Supports and Barriers to Successful Progression in a DNP Program

Hlabse, Mara Lea; Dowling, Donna; Lindell, Deborah; Underwood, Patricia; Barsman, Sarah Gutin

doi:10.1097/nne.0000000000000251

Cited by 20 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 20 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This study revealed that family includes not only nuclear family members but friends, coworkers, and student/peer groups as well, indicating social support may come from various sources (Dabney & Tai, 2013). Similar to previous studies (Cohen, 2011;Hlabse et al, 2016;Volkert et al, 2018), family was found to be mostly supportive. Where support was lacking, it reflected a misunderstanding of time commitment and perceptions of the value of a doctoral degree.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

“…While previous research has shown family support significantly influences doctoral student success (Cohen, 2011;Hlabse et al, 2016;Volkert et al, 2018), this study helps to clarify how family support and lack of family support manifest. Doctoral students who experienced family support expressed family support in terms of social support (e.g., unconditional love, motivation) as opposed to financial and other types of support.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 84%

“…Support from family is the most discussed source of support among doctoral students (Gardner & Gopaul, 2012), is critical for doctoral student persistence (Hlabse et al, 2016;Volkert et al, 2018), and is particularly important once the doctoral students enter the dissertation phase of their doctoral program (Baker & Pifer, 2011). In addition, social support, specifically attributed to students' networks of family, friends, and educators, was identified as important to academic success (Dabney & Tai, 2013: Jairam & Kahl, 2012.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Gardner and Gopaul (2012) found in a qualitative study of 10 students with an average age of 44 years and enrolled part-time in doctoral programs of various disciplines that "family members were the most often discussed source of support in their lives" (p. 70), while employers and co-workers were the second most-discussed source of support. Similarly, of 140 students who were either enrolled in or a graduate of one of 40 different Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) programs, identified family, peers, and friends as the most important factor to successful progression in their DNP program (Hlabse et al, 2016). From a group of 835 nursing students, most being 36 years of age or older, enrolled in PhD or DNP programs from many different programs in the United States, Volkert et al (2018) also showed that as support from friends and family increased, intent to leave a nursing doctoral program decreased.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Previous studies have identified factors shown to be associated with facilitating or hindering doctoral program completion. One factor important to doctoral student success is the influence of family (Baker & Pifer, 2011;Gardner & Gopaul, 2012;Hlabse, Dowling, Lindell, Underwood, & Barsman, 2016;Volkert, Candela, & Bernacki, 2018), and family integration is a relatively strong predictor of doctoral student persistence (Rockinson-Szapkiw, Spaulding, & Spaulding, 2016). However, family is not well-defined in the literature, and how family influences doctoral student success is not well understood.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

The Influence of Family on Doctoral Student Success

Breitenbach

Ayars

Konecny

2019

IJDS

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Aim/Purpose: This qualitative case-study explores how a doctoral student’s family influences the doctoral student’s success from the perspective of doctoral students who were enrolled in an online doctoral program. Background: Previous research has shown that family can significantly influence doctoral student success; however, it is not clear what is meant by family nor what the details of the influence of family look like from the perspective of the doctoral student. Methodology: A qualitative case-study method was used. More than 500 former students enrolled in an online doctoral program were emailed a web-based survey that elicited information about who they considered to be in their family, how they thought their relationship with their family changed while they were a doctoral student, and how much they thought their family understood what it means to be a doctoral student. One hundred thirty-three (24%) former students participated in the study. Qualitative data were analyzed both manually and electronically by three researchers who subsequently triangulated the data to confirm themes. Contribution: This study defines ‘family’ from the doctoral student perspective and provides an in-depth look at how family influences doctoral student success including explanation of family support and lack thereof that previously has been shown to be significant to facilitating or hindering doctoral student success. Findings: Doctoral students mostly considered their immediate and extended family (i.e., spouses, significant others, children, grandchildren, parents, grandparents, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and parents-in-law) to be family, but some considered friends and coworkers to be part of their family as well. Most doctoral students experienced positive family support, but for those who did not, two major themes emerged as problematic: a reduction in the amount of time spent with family and family not understanding the value of earning a doctoral degree. Recommendations for Practitioners: Institutions of higher education should consider these findings when creating interventions to increase retention of doctoral students. Interventions might include orientation programs to help family members understand the value of earning a doctoral degree, the time commitment necessary to complete a doctoral degree, and ways to support a family member earning a doctoral degree. Recommendation for Researchers: The findings inform future research by surfacing more specific information about what family support and lack thereof looks like for doctoral students and what interventions for improving family support might include. Impact on Society: Improving family support may improve doctoral student success by adding more doctoral-trained leaders, innovators, scholars, and influential educators to society and by supporting the financial investment of students and their families by decreasing attrition. Future Research: Future research should focus on creating quantitative instrumentation to measure the influence of family on doctoral student success. Student populations from different types of doctoral programs (e.g., PhD, MD, DO) might be studied as well. Interventions aimed at improving family support should be designed, implemented, and evaluated for effectiveness.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 84%

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

The Influence of Family on Doctoral Student Success

Breitenbach

Ayars

Konecny

2019

IJDS

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

International doctoral students’ identity formulations through their orientations to their children’s languages as both stressors and assets

Filipi

2024

Aust. Educ. Res.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study contributes to research on the doctoral experience of international students who are parents, and for whom the temporary experience of living elsewhere is both a challenge and a resource for all members of the family. The study investigated how a group of these students positioned themselves to their children’s English and home language during their study abroad. A group of 12 international doctoral students from one Australian university and one primary school teacher took part in the study. The doctoral students were from a number of non-anglophone countries. Membership Categorisation Analysis was used to examine the identity categories invoked during focus group discussions. The categories bilingual, student, parent, tutor and spouse, the category devices family, study, nationality/language, time and location, and the attributes responsibility and inadequacy that emerged in the analysis, suggest that language issues are important considerations for international students with families, and need focused attention.

show abstract