While there are a multitude of contributing factors, under-represented student success in STEM appears to be critically interdependent with teaching and learning practices that are responsive to diverse epistemologies and inclusive pedagogies. However, the professional literature has yet to identify a set of faculty development best practices that…

Doctoral education is going through a period of transition. This transition is evident in the many varieties of doctoral degrees currently offered in higher education institutions worldwide, from the traditional research-based Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) to the Professional Doctorate and the New Route PhD. This article reports on a study which…

Certain racial and ethnic groups, individuals with disabilities, and those from low socioeconomic backgrounds remain underrepresented (UR) in the biomedical sciences. This underrepresentation becomes more extreme at each higher education stage. To support UR scholars during the critical transition from baccalaureate to PhD, we established an…

While much research focuses on factors contributing to doctoral completion, few studies explore the role of the doctorate in forming active researchers with the skills, know-how and appetite to pursue research post-completion. This article investigates 15 existing studies for evidence of what factors in the doctoral experience may contribute to…

Graduate studies, and in particular doctoral ones, pursue the development of scientific researchers able to make original contributions in a specific area of knowledge. However, attrition rates indicate that achieving this goal is not easy. The available evidence indicates that there are behavioral factors, positive and negative, that influence…

This study examines how GRE scores can be used to better understand Education doctoral candidates' methodology choices for the dissertation as well as their persistence behaviors. Candidates' of one online doctoral education program were examined. Results of a MANOVA suggested that there is no difference in GRE scores based on doctoral candidates'…

This paper discusses experiences and lessons learned from developing an interdisciplinary graduate program (IDP) during the last 10 y: The Howard University Graduate Program in Atmospheric Sciences (HUPAS). HUPAS is the first advanced degree program in the atmospheric sciences, or related fields such as meteorology and earth system sciences,…

Using a qualitative approach, this study investigated the perceptions of motivating factors for persistence and completion of the doctorate among low income, first generation and students of color that participated in the federally funded Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program. Purposive sampling was used to obtain a pool of nine…

The common patterns of work activity adopted by science students during the three years of PhD study are described, and their relationship to thesis submission is examined. The results suggest that the organization of PhD study is an important feature of success (defined in terms of submission of a thesis). (Author/MLW)

Focus is on two areas: (1) the factors available to the selection committee when students apply for admission into graduate programs, and (2) those factors emerging after admission, resulting from students' meeting program-imposed requirements for graduation. Program variables are shown to be more important than admission variables. (Author/LBH)

Graduate school deans were surveyed to identify characteristics indicating Ph.D. program quality, as well as acceptable ways to measure such characteristics. Doctoral programs in many different fields of study were considered, but three purposes of a Ph.D. program were emphasized: the training of scholarly researchers, college teachers, and…

This qualitative study explored personal and program experiences that affect dissertation completion and non-completion to provide insights that might help students and faculty in their decision-making and advising. Interviews were conducted with 13 graduates and 9 "all-but-dissertation" (ABD) students regarding the traits they felt led…