Come Hell or High Water: Doctoral Students’ Perceptions on Support Services and Persistence

Abstract

Cite as: Greene, M. (2015). Come hell or high water: Doctoral students' perceptions on support services and persistence. International Journal of Doctoral Studies, 10,[501][502][503][504][505][506][507][508][509][510][511][512][513][514][515][516][517][518] AbstractWhile a lack of support has been identified as a contributing factor to non-persistence in graduate studies, there is an absence of literature that matches the provision of specific types of support services with outcomes at the doctoral level. The following questions were addressed in this study: (1) What is the role of institutional support in the persistence and success of graduate students? (2) What do students feel are some of the biggest barriers to graduate student persistence? (3) What do students feel are some of the factors that have a positive influence on persistence? Qualitative methods were employed; eleven interviews were conducted with current and former students who were currently or had previously been enrolled in a doctoral degree program in the social sciences and humanities disciplines. The study was undertaken at a large comprehensive university in Atlantic Canada.Overall findings point to the need to make transparent to doctoral students the role of institutional units and the support services they provide and the need to promote and raise awareness of these services. Five key themes emerged from this study with regards to doctoral student persistence and the role of support services: (1) the unclear role of institutional support; (2) financial considerations; (3) the culture and structure of academia; (4) individual characteristics; (5) support of others. Recommendations for policy, practice, and further research are presented.

Team Teaching the Active Way: A Case Study about the Student Learning Experience

“…While the importance of a doctoral degree is recognized for those seeking a terminal degree, fewer than half of those who start a doctoral program actually graduate, and in many programs the percentage of those who leave often exceeds the graduation rate (Greene, 2015). While student success is variable, research has shown that effective academic and support services play an important role in doctoral student success (Polson, 2003).…”

“…While student success is variable, research has shown that effective academic and support services play an important role in doctoral student success (Polson, 2003). Some research has suggested that the greater the socialization of the doctoral student, the less likely the student is to leave their program (Greene, 2015;Polson, 2003). Brandes (2006) suggested that efforts should be paid to make graduate students feel valued, while Greene (2015) posited that the greater the interaction and the deeper the relationship that is developed between student and faculty, the higher the likelihood the student would persist through the program.…”

The Role of Department Supports on Doctoral Completion and Time-to-Degree

“…Close and productive faculty-student relationship as well as communication and selection of dissertation committee members were key factors for successful and timely completion of doctorates (Barnes, 2009;Wao, Dedrick, & Ferron, 2011;Wao & Onwuegbuzie, 2011). Thus, it is not surprising that department academic support such as supporting groups were important program factors which associated with doctoral student success (Gardner, 2008;Greene, 2015). Department activities and department attitudes toward students were positively related to doctoral completion (Valero, 2001).…”

A Socio-Critical Model for Understanding and Predicting Postgraduate Student Success

“…Published research pertaining to graduate and, particularly, doctoral student success refers to and builds on the depth and wealth of conceptual/theoretical and empirical research on factors that have an impact on undergraduate student retention and attrition (eg Lovelace 2015). Recent research in graduate and specifically doctoral student success also emphasises different elements and individual variables such as (but not limited to) the role of the supervisor (Bagaka's, Badillo, Bransteter & Rispinto 2015) and supervisor identities and trajectories (Maritz & Prinsloo 2015); the importance of fitting into the epistemological and ontological 'mould' of the graduate school, chosen discipline(s) (Gardner 2008) and epistemologies (Bitzer 2011); the quality of academic input, personal attributes and supervisor and institutional support (Albertyn, Kapp & Bitzer 2008); student persistence (Kennedy, Terrell & Lohle 2015); the role of student support (Bolli, Agasisti & Johnes 2015;Greene 2015); the socio-material conditions of doctoral study (Acker & Haque 2015); the role of pre-immersion courses for graduate studies (Salani, Albuja & Azaiza 2016); the role of the research component in postgraduate studies (Bitzer, Albertyn, Van Coller-Peter & Morrison 2015) and student and supervisor perceptions and expectations regarding the scope of supervision, respective responsibilities and personal and institutional contexts (Heeralal, 2016).…”