Doctoral students’ experiences leading to completion or attrition: a matter of sense, progress, and distress

To investigate the factors that influence whether or not doctoral students complete their degrees,  twenty-one former doctoral students are interviewed, eight of whom completed their doctoral degree,  and thirteen of whom did not. Data for this study was collected through semi-structured interviews.

Participants were selected to represent the diversity of experiences and contexts that PhD students are  likely to work in.

The factor that separates participants from each group the most is the progress they felt they were  making, without too much distress.