Definitional Issues

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As a baseline, one presenter defined attrition as that proportion of the entering cohort into a doctoral degree program that does not complete the graduate program undertaken. Immediately, this definition presents problems concerning the two key data points: how to identify the cohort and the proportion who do not complete the program.

At the start of their graduate education, for example, not all students define themselves as doctoral candidates; others define themselves so primarily in order to obtain financial support.

Graduate institutions themselves also differ in their definition of who is and who is not a doctoral candidate. It is even more difficult toward the end of the doctoral pipeline to determine when a student becomes an attrition statistic, most workshop participants agreed. Here again, the "in-and-out" phenomena complicates the task of drawing a line around the universe of noncompleters. With the total process extending as long as 12 years, the task of determining which students remain on a doctoral degree course, let alone those who have definitively dropped out, is formidable. In addition, researchers face the challenge of determining which factors are student-related and which are institutional.

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Go to: Suggested Citation, Acknowledgment, Workshop Disclaimer The Concern The Rationale for Attrition Research Conceptual Issues Definitional Issues Timing of Attrition Institutional Factors Current Research and Databases Future Directions for Research Data Improvements Underway Changing the Graduate Experience Stakeholder Uses of Attrition Research Caveats About Use of Attrition Data Appendix A. Workshop Speakers, Moderators, Participants, and Planners Appendix B. Workshop Program