of the students, we ran three regression analyses using, one at a time, the ratings of appropriateness, masculinity and sexiness as dependent variable and the students’ self-reported importance of competence, perception of outfit as expressing competence and personality as predictors (all transformed into z -scores). The only significant model [ R 2 = 0.10, F (3,94) = 3.66, p = 0.01] referred to sexiness of the outfit. The less the students intended to communicate competence, the more the attire was rated as sexy (β = −0.40, t = −3.08, p = 0.003).

Study 2 extended previous findings by showing that female students chose their graduation outfits mostly to appear beautiful and to express their personality, followed by a lower motivation to appear competent. Moreover, choices of graduation outfits were influenced by students’ level of self-objectification but not by their consumption of objectifying TV. Indeed, we only found that students who rarely self-objectified, and those who cared less about appearing competent rather than beautiful, had chosen outfits so as to express their personality and to feel at ease.

Regardless of how the students chose their outfit, Study 2 demonstrated once again that graduation outfit affected the observers’ judgments. Extending results of Study 1, we found that students wearing clothing rated as appropriate for the occasion were also perceived as having performed better and hence having obtained more thesis points and better final marks, whereas students perceived as sexier were associated with lower final marks. This latter result concerned judgments on the students’ sexiness (rather than on their outfit) and seems to suggest that observers believed that a sexier student may have been penalized because of her appearance.

To test if this was the case in real life, we examined whether outfit appropriateness, masculinity and sexiness affected actual obtained thesis point. We found that the attire, as judged by our independent raters, was predictive of the actual number of thesis points earned by the student (even after controlling for GPA). In particular, students being judged as wearing a sexier (and, as a non-significant tendency, also a more masculine outfit) obtained fewer thesis points. Thus, although masculinity and sexiness are negatively correlated, both too sexy and too masculine looks seem to create disadvantages. Although analyses on thesis points are limited to a subsample, our findings suggest that the outfit worn by the student may influence the committee’s attribution of thesis points. Obviously the current study, differently from Study 1, does not speak to causality, so we cannot conclude with certainty that students were penalized by the committee for dressing too sexy. However, this remains a possible explanation.

Together, the findings of this study indicated that students’ outfit choices are related to how they are perceived and how their performance is evaluated. In particular, this study showed that outfit appropriateness for the occasion is an important dimension. However, what seems to be most relevant in reality is how sexy and, to a lesser degree, how masculine the outfit is perceived. Whereas observers believed that, with a more appropriate outfit, the student would have earned more thesis points, in reality it is the less sexy (but not too masculine) outfit that leads to more thesis points.

In Study 3 we extended previous results in different ways. First, we wanted to replicate the findings of Study 1 using real pictures to assure that the effects observed in Study 1 were not an artifact of a highly polarized clothing manipulation. Moreover, Study 2 has shown that the perceived outfit sexiness and masculinity can both predict actual thesis point attribution. Hence, Study 3 experimentally tested whether real outfits that were perceived as sexy (vs. professional) and as masculine (vs. feminine) would affect the perception of students, of their outfits, and of their performance.

We selected a subsample of the photos of Study 2 as stimuli, namely photos of students wearing a professional and masculine outfit (e.g., jacket and trousers) and of students with a sexy outfit (e.g., mini-dress, short skirt) creating an experimental situation similar to Study 1. Hence, we tested observers’ perceptions of the students’ competence and sexiness, and estimated final mark and thesis points. This allowed us to test the casual link between outfit and observers’ perception. We predicted that, compared to students in sexy clothing, students wearing professional outfits would be judged as having obtained higher final marks and more thesis points (Hypothesis 1) and as being more competent and less sexy (Hypothesis 2). We also predicted that a student in a professional outfit would be perceived as more appropriately dressed than those in a sexy outfit (Hypothesis 3). Moreover, we extended previous findings by testing whether appropriateness of the outfit affected the perceived student’s competence, which, in turn, explained performance expectations in terms of thesis points and final mark. Finally, as in Study 1, we tested the impact of observers’ self-objectification and objectifying TV consumption.

Seventy-three Italian participants (39 men, M age = 27.58, SD = 9.50) completed the online survey in all of its parts and did not know any of the persons portrayed in the pictures. They were mostly coming from Northern Italy (78.1%, n = 57), half of them were Catholic (52.1%, n = 38), unemployed (53.2%, n = 39), and with a left or center-left political affiliation (48.6%, n = 35).

Participants were recruited via email or social networks and exposed to the same cover story and information of Study 1. Before being exposed to the pictures, participants reported their demographic information including gender, age, nationality, geographical background, religion, political orientation and employment status. Next, they were randomly exposed to 6 pictures portraying M.Sc. female students during their graduation day, 3 of whom were wearing a professional and 3 a sexy outfit. As in Phase 2 of Study 2, participants estimated the final mark and thesis points and rated students’ sexiness (α ranging from 0.83 to 0.92), competence (α ranging from 0.80 to 0.91), and outfit appropriateness. All answers were provided on a scale from 1 ( not at all ) to 7 ( completely ). Participants filled out the OBCS (α = 0.76) and the objectifying TV consumption scale (α = 0.80) as in previous studies. Finally, before being thanked and debriefed, they indicated whether they knew any of the persons portrayed in the photos.

Twenty-four pictures were selected from those used in Study 2. Twelve of these pictures involved sexy outfits consisting in short dresses or skirts, evident necklines and high heels, whereas 12 pictures involved a professional outfit with jacket and trousers. The two types of outfits had been judged differently by raters of Study 2. Professional outfits were judged as more masculine ( M = 3.17, SD = 0.98) but less sexy ( M = 3.23, SD = 0.70) than the sexy outfits [ M masculine = 1.62, SD = 0.62; t (22) = 4.60, p < 0.001 and M sexy = 4.31, SD = 0.63; t (22) = −3.99, p = 0.001].

All dependent variables were submitted to a 2 (outfit: sexy vs. professional) × 2 (participant gender: male vs. female) ANOVA where the first was a within- and the second a between-participants variable. As shown in Table 2 , confirming Hypothesis 1, participants attributed more thesis points and a higher final mark to the students wearing a professional (vs. sexy) outfit and, supporting Hypothesis 2, students dressed professionally were perceived as more competent and less sexy than those dressed sexy. Finally, as predicted by Hypothesis 3, they perceived the professional outfit as more appropriate for the occasion than the sexy one.

TABLE 2. Means and standard deviation, and main effects of outfit on all the dependent variables (Study 3).

Some of these effects were qualified by significant interactions with participants’ gender (Table 3 ). In particular, male participants tended to judge the students dressed sexy as more sexy, but also as more competent and appropriate than female participants did. No gender differences were instead found in the perception of professionally dressed students.

TABLE 3. Outfit by Gender interaction on all the dependent variables (Study 3).

As in Study 1, we explored whether outfit impacted the perceived competence, which, in turn, affected the estimation of students’ graduation outcome. As Study 2 showed the importance of outfit appropriateness, in this case we tested the indirect pathways from outfit appropriateness to final mark and thesis point via perceived competence by using Hayes ’ ( 2013 ) PROCESS macro (model 4) and bias-corrected intervals (5000 bootstrap resamples). Due to the within-participants design of the study we first calculated an index for each variable by subtracting ratings for sexy dressed students from those of professionally dressed students. Hence, higher scores indicate that students dressed professionally (vs. sexy) were attributed higher final marks, more thesis points, and greater competence and that their outfit was perceived as more appropriate compared to the sexy students. Analyses showed that the effect of outfit appropriateness on thesis points ( b = 0.24, SE = 0.07, t = 3.40, p = 0.001) became non-significant when competence was introduced in the model as mediator ( b = 0.02, SE = 0.07, t = 0.16, p = 0.86). The indirect effect ( b = 0.23, SE = 0.06, 95% CI [0.12, 0.38]) as well as the Sobel test ( z = 4.02, p < 0.001) were significant. The same analysis performed on final mark showed the same pattern of results. The effect of outfit appropriateness on final mark was mediated by perceived competence ( b = −0.13, SE = 0.48, t = −0.27, p = 0.78) as shown by the indirect effect ( b = 1.52, SE = 0.50, 95% CI [0.71, 2.77]) and Sobel test ( z = 3.98, p < 0.001).

Objectifying TV Consumption and Self-Objectification

We performed linear regression analyses to test whether objectifying TV consumption ( M = −0.05, SD = 0.41) and self-objectification ( M = 3.31, SD = 0.83) predicted observers’ judgments. None of the models was found to be significant ( R 2 < 0.07, F s < 0.98, p s > 0.38) indicating that these individual differences did not explain participants’ judgments.

Study 3 replicated previous findings by showing that professionally dressed students who recently graduated were perceived as more competent, less sexy, and more appropriate to the context than those dressed in a sexy attire. Moreover, extending results of Study 1 and Study 2, our results showed that outfit appropriateness affected the perception of competence, which, in turn, led observers to estimate the final mark and thesis points obtained by the students. It seems that wearing an outfit considered as appropriate increases the perception of the students’ competence and ultimately the expectation that they will be successful in getting a higher mark.

Surprisingly, in this study we found self-objectification and objectifying TV consumption not to influence observers’ ratings. This lack of effects is in contrast with findings of Study 1 and may be explained by differences in designs, sample size, and participants’ age.

General Discussion

This work has examined for the first time how graduation outfits are chosen by female students and how their attire affects observer judgments. Overall, female students chose their graduation outfit in order to appear beautiful and to express their personality and less so to appear competent. Hence, appearing competent seemed not to be their main concern. At the same time, outfit had a reliable impact on observers who attributed less effort and poorer outcomes (thesis points and higher final mark) to the students dressed in a sexy fashion (Study 1 and Study 3). Sexy outfits were even associated with fewer thesis points actually obtained by students in real life (Study 2). This result suggests that graduation committees may have been influenced by the students’ attire when evaluating their theses. Very similar patterns of results were found both when exposing participants to experimentally manipulated pictures (Study 1) or to graduation outfits worn in real life (Studies 2 and 3).

This research contributes to the literature on women’s clothing and sexualization in several respects. First, it shows that the outfit students decide to wear for their graduation can have tangible consequences. Sexy dresses are not only considered inappropriate for this specific occasion (graduation), but they also reflect negatively on the student and affect the (real and imagined) performance negatively. Interestingly, although students and professors usually have divergent opinions on clothing ( Ruetzler et al., 2012 ), here we found young female students, adults and professors to show similar attitudes (see Cabras et al., 2018 ).

Second, extending previous research ( Glick et al., 2005 ; Howlett et al., 2015 ), we investigated the underlying process, finding that outfit impacts the perception of students’ competence, which in turn affects the estimated grade. Moreover, it is not only the sexiness of the outfit, but also its lower appropriateness, that determines the lower perceived competence and decline in performance.

Third, it shows that young women have to deal with the pressure of choosing an outfit that is considered appropriate to the event, matches observers’ expectations ( Smolak et al., 2014 ), and also fits their personal goals (e.g., appearing beautiful and expressing the self). To juggle these different demands may require remarkable acrobatic skills.

Limitations and Future Research

We examined here the role of “sexy” and “professional” outfits as if they were, by definition, opposite ends of the same spectrum. Although this is in line with much of the prior literature (e.g., Glick et al., 2005 ), sexiness and professionalism may not necessarily be mutually exclusive. Future studies should examine whether sexy and non-sexy professional outfits may elicit similar first impressions.

Moreover, this research aimed at exploring individual and societal characteristics that may moderate observers’ judgments. We did find effects of the attention people pay to their own appearance on how they evaluate others. This is particularly interesting as the majority of prior research had focused on what increases self-objectification and how self-objectification affects personal behaviors ( Calogero et al., 2005 ), with few exceptions showing that higher self-objectification was linked to objectification of other women ( Strelan and Hargreaves, 2005 ). Here, we showed that observers low in self-objectification judged sexy (vs. professionally) dressed students more negatively. In contrast, strongly self-objectifying participants did not show this bias indicating that they evaluated professionally and sexy dressed students similarly, presumably due to the fact that they perceive objectifying self-presentations more normative. This is not surprising given that people tend to project their own behaviors, opinions and preferences onto others (false consensus bias; Marks and Miller, 1987 ). However, since in our samples self-objectification was overall low, future studies should extend our research by considering more representative samples and different contexts.

We also examined whether objectifying TV consumption would have consequences for how individuals evaluate others from what they wear. Although not entirely consistent across studies, the exposure to objectifying TV seems to produce some effects. Study 1 showed that people consuming more objectifying TV were less affected by the type of outfit students wore. This seems to suggest that exposure to objectifying TV may change people’s beliefs about what is normative ( Ward, 2016 ). If sexualized representations of women become the norm, then students dressed sexy for their graduation may be seen positively as they match the standards set by mass media. However, our research assessed the overall frequency of watching objectifying TV shows without differentiating between types of show (e.g., comic, reality shows, dating shows, etc.) and without considering the level of viewer’s “awareness” or media literacy. It is conceivable that some TV consumers watch objectifying television because of their entertainment value, while still maintaining a critical perspective on how women are portrayed. This is an interesting and, to our knowledge, under-investigated question. Testing whether individuals are critical watchers, rather than passive “consumers” of such TV programs, may be a more effective way of examining the role of television on individuals’ attitudes toward women and their clothes. Also, our findings indicated that our students’ outfit choices were not related to their objectifying TV consumption. TV offers ideal images of women but, currently, young women may be more likely to consult internet and social networks to decide what to wear, even for their graduation. Hence, future research should explore the role of various types of mass media in influencing clothing choices for formal occasions such as graduation ( Fardouly et al., 2015 ) as well as compare social contexts and countries that vary in exposure and frequency of objectifying TV consumption.

Another aspect that could be taken in consideration in future research is the role of specific types of garments on observer perception. Our research focused on the whole outfit, but research has shown that single elements like shoes ( Gillath et al., 2012 ), or make up may play specific roles in first impressions ( Ruetzler et al., 2012 ). Moreover, research on enclothed cognition suggests that clothes are connoted with symbolic meanings that affect not only the observer’s impressions but also the wearers’ performance ( Adam and Galinsky, 2012 ). It would therefore be important to investigate the meaning associated with specific graduation outfits and how wearing a sexy (vs. a professional) outfit affects the students’ performance in defending their thesis ( Tiggemann and Andrew, 2012b ).

Also, this research should be extended to male students. In this case, unprofessional graduation outfits are more likely to be those perceived as more casual and/or as less masculine rather than sexy. Finally, future research should pay closer attention to cultural contexts, including both differences between nations and between fields (e.g., Arts vs. Sciences) as different cultures are likely to embrace distinct implicit clothing norms. This study was conducted in Italy, a Western country where attention to fashion is common, and on samples that consisted of Catholic and politically liberal participants. Since political and religious beliefs play a role on clothing preference ( Buckley and Roach, 1974 ; Edmonds and Cahoon, 1993 ), future research should extend these findings to more diverse contexts and samples.

Practical Implications

Our work examined a context, namely school/university, that has been a target of debate about clothing appropriateness. Schools and universities have repeatedly condemned certain outfits and labeled them as inappropriate for the context, in response women have claimed the right to dress as they wish without being penalized. Our findings suggest that there exists a shared idea that certain clothes are preferred to others in educational contexts and that, if female students do not conform to such clothing expectations/norms, they may be target of negative evaluations. In particular, we are witnessing a paradoxical situation for women. They are increasingly pushed by media and peers to sexualize their appearance in order to feel attractive and competent in professional contexts. Nevertheless, once their appearance is sexualized, they reach the opposite result as they tend to be perceived as less competent. Thus, interventions are needed to increase awareness among young women concerning the potential negative consequences of self-sexualization for academic performance. More importantly, observers and, specifically professors, should be made aware of the outfit bias in order to guarantee objective performance evaluations regardless of how the students are dressed ( Johnson and Gurung, 2011 ).

Our findings indeed indicate that, although people generally agree that they should not “judge a book by its cover,” they still do so even in the context of higher education where intellectual performance, and not the student outfit, should be valued.

Ethics Statement

This research was carried out in accordance with the recommendation of the Ethic committee of Dipartimento di Psicologia dello Sviluppo e della Socializzazione (University of Padua). The protocol was approved by the Ethic committee of Dipartimento di Psicologia dello Sviluppo e della Socializzazione (University of Padua). All participants read the participants information sheet and provided written informed consent in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki.

Author Contributions

FF, AM, CV, and MGP: conceptualization and design of the research. FF: data collection. FF and AM: data analyses and writing – original draft. FF, AM, CV, and MGP: writing – review and editing and final approval of the version to be published.

This research was supported by a PRIN (2012)-20123X2PXT grant to AM.

Conflict of Interest Statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Acknowledgments

We thank the students of AM and CV for collecting the data as part of their class projects.

Supplementary Material

The Supplementary Material for this article can be found online at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02401/full#supplementary-material

Adam, H., and Galinsky, A. D. (2012). Enclothed cognition. J. Exp. Soc. Psychol. 48, 918–925. doi: 10.1016/j.jesp.2012.02.008

CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

Allen, J., and Gervais, S. J. (2012). “The drive to be sexy: Prejudice and core motivations in women’s self-sexualization,” in Psychology of Prejudice: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Contemporary Issues , eds D. W. Russel and C. A. Russel (Hauppauge, NY: Nova Science Publishers), 77–112.

Google Scholar

Barnes, H. (2015). Cannes Faces Backlash After Women Reportedly Barred From Film Screening for not Wearing High Heels. The Guardian. Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/may/19/cannes-backlash-high-heels-emily-blunt-flat-shoes (accessed July 12, 2017).

Bartky, S. (1990). Femininity and Domination: Studies in the Phenomenology of Oppression. New York, NY: Routledge Press.

Buckley, H. M., and Roach, M. E. (1974). Clothing as a non-verbal communicator of social and political attitudes. Home Econ. Res. J. 3, 94–102. doi: 10.1177/1077727X7400300201

Cabras, C., Marmillata, S., and Sechi, C. (2018). Sexual objectification in education: how do teachers perceive and evaluate students? Soc. Psychol. Educ. 21, 743–757. doi: 10.1007/s11218-018-9432-3

Calogero, R. M., Davis, W. N., and Thompson, J. K. (2005). The role of self-objectification in the experience of women with eating disorders. Sex Roles 52, 43–50. doi: 10.1007/s11199-005-1192-9

CENSIS. (2006). Women and Media in Europe (Libro Bianco). Rome: Editore Colombo.

Cicchetti, D. V., and Sparrow, S. S. (1981). Developing criteria for establishing interrater reliability of specific items: applications to assessment of adaptive behavior. Am. J. Ment. Defic. 86, 127–137.

PubMed Abstract | Google Scholar

Collins, R. L. (2011). Content analysis of gender roles in media: where are we now and where should we go? Sex Roles 64, 290–298. doi: 10.1007/s11199-010-9929-5

Crane, D. (2012). Fashion and its Social Agendas: Class, Gender, and Identity in Clothing. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

Daniels, E. A., and Zurbriggen, E. L. (2016). The price of sexy: viewers’ perceptions of a sexualized versus non-sexualized facebook profile photograph. Psychol. Pop. Media Cult. 5, 2–14. doi: 10.1037/ppm0000048

Edmonds, E. M., and Cahoon, D. D. (1993). Effects of religious orientation and clothing revealingness on women’s choice of clothing. J. Soc. Behav. Pers. 8, 349–353.

Fardouly, J., Diedrichs, P. C., Vartanian, L. R., and Halliwell, E. (2015). The mediating role of appearance comparisons in the relationship between media usage and self-objectification in young women. Psychol. Women Q. 39, 447–457. doi: 10.1177/0361684315581841

Fasoli, F., Durante, F., Mari, S., Zogmaister, C., and Volpato, C. (2018). Shades of sexualization: when sexualization becomes sexual objectification. Sex Roles 78, 338–351. doi: 10.1007/s11199-017-0808-1

Forsythe, S. M. (1990). Effect of applicant’s clothing on interviewer’s decision to hire. J. Appl. Soc. Psychol. 20, 1579–1595. doi: 10.1111/j.1559-1816.1990.tb01494.x

Gillath, O., Bahns, A. J., Ge, F., and Crandall, C. S. (2012). Shoes as a source of first impressions. J. Res. Pers. 46, 423–430. doi: 10.1016/j.jrp.2012.04.003

Glick, P., Larsen, S., Johnson, C., and Branstiter, H. (2005). Evaluations of sexy women in low-and high-status jobs. Psychol. Women Q. 29, 389–395. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-6402.2005.00238.x

Goldsmith, R. E., Flynn, L. R., and Clark, R. A. (2012). Materialistic, brand engaged and status consuming consumers and clothing behaviors. J. Fashion Mark. Manag. Int. J. 16, 102–119. doi: 10.1108/13612021211203050

Grabe, S., Ward, L. M., and Hyde, J. S. (2008). The role of the media in body image concerns among women: a meta-analysis of experimental and correlational studies. Psychol. Bull. 134:460. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.134.3.460

PubMed Abstract | CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

Graff, K., Murnen, S. K., and Smolak, L. (2012). Too sexualized to be taken seriously? Perceptions of a girl in childlike vs. sexualizing clothing. Sex Roles 66, 764–775. doi: 10.1007/s11199-012-0145-3

Graff, K. A., Murnen, S. K., and Krause, A. K. (2013). Low-cut shirts and high-heeled shoes: increased sexualization across time in magazine depictions of girls. Sex Roles 69, 571–582. doi: 10.1007/s11199-013-0321-0

Grogan, S., Gill, S., Brownbridge, K., Kilgariff, S., and Whalley, A. (2013). Dress fit and body image: a thematic analysis of women’s accounts during and after trying on dresses. Body Image 10, 380–388. doi: 10.1016/j.bodyim.2013.03.003

Guastini, M., Cosenza, G., Colombari, J., and Gasparri, E. (2014). Come la Pubblicità Racconta Gli Uomini e le Donne in Italia. Available at: http://www.datamediahub.it/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Come-la-pubblicità-racconta-gli-italiani.pdf

Gurung, R. A., and Chrouser, C. J. (2007). Predicting objectification: do provocative clothing and observer characteristics matter? Sex Roles 57, 91–99. doi: 10.1007/s11199-007-9219-z

Hayes, A. F. (2013). Model templates for process for SPSS and SAS. Retriev. Dec. 12:2013.

Hirschman, E. C., and Thompson, C. J. (1997). Why media matter: toward a richer understanding of consumers’ relationships with advertising and mass media. J. Advert. 26, 43–60. doi: 10.1080/00913367.1997.10673517

Howlett, N., Pine, K. J., Cahill, N., Orakçioǧlu,Ý, and Fletcher, B. C. (2015). Unbuttoned: the interaction between provocativeness of female work attire and occupational status. Sex Roles 72, 105–116. doi: 10.1007/s11199-015-0450-8

Johnson, V., and Gurung, R. A. (2011). Defusing the objectification of women by other women: the role of competence. Sex Roles 65, 177–188. doi: 10.1007/s11199-011-00

Johnston, C. (2016). Woman’s High-Heel Petition Receives 100,000-plus Signatures. The Guardian. Availble at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/12/nicola-thorp-high-heel-petition-receives-100000-plus-signatures (accessed July 12, 2017).

Kelan, E. K. (2013). The becoming of business bodies: gender, appearance, and leadership development. Manag. Learn. 44, 45–61. doi: 10.1177/1350507612469009

Kwon, Y. H. (1997). Sex, sex-role, facial attractiveness, social self-esteem and interest in clothing. Percept. Mot. Skills 84, 899–907. doi: 10.2466/pms.1997.84.3.899

Landis, J. R., and Koch, G. G. (1977). The measurement of observer agreement for categorical data. Biometrics 33, 159–174. doi: 10.2307/2529310

Lee, H., and Choo, H. (2015). Daily outfit satisfaction: the effects of self and others’ evaluation on satisfaction with what I wear today. Int. J. Consum. Stud. 39, 261–268. doi: 10.1111/ijcs.12174

Lennon, S. J., Adomaitis, A. D., Koo, J., and Johnson, K. K. (2017). Dress and sex: a review of empirical research involving human participants and published in refereed journals. Fashion Text. 4, 14–35. doi: 10.1186/s40691-017-0101-5

Loughnan, S., and Pacilli, M. G. (2014). Seeing (and treating) others as sexual objects: towards a more complete mapping of sexual objectification. Test. Psychometr. Methodol. Appl. Psychol. 21, 309–325. doi: 10.4473/TPM21.3.6

Loughnan, S., Pina, A., Vasquez, E. A., and Puvia, E. (2013). Sexual objectification increases rape victim blame and decreases perceived suffering. Psychol. Women Q. 37, 455–461. doi: 10.1177/0361684313485718

Marks, G., and Miller, N. (1987). Ten years of research on the false-consensus effect: an empirical and theoretical review. Psychol. Bull. 102, 72–90. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.102.1.72

McKinley, N. M., and Hyde, J. S. (1996). The objectified body consciousness scale development and validation. Psychol. Women Q. 20, 181–215. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-6402.1996.tb00467.x

Pacilli, M. G., Pagliaro, S., Loughnan, S., Gramazio, S., Spaccatini, F., and Baldry, A. C. (2017). Sexualization reduces helping intentions towards female victims of intimate partner violence through mediation of moral patiency. Br. J. Soc. Psychol. 56, 293–313. doi: 10.1111/bjso.12169

Piacentini, M., and Mailer, G. (2004). Symbolic consumption in teenagers’ clothing choices. J. Consum. Behav. 3, 251–262. doi: 10.1002/cb.138

Ruetzler, T., Taylor, J., Reynolds, D., Baker, W., and Killen, C. (2012). What is professional attire today? A conjoint analysis of personal presentation attributes. Int. J. Hosp. Manag. 31, 937–943. doi: 10.1016/j.ijhm.2011.11.001

Smolak, L., and Murnen, S. K. (2011). “The sexualization of girls and women as a primary antecedent of self-objectification,” in Self-Objectification in Women: Causes, Consequences, and Counteractions , eds R. M. Calogero, S. Tantleff-Dunn, and J. K. Thompson (Washington DC: American Psychological Association), 53–69. doi: 10.1037/12304-003

Smolak, L., Murnen, S. K., and Myers, T. A. (2014). Sexualizing the self what college women and men think about and do to be “sexy”. Psychol. Women Q. 38, 379–397. doi: 10.1177/0361684314524168

Strelan, P., and Hargreaves, D. (2005). Reasons for exercise and body esteem: men’s responses to self-objectification. Sex Roles 53, 495–503. doi: 10.1007/s11199-005-7137-5

Thurston, J. L., Lennon, S. J., and Clayton, R. V. (1990). Influence of age, body type, fashion, and garment type on women’s professional image. Home Econ. Res. J. 19, 139–150. doi: 10.1177/1077727X9001900204

Tiggemann, M., and Andrew, R. (2012a). Clothes make a difference: the role of self-objectification. Sex Roles 66, 646–654. doi: 10.1007/s11199-011-0085-3

Tiggemann, M., and Andrew, R. (2012b). Clothing choices, weight, and trait self-objectification. Body Image 9, 409–412. doi: 10.1016/j.bodyim.2012.02.003

Valenti, J. (2015). Schools Tighten Grip on Restrictive Dress Codes – and Students are fed up. The Guardian. Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/sep/07/restrictive-school-dress-codes-student-outrage (accessed July 12, 2017).

Volpato, C. (2011). Deumanizzazione. Come si legittima la violenza. Bari: Editori Laterza.

Ward, L. M. (2016). Media and sexualization: state of empirical research, 1995–2015. J Sex Res. 53, 560–577. doi: 10.1080/00224499.2016.1142496

Ward, L. M., Seabrook, R. C., Manago, A., and Reed, L. (2016). Contribution of diverse media to self-sexualization among undergraduate women and men. Sex Roles 74, 12–23. doi: 10.1007/s11199-015-0548-z

Keywords : graduation, outfit, clothing, sexual objectification, television

Citation: Fasoli F, Maass A, Volpato C and Pacilli MG (2018) The (Female) Graduate: Choice and Consequences of Women’s Clothing. Front. Psychol. 9:2401. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02401

Received: 05 September 2018; Accepted: 14 November 2018; Published: 29 November 2018.

Reviewed by:

Copyright © 2018 Fasoli, Maass, Volpato and Pacilli. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Fabio Fasoli, [email protected]

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

• Clothing, Shoes & Jewelry
• Novelty & More
• Tops & Tees

Image Unavailable

• To view this video download Flash Player

Master's Thesis Defense Tshirt Defended Graduation Gift

Sustainability features.

This product has sustainability features recognized by trusted certifications.

Made with chemicals safer for human health and the environment.

STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX requires every component of a textiles product—including all thread, buttons, and trims—to be tested against a list of more than 1,000 harmful regulated and unregulated chemicals which may be harmful to human health. The assessment process is globally standardized, independently conducted, and updated at least once a year based on new scientific information or regulatory requirements. Certification focus: #ProductSafety and #ChemicalsUsed.

Learn more about this certification

Certification Number

Men's Big and Tall

Women's Plus

Product details

About this item.

• This shirt makes a great gift for a master's thesis defense or masters graduation.
• Master's Thesis defended t-shirt.
• Lightweight, Classic fit, Double-needle sleeve and bottom hem

Sorry, there was a problem.

Brand in this category on amazon.

Product Description

Master's Thesis Defense Gift Tees. Master's Thesis Defense Tshirt Defended Graduation Gift. This shirt makes a great gift for a master's thesis defense or masters graduation. Master's Thesis defended t-shirt.

Looking for specific info?

• Package Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 10 x 8 x 1 inches; 4.8 ounces
• Department ‏ : ‎ mens
• Date First Available ‏ : ‎ October 9, 2018
• Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ Master's Thesis Defense Gift Tees
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07JVTNFT7
• #433,456 in Boys' Novelty T-Shirts
• #438,116 in Girls' Novelty T-Shirts
• #608,593 in Boys' Fashion

Similar brands on Amazon

Customer reviews

Our goal is to make sure every review is trustworthy and useful. That's why we use both technology and human investigators to block fake reviews before customers ever see them.  Learn more

We block Amazon accounts that violate our community guidelines. We also block sellers who buy reviews and take legal actions against parties who provide these reviews.  Learn how to report

No customer reviews

• About Amazon
• Investor Relations
• Amazon Devices
• Amazon Science
• Sell products on Amazon
• Sell on Amazon Business
• Sell apps on Amazon
• Become an Affiliate
• Advertise Your Products
• Self-Publish with Us
• Host an Amazon Hub
• › See More Make Money with Us
• Amazon Business Card
• Shop with Points
• Reload Your Balance
• Amazon Currency Converter
• Amazon and COVID-19
• Your Account
• Your Orders
• Shipping Rates & Policies
• Returns & Replacements
• Manage Your Content and Devices
• Amazon Assistant

• Conditions of Use
• Privacy Notice
• Consumer Health Data Privacy Disclosure
• Your Ads Privacy Choices