Building doctoral retention through multi-level mentorship opportunities
Location
Ballroom
Session Format
Presentation
Abstract
Nationwide, doctoral students continue to drop from their doctoral programs at around 40-60%. For decades, researchers have discovered a multitude a factors that contribute to doctoral retention and attrition (i.e., previous experience, personal characteristics, advisor/advisee relationship, external pressures). Across both institution and discipline type, doctoral retention remains a serious issue for both higher education institutions and doctoral students alike. This study identifies one strategy for improving doctoral retention – mentoring. Mentoring has been proven to be beneficial in a variety of settings. This doctoral program has implemented a multi-level mentoring program by which doctoral students are assigned a faculty mentor, peer mentor, alumni mentor, and when the time is right, a writing mentor for the dissertation phase. Doctoral student retention in this program has increased by 20% since the implementation of the multi-level mentoring measures. This presentation will outline the steps we’ve taken to implement each phase of mentoring within our program.
Keywords
Doctoral retention; doctoral mentoring
Professional Bio
Jennifer Lovelace is currently the Director of the Doctoral Program at Columbus State University. With a PhD in Higher Education Administration, Dr. Lovelace teaches Higher Education at both the master's and doctoral levels. Her research centers around student retention, doctoral student success, and mentoring.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Lovelace, Jennifer, "Building doctoral retention through multi-level mentorship opportunities" (2024). Georgia Educational Research Association Conference. 35.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/gera/2024/2024/35
Building doctoral retention through multi-level mentorship opportunities
Ballroom
Nationwide, doctoral students continue to drop from their doctoral programs at around 40-60%. For decades, researchers have discovered a multitude a factors that contribute to doctoral retention and attrition (i.e., previous experience, personal characteristics, advisor/advisee relationship, external pressures). Across both institution and discipline type, doctoral retention remains a serious issue for both higher education institutions and doctoral students alike. This study identifies one strategy for improving doctoral retention – mentoring. Mentoring has been proven to be beneficial in a variety of settings. This doctoral program has implemented a multi-level mentoring program by which doctoral students are assigned a faculty mentor, peer mentor, alumni mentor, and when the time is right, a writing mentor for the dissertation phase. Doctoral student retention in this program has increased by 20% since the implementation of the multi-level mentoring measures. This presentation will outline the steps we’ve taken to implement each phase of mentoring within our program.
