The Nature of Exemplary Doctoral Advisors' Expectations and the Ways They May Influence Doctoral Persistence

2009 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 323-343 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benita J. Barnes
Keyword(s):  
Student Retention ◽  
Doctoral Students ◽  
Degree Completion ◽  
Doctoral Programs ◽  
Attrition Rate ◽  
Doctoral Persistence ◽  
Doctoral Attrition ◽  
Doctoral Student Retention ◽  
Doctoral Advisors ◽  
The Relationship

The high attrition rate from doctoral programs has been called a “hidden crisis” in graduate education (Lovitts & Nelson, 2000). Previous research has identified a constellation of factors that may contribute to doctoral attrition. However, the literature suggests that one of the most powerful influences on doctoral persistence is the relationship doctoral students develop with their advisors (Berg & Ferber, 1983; Ferrer de Valero, 2001; Girves & Wemmerus, 1988). Although there is a growing body of literature that has explored the advisor-advisee relationship with respect to persistence, little attention has been given to the examination of the expectations that advisors have of their advisees and how these expectations might impact degree completion. Therefore, this exploratory qualitative study examined the expectations that 25 exemplary advisors have of their doctoral advisees. Findings revealed 5 specific expectations advisors hold that, if met, could lead to improved doctoral student retention.

scholarly journals The Impact of Longitudinal Action Research on Doctoral Student Retention and Degree Completion

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Olive
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Student Retention ◽  
Doctoral Students ◽  
Degree Completion ◽  
Doctoral Program ◽  
Leadership Studies ◽  
Action Research Project ◽  
Theoretical Concepts ◽  
Doctoral Student Retention ◽  
The Impact

The impact of a longitudinal action research (LAR) project on the retention and success of students enrolled in a leadership studies doctoral program was the focus of this study. The purpose was to understand how the experiences obtained through an action research project, conducted over 12-15 months, affected students’ development while they completed the first two years of their doctoral coursework. Ten doctoral students, who were at various stages in their educational journey, were interviewed and asked to reflect upon their experiences while completing their LAR project. Findings indicated that the LAR project provided an opportunity to apply theoretical concepts and methodological tools obtained in their classes to real-world issues and concerns within their respective organizations. Additionally, students indicated that the experiences obtained through LAR projects increased appreciation for their doctoral education which, in turn, impacted their retention and success.

Transformation of the Dissertation

2020 ◽  
pp. 41-66
Author(s):  
Tiffany J. Cresswell-Yeager ◽  
Raymond J. Bandlow
Keyword(s):  
Doctoral Students ◽  
Degree Completion ◽  
Doctoral Programs ◽  
Doctoral Degree ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Dissertation Completion ◽  
Doctoral Degree Completion ◽  
Time Frames ◽  
Embedded Process

To increase success and graduation rates, research shows that doctoral programs must adapt to changes in how instruction is managed and delivered, and must include options that recognize and facilitate discipline mastery without compromising their integrity or the quality of their degrees. This chapter explains a new path to doctoral degree completion, one that minimizes arbitrary time-frames and emphasizes discipline mastery through rigorous coursework and graduate-level research. The authors recommend a new model for successful completion of the dissertation within the Doctorate of Education (Ed.D.) through evidence-based practice. This model implements structured mentoring and the transformation of dissertation research from an end-of-program destination to a program-embedded process. This chapter will provide a discussion of four evidence-based strategies for improved success for doctoral students following this type of pathway to dissertation completion.

scholarly journals Pre-Entry Doctoral Admission Variables and Retention at a Hispanic Serving Institution

10.28945/3545 ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 269-284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Floralba Arbelo Marrero
Keyword(s):  
Marital Status ◽  
Doctoral Students ◽  
Doctoral Student ◽  
Doctoral Program ◽  
Program Completion ◽  
Attrition Rate ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Doctoral Student Retention ◽  
Hispanic Serving ◽  
Indicators Of Success

Doctoral student retention remains a challenge in higher education with an average attrition rate of 50%. This study focuses on analyzing pre-entry variables of admission for 81 doctoral students admitted to a doctoral program in psychology to determine whether significant associations existed between specific variables in the graduated and withdrawn groups in this cohort with over 48% Hispanic doctoral student representation. Using various quantitative analyses, findings demonstrate that the variables of GPA, ranking of ability, marital status, employment, and pre-requisites completed prior to entry into the doctoral program are each indicators of success for doctoral students. Specifically, a higher GPA, a higher ranking of ability, single marital status, part-time versus full-time employment, and the more pre-requisites completed before entering a doctoral program indicate a higher likelihood of doctoral program completion. Findings can be used as markers in the admission process to develop support and curricular interventions that will sustain doctoral students throughout the course of their doctoral studies.

Examining the relationship between the accreditation of engineering programmes and institutional performance

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 179-192
Author(s):  
Humaid Al Busaidi
Keyword(s):  
Student Retention ◽  
United Arab Emirates ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Attrition Rate ◽  
Institutional Performance ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Graduate Employability ◽  
Retention And Attrition ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between engineering programme accreditation (EPA) and institutional performance (IP) using perceptual measures. Two IP dimensions have been explored to test this relationship, namely, graduate employability and student retention and attrition. Design/methodology/approach This quantitative research is based on the perceptions of 211 academic staff holding a range of positions within 15 higher education institutions located in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries (GCC). Linear regression was used to test the relationships in the data. Findings The empirical analyses proved that EPA has a statistically significant positive relationship with the IP dimensions, namely, graduate employability, student retention and attrition. Research limitations/implications A few limitations were encountered while conducting this study. Most of the accredited engineering programmes are located in the United Arab Emirates and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) (nearly 73%). The online survey was the only option available for the researcher to reach some universities rather than using a face-method to collect data. Another limitation is the availability of only five accredited programmes in some countries such as Oman, where the researcher is based, meaning that the researcher had to devote extra time and effort to contact the other five countries by emails, telephone calls and travel to attain a reasonable survey sample size. Practical implications There are many implications of these findings for the universities, employers and economies of the GCC. All GCC countries are concerned about high unemployment rates; for example, the rate of youth unemployment reached 41% in KSA. Adopting EPA for all academic programmes will eliminate the mismatch between the skills graduate students develop while they are studying and those skills required of them when they are practising their job in industry. Although the jobs market is determined by the wider economy, accredited programmes may help graduates to obtain employment because employers are more able to recruit students who graduate from accredited programmes. Universities aim to retain students until graduation and improving student retention and lowering attrition rate brings many direct and indirect benefits to universities, including saving governments’ financial resources. Originality/value This study is the first to examine the relationship between EPA and IP within the six GCC region as a whole.

scholarly journals Professional Formation and Identities of Online and Face-To-Face Students: Experiences about a Doctoral Program of Educational Research in Mexico

Proceedings ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (21) ◽  
pp. 1347
Author(s):  
Leticia Nayeli Ramírez-Ramírez ◽  
Juan Manuel Fernández-Cárdenas
Keyword(s):  
Doctoral Students ◽  
Professional Training ◽  
Doctoral Programs ◽  
Doctoral Program ◽  
Phenomenological Approach ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
The Face ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Qualitative Phenomenological ◽  
The Relationship

The present investigation focuses on understanding the experiences of professional training and identities that face-to-face and virtual doctoral students construct in a training program as educational researchers in Mexico. The relationship between experiences and emerging identities as researchers, academics and learners has not been an important focus in research on doctoral students. Similarly, virtual doctoral programs are scarcely offered in Mexico and their impact on the trajectory of doctoral students has been barely documented. The present research is positioned in the qualitative-phenomenological approach and is based on the conceptual referents of the sociocultural approach to identity in practice. The research questions guiding the analysis were the following: (a) How do the face-to-face and online doctoral students experience their doctoral career? (b) What strengths, opportunities, difficulties and threats do they experience? and (c) What identities do you create in your doctoral career?

The case for partnering doctoral students with librarians: a synthesis of the literatures

2011 ◽  
Vol 60 (7) ◽  
pp. 599-620 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colleen S. Harris
Keyword(s):  
Student Retention ◽  
Doctoral Students ◽  
Doctoral Student ◽  
Academic Library ◽  
Library Science ◽  
Library Instruction ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Doctoral Student Retention ◽  
Research Students ◽  
The Impact

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to ask how the academic library may better position itself to assist with the demonstrated need for improved research ability in doctoral students. The paper examines the literature on doctoral student retention, which demonstrates problems with research self‐efficacy in students, and connects this issue to the library literature demonstrating the impact of library instruction.Design/methodology/approachThe main approach is the review of the literatures in library science on the impact of instruction, and in the wider education literature on student retention and doctoral student attrition.FindingsIt was found that library instruction does demonstrably improve student research skills, and that doctoral students are generally underprepared to conduct dissertation level research. There is a case for partnering doctoral students with academic librarians to improve dissertation completion rates and lower attrition due to lack of research skill.Practical implicationsThe paper demonstrates an obvious need for focus of library instruction on graduate students, and doctoral students in particular. The paper poses a number of research agendas that can be taken up by practitioners in the field, including various models for implementing instruction for doctoral students.Social implicationsAttrition from doctoral programs has a burdensome impact on academic institutions, and has been demonstrated to have adverse social, psychological and financial impacts on the doctoral students themselves. The ability of library intervention to alleviate the problem has wide‐ranging implications.Originality/valueThe paper brings a wider literature base to bear on the practice of library instruction, and raises important questions relevant to librarians and graduate faculty about the value of the library to more advanced research students and the current focus of most library instruction programs at the undergraduate levels.

scholarly journals Doctoral Candidacy Examination Scores and Time to Degree Completion

10.28945/4529 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 181-198
Author(s):  
Juliann S McBrayer ◽  
Steven Tolman ◽  
Katherine Fallon
Keyword(s):  
Doctoral Students ◽  
Degree Completion ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Doctoral Programs ◽  
Practitioner Research ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Time To Degree ◽  
Time To Degree Completion ◽  
One Year ◽  
Candidacy Examination

Aim/Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a relationship between doctoral students’ candidacy examination scores and estimated time to degree completion, measured by dissertation progression. Background: Time to degree completion in doctoral programs continues to be an issue and reasons for high attrition rates for doctoral students are broad and include varied core components of the academic pathway such as challenges with critical thinking during coursework, stress about passing comprehensive examinations, poor academic writing, and lack of knowledge around scholarly practitioner research. Methodology: An ex post facto, correlational research design utilized quantitative data to determine whether a relationship existed between candidacy examination scores and time to doctoral degree completion. Contribution: If student’s ability to score higher on the candidacy examination increases their likelihood of dissertation activity, completion of specified benchmarks such as a pre-prospectus, prospectus, and final dissertation defenses, one year following the candidacy examination, programs have evidence-based support to retain a comprehensive examination. Findings: The findings denoted a weak to moderate relationship between candidacy examination score and dissertation progression (defending pre-prospectus and/or prospectus) within one year from taking the candidacy examination. Thus, the researchers believe this identification of this relationship warrants further research to continue to examine how candidacy examination scores impact progress to degree completion with a focus on academic writing and scholarly practitioner research. Recommendations for Practitioners: We recommend for practitioners the continued implementation of the candidacy examination for students to aid in addressing any issues or misunderstandings students may have prior to the bulk of their data collection and analysis by assessing students’ abilities in academic writing and scholarly practitioner research and in turn, improve time to degree completion. Recommendation for Researchers: We recommend that future research is conducted to gather a longitudinal understanding of the implications of administering a comprehensive examination followed by a pre-prospectus and prospectus defense will positively impact student’s progression through their research and result in the dissertation being completed in a more timely manner. Impact on Society: Doctoral programs need to provide support to avoid students who are progressing through a doctoral program and successfully completing coursework, being halted at the All But Dissertation (ABD) stage and as a result fail to complete these programs due to poor academic writing and lack of knowledge around scholarly practitioner research. Future Research: A longer analysis timeline and larger sample size would help in further understanding the true beneficial or potentially harmful implications this continued implementation of the candidacy examination has on individual students’ progression through to degree completion.

scholarly journals Dealing with Social Isolation to Minimize Doctoral Attrition - A Four Stage Framework

10.28945/3082 ◽  
2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Azad Ali ◽  
Fred Kohun
Keyword(s):  
Doctoral Students ◽  
Social Isolation ◽  
Doctoral Programs ◽  
Drop Out ◽  
Doctoral Attrition ◽  
Decisions To Leave

The purpose of this paper is to create a study model or framework for dealing with social isolation in doctoral programs. Previous studies have focused on the issue of attrition among doctoral students and the factors that cause doctoral students to drop out prior to completing their degrees. Among the factors that affect students’ decisions to leave doctoral programs is the feeling of social isolation; however, the studies have focused on identifying the causes rather than establishing a framework for dealing with isolation feeling in doctoral programs. This paper intends to fill the gap and to establish a framework for dealing with isolation feelings in order to minimize doctoral attrition.

scholarly journals PhD students’ excellence scholarships and their relationship with research productivity, scientific impact, and degree completion

2013 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 27-41
Author(s):  
Vincent Larivière
Keyword(s):  
Federal Government ◽  
Doctoral Students ◽  
Degree Completion ◽  
Science Policy ◽  
Research Productivity ◽  
Entire Population ◽  
Scientific Publications ◽  
Scientific Impact ◽  
The Relationship

This paper examines the relationship between excellence scholarships and research productivity, scientific impact, and degree completion. Drawing on the entire population of doctoral students in the province of Québec, this paper analyzes three distinct sources of data: students, excellence scholarships, and scientific publications. It shows that funded students publish more papers than their unfunded colleagues, but that there is only a slight difference between funded and unfunded PhD students in terms of scientific impact. Funded students, especially those funded by the federal government, are also more likely to graduate. Finally, although funding is clearly linked to higher degree completion for students who did not publish, this is not true of those who managed to publish at least one paper during the course of their PhD. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implication of the findings for Canadian science policy.  

scholarly journals The Correlation between Self-Efficacy and Time to Degree Completion of Educational Leadership Doctoral Students

10.28945/4138 ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 413-439 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juliann S McBrayer ◽  
Teri Denlea Melton ◽  
Daniel W Calhoun ◽  
Matthew Dunbar ◽  
Steven Tolman
Keyword(s):  
Educational Leadership ◽  
Doctoral Students ◽  
Degree Completion ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Doctoral Programs ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Time To Degree ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Time To Degree Completion ◽  
Program Redesign

Aim/Purpose: This study examined an Ed.D. program redesign to address time to degree completion. The aim was to emphasize the need to improve students’ academic writing and embody a scholarly practitioner approach to research. Background: Doctoral programs have the highest attrition of graduate programs, with almost half of the students taking six to seven years to complete. Methodology: An ex-post-facto correlational research design examined self-efficacy and educational leadership doctoral students perceived versus actual program progression. This was statistically determined through Pearson’s correlation coefficients and a t-test analysis. Contribution: This study provides other doctoral programs who are struggling with time to degree completion a model to consider as they contemplate a program redesign. Findings: Ed.D. students in the 2014 and 2015 cohorts reported high self-efficacy (3.62 and 3.57 respectively, out of 4.00). There was a statistically significant difference in the number of defenses completed per semester based on the program redesign. Recommendations for Practitioners: Ed.D. programs should consider using a scholarly practitioner approach. This focus may lead to faster rates of degree completion and better prepare students to solve problems of practice in their practitioner setting. Recommendation for Researchers: While the results are promising as to expediting time to degree completion, like most doctoral programs it does not seem to impact overall completion rates of the program as a whole, thus, warranting further research. Impact on Society: Expediting time-to-completion enables students to graduate sooner. This will yield cost savings to the student, free up faculty resources, and most importantly prepare students to sooner serve as scholarly practitioners. Future Research: Future research should continue to examine time to degree completion, as well as students’ lived experiences and examine how those shape doctoral students’ efforts and abilities in their Ed.D. work from start to program completion.

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