A disturbing 50 percent of doctoral students leave graduate school without finishing the course.
The shockingly high percentage of PhD students who drop out of graduate school without completing their degrees First published on July 1, 2013, by Leonard Cassuto.
William Chace was one of an astounding 120 new graduate students in his department alone when he started graduate school in English at the University of California, Berkeley in 1961. He was one of the students who had just entered the program. Out of the group, just twelve individuals ended up being awarded Ph.D.s.
The attrition rate of ninety percent did not seem to bother his teachers in the least. It was a calling for them to go graduate school, as Chace relates in his captivating book, 100 Semesters, which was published by Princeton in 2006. According to what he stated, "Graduate students were being considered for membership in a secular priesthood," which is not the same thing as a profession. It was a reasonable assumption that the majority of them would not survive.
What if the rate of PhD attrition in the modern era was as high as fifty percent? The presence of that figure is likely to cause apprehension, disruption, and reverberation in every location. It just so happens that the fifty percent figure is not a fictitious total; rather, it is a fact. Although Chace's attrition rate currently stands at almost half of all doctoral students, it is a significant improvement when compared to the days when he was attending graduate school. Picketing on the graduating quad has not exactly been motivated by that, despite the fact that it is unreasonably high. Not at all?
Getting rid of the fog of connotation that surrounds the term is necessary before we can even begin to address that subject. The term "attrition" is considered to be a curse word in the field of higher education. No one enjoys it: not graduate schools, which place a high value on the number of students who graduate; not departments, which place a high value on the placement of Ph.D.s; and most likely not students, who invest their time and money in their programs but do not accomplish their goals. There is a taint of loss, failure, and sorrow that is associated with attrition.
An individual who came dangerously close to becoming a statistic herself was the author of a groundbreaking and comprehensive research on the phenomenon of graduate school dropouts. Barbara E. Lovitts describes her winding road through graduate school in the introduction to Leaving the Ivory Tower: The Causes and Consequences of Departure From Doctoral Study (Rowman & Littlefield, 2001). The book was published in 2001.
The fact that Lovitts is so profoundly committed in her subject should not come as a surprise to us given that the majority of competent study has an autobiographical component or component. It is therefore not surprising that she is so dedicated to reclaiming the voices of those who did not finish the process, whose ranks she came very close to joining. Her stance is that the term "dropout" should not be used to refer to someone who withdraws from graduate school. While I agree with her that the word "connotes individual failure," it is possible that the person in question is merely leaving in search of a more favourable opportunity.
The belief that each student who leaves graduate school represents a loss that could have been avoided is transmitted by scholarship on graduate school attrition. One of the primary reasons for this is that graduate programs are not very good at motivating their students to continue their education. According to Lovitts, the atmosphere of graduate school fosters a "pluralistic ignorance" in which all parties concerned, including deans, faculty members, and students themselves, have a tendency to blame the students who are leaving for withdrawing from the program.
Additionally, the Ph.D. Completion Project, which was a comprehensive and substantial study that was sponsored by the Council of Graduate Schools in the year 2010, indicates that faculty and administration are generally responsible for the situation. Both attrition and time-to-degree are the primary topics of concern in this study. The report recommends a collection of "promising practices" in order to limit both of these factors. These practices include early and regular progress reviews, improved financial assistance, and a "program environment" that is more encouraging.
It stands to reason that the culture, or atmosphere, of a graduate program would have an impact on the number of students who continue their studies there. As a result of the fact that professors and administrators contribute more than students do to the creation of that atmosphere, it is imperative that we pay more attention to the role that we play in determining whether or not students graduate. However, the pupils are also responsible for their actions. A prospective graduate student who is exploring the possibility of enrolling in a master's or doctorate program ought to give careful consideration to the school's rate of student dropout. The question is, what kinds of inferences ought to be made from that information? Without further ado, what is the ideal percentage of students who drop out of a graduate program?
In this context, I would want to propose that the ideal rate of attrition in graduate school is not zero.
What about those who have already proved their aptitude but aren't sure whether or not they should pursue graduate school? (Let's suppose that they are well informed about their work opportunities and that they continue to be interested in pursuing a doctoral degree.) We ought to respect such circumspection in light of the current status of the job market in the academic sector. For this applicant group, the bellies will not be filled with raging fires but rather with uncertain, guttering flames that have the potential to become hotter but also have the potential to flicker out. Do you not believe that those kids should be given the opportunity to investigate graduate school if they so desire?
To better understand the difference between master's and doctorate degrees, let's begin by comparing them. The attrition rate that should be considered reasonable for master's degree programs should be extremely low. The curriculum that lasts for more than two years is quite uncommon, and students should anticipate graduating if they are successful in gaining admission and then committing their time (and, for many, their money) to the program.
The profile of doctoral programs is something quite different. Not every candidate for a Ph.D. will complete the program, and they shouldn't. Naturally, they can be divided into three categories:
Those individuals who are incapable of completing the task. It is possible that they do not possess the disposition to work independently, which is a trait that is not as rigorously tested in undergraduate study as it is in graduate school. Alternatively, it is possible that they do not possess the mathematical skills that are required to be successful in advanced physics. In spite of this, there will be a number of people who are unable to complete the task because they are not capable of meeting the requirements of the task. If admissions committees are doing a good job, this number will be quite small.
Those individuals who are capable of finishing things yet choose not to do so. A few individuals might look for alternative academic vocations. Other people might try their hand at becoming business owners, sailors, or craftspeople. Given the current economic climate, it is reasonable to anticipate that a certain percentage of individuals who initially had the intention of pursuing a career in academia may decide to pursue other paths in their lives.
People who have completed their doctoral degrees are included in this category.
Within graduate programs that are effectively managed, the third group will be the largest, while the first group will be the smallest. But what about the one in the middle? Having the expectation that all doctorate students would successfully complete the lengthy process and emerge with the degree is an irrational assumption to make. In addition to the fact that this ending is not realistic, it is also not a fantasy that is desirable.
Still, let's give it a shot by picturing it. Imagine a group of individuals who are applying for a doctoral degree and have the highest chance of being awarded the degree. The admissions committees are able to easily identify applicants who possess both a high level of competency and a strong desire to succeed in their chosen field. To use a metaphor from the world of sports radio, those locks are completely ice-cold and made of lead pipe. There are definitely going to be an extremely small number of them in any application pool, and it won't be difficult to identify them.
What about those who have already proved their aptitude but aren't sure whether or not they should pursue graduate school? (Let's suppose that they are well-informed about their work opportunities and that they continue to be interested in pursuing a doctoral degree.) We ought to respect such circumspection in light of the current status of the job market in the academic sector. For this applicant group, the bellies will not be filled with raging fires but rather with uncertain, guttering flames that have the potential to become hotter but also have the potential to flicker out. Do you not believe that those kids should be given the opportunity to investigate graduate school if they so desire?
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