The Path to the Ph.D. Measuring Graduate Attrition in the Sciences and Humanities (1996) / Chapter Skim
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INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
Pages 3-12
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CHANGES IN THE ACADEMIC ENVIRONMENT The graduate school is no longer an independent institution for scholarly inquiry detached Tom undergraduate education as it was when doctoral programs were first established over 100 years ago at The Johns Hopkins University and Clark University (Rudolph 1962; Veysey 1970~. Graduate programs are much more closely linked today to the greater utilitarian concerns that characterize contemporary un~versityindust~y-government relations (see, for example, GUIRR 1992~.
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TRANSFORMATIONS IN SIZE AND ORGANIZATION In addition to a shift in purpose, graduate education has undergone a dramatic transformation in terms of its size and organization. In 1978 the National Research Council's Board on Human Resource Data and Analyses reported that the number of Ph.D.s awarded in the United States essentially doubled in each decade over the past century.
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TABLE I-2 Number of Institutions Awarding Doctorates 1970 1976 1987 19 Research Universities ~52 51 70 SS Research Universities I] 40 47 34 37 Doctorate Granting ~ Doctorate Grant~ng ~_ 53 56 51 51 28 30 58 60 numbers more than doubled between 1970 and 1994.2 2Doctorate-grant~ng Universities II are defined by Carnegie as follows: "In addition to offering a Fin range of baccalaureate programs, the mission of these institutions includes a commitment to graduate education Trough Me in a, As Bowen and Rudenstine observed: In effect, a new structure has been created.
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Wright speaks of the 'inordinately high' attrition rate in graduate school and concludes that 'we can save a Rely considerable number of those who now drop out of graduate school.' While graduate dean at Columbia, Jacques Begun deplored 'the appalling waste on both sides-of student energy, hope and money, and of facula time and effort.' Citing data from questionnaires distributed to graduate deans and graduate facula members at a number of major research universities, Berelson reports We following estimates Dom graduate deans: "Of Be students who start work toward a doctorate at your institution, about what percentage never finish? Median institution: 35-40 percent." When asked, graduate faculty placed attrition at a much lower level around 20 percent which Berelson attributes to more "selective attention" on the part of the facula than Be deans who actually maintain the official records.
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Factors that have been shown to be related to long periods of doctoral study include availability of financial support (Abed) and Benkin 1987; Hauptman 19861; excessive teaching responsibilities among graduate students (AAU/AGS 19901; and lack of guidance in the selection and development of a manageable dissertation topic (Council of Graduate Schools 1990, 22~.
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Reliable estimates of graduate attrition are in the national interest because of their potential to reduce the waste inherent in the premature departure of talented individuals Tom advanced preparation in the sciences and humanities, but they did not find such an effort to be feasible within the country's existing diverse system of graduate education. The pane!
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. Berelson, Bernard 1960 Graduate Education in the United States.
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Doctorate Recipientsfrom United States Universities. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
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