Why do so my students quit grad school?

maybe it's the school's fault?

Universities May Be Contributing to High Attrition Rates Among Graduate Students - The Atlantic

 

Could you even imagine how many PhDs there would be if they fixed that drop out problem? Thank the Lord half the Pd students are dropping out.... We have to many as it is.

 

This article hits home for me. Specifically when the author stated "An overwhelming number complained about a lack of quality mentoring and support from faculty. The study also noted that doctoral students believed mentoring needs to begin earlier, be more systematic...".

I was assigned a new chair recently and in our first conversation she made clear her expectations. She said that this was no longer only my work and that my main role was find consensus between all the stakeholders. She made reference to "our dissertation" several times. After several weeks working with her, my design has completely changed and even the focus of my study has changed. I am not completely unhappy about the changes, but it is not what I envisioned. Also, I find feedback from all of my committee members to be cryptic at times and when I ask for clarifications it often gets murkier not clearer.

In my opinion the process could be much more supportive with very little additional effort or resources. I think the completion rates could be improved greatly if universities just paid a bit more attention. If I ran my business like the doctoral programs are run, we would be bankrupt in very short order.

 

There is also a subset of students who quit in a fit of righteousness when their initial dissertation proposal is rejected, fail a comp exam, or some other criticism of their competency. I do believe mentoring is the key because most students can be talked off the ledge so to speak and gainfully put back to work. It is not a question of immaturity so much as a natural reaction to someone tearing your work to shreds. More work with the student by faculty at the very start would eliminate this IMO by warning them that criticism is part of the process. Additionally, those students who really can't perform should be weeded out before they waste their time.

 

Don't ever assume committee members even read completely or coherently your work. After all reading that stuff is largely uncompensated. IMO the ones to worry about are the committee members who read every line and make numerous corrections to everything as they may have an agenda.