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This edited volume comprises a compilation of autoethnographic evocations from U.S. doctoral students in the fields of social sciences and humanities, who narrate and analyze their experiences in the doctoral journey and beyond. Through 11 select contributions, the book examines the intersections and shifting roles of the personal and the community in the doctoral student journey, illustrating the complex and unique nature of pursuing a doctoral degree. Part 1, Curating the Self, includes five autoethnographic accounts that speak directly to the personal challenges and transformations experienced in the doctoral journey. Part 2, Embracing the Community, includes six autoethnographic accounts illustrating supportive communities'life-changing power during the doctoral journey. Contributors are: Gabriel T. Acevedo Velázquez, Ahmad A. Alharthi, Afiya Armstrong, Nick Bardo, Caitlin Beare, Rebecca Borowski, Anya Ezhevskaya, Christopher Fornaro, Melinda Harrison, Linda Helmick, Joanelle Morales, Olya Perevalova, Alexis Saba, Kimberly Sterin, Katrina Struloeff, Rebecca L. Thacker, Lisa D. Wood, Erin H. York, Christel Young and Nara Yun.

Through insiders'perspectives and narratives, this edited collection provides insight into the lived experiences of recent graduates of various English Applied Linguistics and/or TESOL doctoral programs in North America. The authors document how their personal and professional identities intersected during their doctoral studies and how these doctoral programs, as learning environments, supported them in their professional development and dissertation research. As such, their insider perspectives and narratives are of special value to those contemplating pursuing such a program, or are in progress towards their own degree, as well as the faculty members who advise and support these doctoral students. Chapters focus on topics immediately relevant to success and persistence in a doctoral program, such as developing a network of mentors, establishing a work-life balance, and professional socialization, among others. All authors are recent graduates of their programs who have been intentionally selected for their recent memories in navigating the process. At a time when doctoral program persistence declines at the intersection of students'gender and racial background (see Okahana & Zhou, 2019) there is a pressing need to share the insights and lived experiences of those less commonly featured in narratives of the successful doctoral scholar. This need is especially true among TESOL professionals who will teach and learn in diverse, global settings throughout their careers following their graduation. This book contributes to that need, and it is an essential resource for scholars in TESOL/English Applied Linguistics and other similar doctoral programs.

Dissertating During a Pandemic: Narratives of Success from Scholars of Color examines the experiences of doctoral students of color writing the dissertation currently and those who successfully defended their dissertation after the onset of COVID-19 and subsequent shutting down of college campuses in March 2020. While we know that scholars of color experience many barriers to completing the dissertation process prior to COVID-19 such as being in racist academic environments and being engaged in research areas that may not be supported by predominantly White faculty, it is important to consider how scholars of color are managing the dissertation process during this pandemic. We approach this book from an asset-based approach where chapter authors are approaching both the challenges and opportunities they have experienced due to being a dissertation writer during the pandemic. Chapter authors also provide poignant feedback on how professors can be supportive to their needs as dissertation writers. One especially important contribution of this book is that our authors are from a variety of disciplines including: education, social work, psychology, African American studies, and sociology. Additionally, chapter authors are doctoral candidates (and recent graduates) at predominantly White institutions, historically Black colleges and universities, and online universities. Given the breadth of institution types each chapter will provide poignant suggestions for doctoral students across the nation as well as for faculty who are looking to better understand the dissertation writer experience to support their own students. Because of the novelty of COVID-19, little is known about how doctoral students engaged in writing the dissertation during COVID19 are adapting. Moreover, there is little information available for professors on how to support their doctoral students during these unprecedented times. Thus, Dissertating During a Pandemic: Narratives of Success from Scholars of Color is positioned to be a must read for professors looking to support their doctoral student advisees as well as for doctoral students who are looking for strategies to navigate the dissertation process during the pandemic and beyond.

Upon completion of a doctoral degree, how does the newly-minted doctoral completer move forward with their career? Without a plan, or even a mentor as a guide, the path forward may be filled with a variety of professional and personal challenges to overcome. Navigating Post-Doctoral Career Placement, Research, and Professionalism is a collection of innovative research on the methods and applications of navigating the post-doc, professional environment while also handling the personal anxieties that accompany this navigation. While highlighting topics including self-care, graduate education, and professional planning, this book is ideally designed for doctoral candidates, program directors, recruitment officers, and postgraduate retention specialists.

The Doctor of Nursing Practice Essentials: A New Model for Advanced Practice Nursing, continues to be the only complete textbook for all eight American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) Essentials of Doctoral Education for Advanced Practice Nursing. With DNP programs now found in every state, climbing from 25 to over 300 in the past 13 years, having a textbook dedicated to the DNP Essentials is imperative as faculty and students will use it as a template for future and existing programs. The newly revised Fourth Edition features updates and revisions to all chapters and expands on information relating to the current and future changes in today's complex healthcare environment. The text features the addition of new DNP project resources, with supplemental case studies highlighting DNP projects and the impact of this work.Every print copy of the text will include Navigate 2 Premier Access. This Access includes interactive lectures, competency mapping for DNP Essentials, case studies, assessment quizzes, a syllabus, discussion questions, assignments, and PowerPoint presentations.

In Putting the Humanities PhD to Work Katina L. Rogers grounds practical career advice in a nuanced consideration of the current landscape of the academic workforce. Drawing on surveys, interviews, and personal experience, Rogers explores the evolving rhetoric and practices regarding career preparation and how those changes intersect with admissions practices, scholarly reward structures, and academic labor practices—especially the increasing reliance on contingent labor. Rogers invites readers to consider how graduate training can lead to meaningful and significant careers beyond the academy. She provides graduate students with context and analysis to inform the ways they discern their own potential career paths while taking an activist perspective that moves toward individual success and systemic change. For those in positions to make decisions in humanities departments or programs, Rogers outlines the circumstances and pressures that students face and gives examples of programmatic reform that address career matters in structural ways. Throughout, Rogers highlights the important possibility that different kinds of careers offer engaging, fulfilling, and even unexpected pathways for students who seek them out.

Across the country, women are pursuing doctoral degrees at a rate higher than males. While the data indicates that women are now more likely to pursue this advance degree, limited research addresses the real experiences of diverse women who are pursuing a doctoral degree. This book highlights the lived experiences of diverse women who are progressing through a doctoral degree program and the challenges as well as opportunities that they face. These women share unique and transparent experiences of progressing through a doctoral program. Through a narrative approach, Conquering Academia Transparent Stories of Diverse Women Doctoral Students, addresses themes of intersectionality, lived experiences, challenges and opportunities, and adopting an academia mindset. Featured in the Contemporary Perspectives on Access, Equity, and Achievement series, this book shares perspectives of diverse women doctoral students and how their cultural identities assist them with navigating the academic landscape. It also provides insight for current female doctoral students about strategic positioning as a student within the doctoral program and personal necessary transformation in academia. It informs faculty and staff in academia about the experiences of diverse women and how to support their progression and overall retention.

First edition named a 2013 Doody's Core Title—5 stars!The second edition of this distinguished text—designed for use across the entire DNP curriculum—defines practice scholarship for the DNP-prepared professional nurse and promotes the development of key leadership skills needed to effectively influence healthcare policy and improve outcomes. Weaving the eight AACN DNP competencies throughout, the second edition clarifies, updates, and demonstrates their application. The text incorporates updates to the AACN's 2015 position statement, The DNP: Current Issues and Clarifying Recommendations, and the Institute of Medicine's The Future of Nursing report, and delivers new content from nationally recognized nurse leaders.Focusing heavily on improving aggregate care, strengthening leadership roles, and influencing health policy, the second edition continues to address APRN and nurse executive roles, health information technology, outcomes measurement, and the relationship of the DNP graduate to ongoing scholarship. The text's challenging and thoughtprovoking content is of particular value not only to students, but also to professors who will welcome the clarity it offers to the highly complex DNP curriculum.New to the Second Edition:Reflects the most current thinking about the DNP degree and clarifies recommendations from the AACN task force on implementing the DNP curriculumIncorporates recommendations of the Institute of Medicine's The Future of Nursing reportDemonstrates the application of core competencies to practice and aggregate careOffers contemporary examples of DNP competencies and role integrationFocuses primarily on developing key leadership skills for influencing healthcare policy and improving outcomesDelivers new content from nationally recognized nurse leadersKey Features:Simplifies the highly complex DNP curriculum and integrates DNP core competenciesBroadly defines practice scholarship for the DNP-prepared nurse and promotes development of key leadership skillsProvides a versatile supplement to all courses across the DNP curriculumPrepares the DNP to analyze and influence health policyIncorporates policy statements from the ANA, AONE, NCSBN, AANP, AANA, and ACNMDemonstrates the integration of health policy with cross-sector collaboration to advance a “culture of health” agenda

'This unique book not only explains the introduction of the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) role but also bridges the DNP essentials with the evidence-based practice framework. It includes wonderful examples of exciting scholarship, but also illustrates how the evidence is then translated into clinical practice...This is a wonderful resource for students completing a DNP degree. It is an excellent book for expanding the understanding of the capstone project and the importance of dissemination of nursing knowledge to improve patient care and outcomes. Weighted Numerical Score: 100 - 5 Stars!'Kathleen WoodruffDoody's Medical ReviewsWith a unique focus on exemplary, completed DNP capstone projects, this book delivers key information on designing, constructing, and completing a high quality capstone project. It demonstrates the impact that a well-conceived capstone project can have on facilitating change and addresses all program, administrative, policy, and clinical issues that DNP students may encounter during the capstone process. The book examines a variety of capstone projects from across the U.S.--quality improvement projects, strategic plans, advocacy, clinical case narratives, and other innovations--that demonstrate efficacy in clinical nursing practice outcomes and positive impact upon the health care environment. The book analyzes the components of these exemplary capstones to demonstrate how each has provided leadership for change in practice, promoted interdisciplinary collaboration, contributed to advocacy and policy change, and enhanced quality improvement in health care systems. Key Features:Focuses on a wide range of exemplary, completed DNP capstone projects Provides a roadmap for excellence in creating capstone projects Analyzes components of capstones that have effected positive change Includes strategies for implementing evidence-based practices for nurses and other health care providers Highlights DNP leadership and resulting positive changes in clinical practice

Erica N. Walker presents a compelling story of Black mathematical excellence in the United States. Much of the research and discussion about Blacks and mathematics focuses on underachievement; by documenting in detail the experiences of Black mathematicians, this book broadens significantly the knowledge base about mathematically successful African Americans. Beyond Banneker demonstrates how mathematics success is fostered among Blacks by mathematicians, mathematics educators, teachers, parents, and others, a story that has been largely overlooked by the profession and research community. Based on archival research and in-depth interviews with thirty mathematicians, this important and timely book vividly captures important narratives about mathematics teaching and learning in multiple contexts, as well as the unique historical and contemporary settings related to race, opportunity, and excellence that Black mathematicians experience. Walker draws upon these narratives to suggest ways to capitalize on the power and potential of underserved communities to respond to the national imperative for developing math success for new generations of young people.

More people than ever are going to graduate school to seek a PhD these days. When they get there, they discover a bewildering environment: a rapid immersion in their discipline, a keen competition for resources, and uncertain options for their future, whether inside or outside of academia. Life with a PhD can begin to resemble an unsolvable maze. In Behind the Academic Curtain, Frank F. Furstenberg offers a clear and user-friendly map to this maze. Drawing on decades of experience in academia, he provides a comprehensive, empirically grounded, and, most important of all, practical guide to academic life. While the greatest anxieties for PhD candidates and postgrads are often centered on getting that tenure-track dream job, each stage of an academic career poses a series of distinctive problems. Furstenberg divides these stages into five chapters that cover the entire trajectory of an academic life, including how to make use of a PhD outside of academia. From finding the right job to earning tenure, from managing teaching loads to conducting research, from working on committees to easing into retirement, he illuminates all the challenges and opportunities an academic can expect to encounter. Each chapter is designed for easy consultation, with copious signposts, helpful suggestions, and a bevy of questions that all academics should ask themselves throughout their career, whether at a major university, junior college, or a nonacademic organization. An honest and up-to-date portrayal of how this life really works, Behind the Academic Curtain is an essential companion for any scholar, at any stage of his or her career.

The number of doctorates being awarded around the world has almost doubled over the last ten years, propelling it from a small elite enterprise into a large and ever growing international market. Within the context of increasing numbers of doctoral students this book examines the new doctorate environment and the challenges it is starting to face. Drawing on research from around the world the individual authors contribute to a previously under-represented focus of theorising the emerging practices of doctoral education and the shape of change in this arena.Key aspects, expertly discussed by contributors from the UK, USA, Australia, New Zealand, China, South Africa, Sweden and Denmark include: the changing nature of doctoral education the need for systematic and principled accounts of doctoral pedagogies the importance of disciplinary specificity the relationship between pedagogy and knowledge generation issues of transdisciplinarity. Reshaping Doctoral Education provides rich accounts of traditional and more innovative pedagogical practices within a range of doctoral systems in different disciplines, professional fields and geographical locations, providing the reader with a trustworthy and scholarly platform from which to design the doctioral experience. It will prove an essential resource for anyone involved in doctorate studies, whether as students, supervisors, researchers, administrators, teachers or mentors.

Doctoral education in social work is said to be in crisis. While there is a glut of available programs, there is a shortage of doctoral graduates for faculty positions in social work education requiring that the field prepare more high-quality graduates for these positions. There is also an increasing need for doctoral-level social workers in leadership roles outside of schools of social work, such as in think tanks, professional associations, public and organizational administration, and practice. Based on findings from a national survey of doctoral students in social work, this volume discusses the purpose of doctoral education in a practice profession, as well as past and current controversies about what that should be. Survey findings about student demographics and their reasons for seeking the doctoral degree are discussed in comparison to national data from related fields. In addition, their program experiences are considered and parsed, including specifics on what they like and do not like, such as the dissertation research and writing experience and preparation for the PhD job market. While most programs are designed to prepare stewards of the discipline, it turns out that the resources available in social work doctoral programs, including student aid, are quite variable. The book identifies a variety of recommendations that can enhance the profession's ability to prepare the next generation of intellectual leadership. This is essential reading for anyone interested in or already working towards a social work doctorate, and for faculty and directors of schools of social work determined to understand and shape the future of doctoral education in social work.

Important Notice: The digital edition of this book is missing some of the images or content found in the physical edition. The Doctor of Nursing Practice Essentials assists and advises current DNP students, students considering obtaining the degree, and also serves as a reference for those who have already completed a DNP program. This text is modeled after the eight DNP Essentials as outlined by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN). Each section discusses the materials relevant to an element of the essentials document and helps students understand the Essentials and complete the steps necessary to fulfill the requirements of the degree.

Despite considerable research that has provided a better understanding of the challenges of doctoral education, it remains the case that only 57% of all doctoral students will complete their programs.This groundbreaking volume sheds new light on determinants for doctoral student success and persistence by examining the socialization and developmental experiences of students through multiple lenses of individual, disciplinary, and institutional contexts. This book comprehensively critiques existing models and views of doctoral student socialization, and offers a new model that incorporates concepts of identity development, adult learning, and epistemological development. The contributors bring the issues vividly to life by creating five student case studies that, throughout the book, progressively illustrate key stages and typical events of the socialization process. These fictional narratives crystallize how particular policies and practices can assist or impede the formation of future scholars.The book concludes by developing practical recommendations for doctoral students themselves, but most particularly for faculty, departments, universities, and external agencies concerned with facilitating doctoral student success.

This book focuses on using faculty mentoring to empower doctoral students to successfully complete their doctoral studies. The book is a collection of mentoring chapters showcasing professors and dissertation advisors from the most prestigious universities in the United States. They provide an extraordinary range of mentoring advice that speaks directly to the doctoral student. Each chapter addresses a professional or personal component of the doctoral process that represents how these exceptional faculty best mentor their doctoral students. Faculty contributions exemplify diverse perspectives of mentoring: (a) Some faculty are direct and forthright, pointing the mentee toward his/her destination; (b) some faculty share personal experiences-offering mentoring advice from the perspective of someone who traveled a similar path; and (c) some faculty structure a dialogue between the faculty as mentor and you as the doctoral student. In all cases, they open possibilities for achieving success in doctoral studies. Students discover clues to follow during their doctoral journey. Whether the student is just beginning to think about entering a doctoral program, presently taking course studies, under stress, and doesn't know what the future offers, this is an ideal book because it maps the entire doctoral process.

This third edition has been well revised and continues with the ideas expressed in the previous two editions. The details and reactions in light of experiences of the intervening years have been updated and expanded. This particularly interesting book is written from a student advocacy perspective, intended to speak to non-traditional students as well as those typical of past generations. Specific topics include: (1) how doctoral study differs from previous pursuits; (2) choosing a dissertation topic; (3) your chair, your committee, and you; (4) writing the proposal; (5) the dissertation; (6) defense of the thesis; and (7) spouses, family and friends. From the Preface: “Looking back upon my academic career, one of the memories that brings me the most pleasure are the words students used to pass along to each other, ‘If you have a problem, go see Peggy Hawley.'My distress at seeing bright students drop out and my interest in social science research combined to provide the impetus for writing this book. On a year-long sabbatical leave I interviewed hundreds of doctoral students and dozens of professors across the nation. Then as professor emeritus, I finally found the time to put my thoughts into words.... ” In making the unwritten rules of doctoral study more explicit, the author has attempted to be insightful rather than scientific, personal rather than objective, and practical rather than theoretical. This guide will therefore help to pave the way for those recipients who will pursue and capture academe's highest award: the terminal degree in a particular field of study.

Meeting the challenges faced by today's U.S. doctoral humanities programsDespite the worldwide prestige of America's doctoral programs in the humanities, all is not well in this area of higher education and hasn't been for some time. The content of graduate programs has undergone major changes, while high rates of student attrition, long times to degree, and financial burdens prevail. In response, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation in 1991 launched the Graduate Education Initiative (GEI), the largest effort ever undertaken to improve doctoral programs in the humanities and related social sciences. The only book to focus exclusively on the current state of doctoral education in the humanities, Educating Scholars reports on the GEI's success in reducing attrition and times to degree, the positive changes implemented by specific graduate programs, and the many challenges still to be addressed.Over a ten-year period, the Foundation devoted almost eighty-five million dollars through the GEI to provide support for doctoral programs and student aid in fifty-four departments at ten leading universities. The authors examine data that tracked the students in these departments and in control departments, as well as information gathered from a retrospective survey of students. They reveal that completion and attrition rates depend upon financial support, the quality of advising, clarity of program requirements, and each department's expectations regarding the dissertation. The authors consider who earns doctoral degrees, what affects students'chances of finishing their programs, and how successful they are at finding academic jobs.Answering some of the most important questions being raised about American doctoral programs today, Educating Scholars will interest all those concerned about our nation's intellectual future.

This volume is designed to illuminate the educational experiences of Black women, from the time they earn their high school diplomas through graduate study, with a particular focus on their doctoral studies, by exploring the commonalities and the uniqueness of their individual paths and challenges. The chapters of this volume newly identify key factors and experiences that shape Black women's engagement or disengagement with higher education.The original research presented here – using an array of theoretical lenses, as well as qualitative and quantitative methods – not only deepens our understanding of the experiences of African American women in the academy, but also seeks to strengthen the academic pipeline, not only for the benefit of those who may have felt disenfranchised in the past, but for all students.The contributors eschew the deficit-focused approach – that implies a lack of social and cultural capital based on prior educational experiences – adopted by many studies of non-dominant groups in education, and instead focus on the strengths and experiences of their subjects. Among their findings is the identification of the social capital that Black women are given and actively acquire in their pre-collegiate years that enable them to gain greater returns on their educational investments than their male peers. The book further describes the assistance and the interference African American women receive from their peers during their transition to college, and how peer interactions shape their early college experiences, and influence subsequent persistence decisions.Whether studying how Black women in the social and natural sciences navigate through this often rocky terrain, or uncovering the extent to which African American women doctoral students access postsecondary education through community colleges, and their special needs for more mentoring and advising support, this book provides researchers and graduate students with rich information on how to successfully engage and succeed in the doctoral process.It also demonstrates to women faculty and administrators how they can become better navigators, guides, and advocates for the African American women who come after them.

Designated a Doody's Core Title!'The construction of the doctor of nursing practice (DNP) and the clinical nurse leader (CNL) set in motion a sea change in graduate nursing education. In this book, Fitzpatrick and Wallace document the history, the driving forces, and the expectations for these new roles while providing a starting point for capacity building for the development of DNP and CNL educational programs.'--Nursing Education PerspectivesThe Research Journal of the National League for Nursing'This [book] is essential reading for graduate nursing students who are considering pursuing an advanced degree in nursing.'Score: 100, 5 stars- -Doody'sThis is the first book to document and analyze the development and integration of the Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL) and Doctorate of Nursing Practice (DNP) programs in graduate nursing institutions. Editors Fitzpatrick and Wallace, established authorities in nursing education, present this text as an introduction to these exciting new degrees. The contributors, ranging from architects of the programs to graduates from the programs, offer valuable information on the objectives, curricula, and expected outcomes of these two educational tracks. Ultimately, the book explores how the development of these new degrees has influenced health care delivery at large. Highlights of this book:Delineates core program requirements and outlines what is expected of students in both clinical and academic arenas Provides guidance to students making the transition from masters level nursing programs to doctoral level programs Includes two chapters written by the AACN Taskforce on the new degrees, with essential information on how to gain and sustain accreditation Identifies critical issues underpinning future DNP and CNL program development, and discusses the impact of the new degrees on nursing education, patient outcome, and health care Offering comprehensive coverage of the DNP and CNL development, this book is required reading for students considering doctorates in nursing, as well as nurse educators and administrators working within the programs.

Der Bologna-Prozess verändert die europäischen Hochschulen. Damit steht auch die Promotionspolitik auf dem Prüfstand: An die Stelle des traditionellen Doktorats'in Einsamkeit und Freiheit'soll eine systematische DoktorandInnenausbildung mit Blick auf den Arbeitsmarkt treten. Besonderen Stellenwert haben die stärkere Strukturierung und die Einführung forschungsbegleitender Ausbildungselemente. In der Debatte werden immer wieder die USA als Referenz angeführt. Antonia Kupfer gibt einen Einblick in die US-amerikanische DoktorandInnenausbildung. Sie zeigt, dass hier bereits einiges von dem, was in Deutschland eingeführt werden soll, realisiert wurde, und regt zur Reflexion über Bedingungen sowie Vor- und Nachteile des US-amerikanischen Weges an.

Graduate schools have faced attrition rates of approximately 50 percent for the past 40 years. They have tried to address the problem by focusing on student characteristics and by assuming that if they could make better, more informed admissions decisions, attrition rates would drop. Yet high attrition rates persist and may in fact be increasing. Leaving the Ivory Tower thus turns the issue around and asks what is wrong with the structure and process of graduate education. Based on hard evidence drawn from a survey of 816 completers and noncompleters and on interviews with noncompleters, high- and low-Ph.D productive faculty and Directors of Graduate study, this book locates the root cause of attrition in the social structure and cultural organization of graduate education.

What percentage of graduate students entering PhD programs in the arts and sciences at leading universities actually complete their studies? How do completion rates vary by field of study, scale of graduate program, and type of financial support provided to students? Has the increasing reliance on Teaching Assistantships affected completion rates and time-to-degree? How successful have national fellowship programs been in encouraging students to finish their studies in reasonably short periods of time? What have been the effects of curricular developments and shifts in the state of the job market? How has the overall'system'of graduate education been affected by the expansion of the 1960s and the subsequent contraction in enrollments and degrees conferred? Is there'excess capacity'in the system at the present time? This major study seeks to answer fundamental questions of this kind. It is based on an exhaustive analysis of an unparalleled data set consisting of the experiences in graduate school of more than 35,000 students who entered programs in English, history, political science, economics, mathematics, and physics at ten leading universities between 1962 and 1986. In addition, new information has been obtained on the graduate student careers of more than 13,000 winners of prestigious national fellowships such as the Woodrow Wilson and the Danforth. It is the combination of these original data sets with other sources of national data that permits fresh insights into the processes and outcomes of graduate education. The authors conclude that opportunities to achieve significant improvements in the organization and functioning of graduate programs exist--especially in the humanities and related social sciences--and the final part of the book contains their policy recommendations. This will be the standard reference on graduate education for years to come, and it should be read and studied by everyone concerned with the future of graduate education in the United States.Originally published in 1992.The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

There is a growing concern among educators and policymakers about the level of attrition from Ph.D. programs in the sciences and humanities at some U.S. universities. Reliable estimates of graduate student attrition are difficult to obtain, however, because most information comes from the administrative records of individual institutions. This book provides a summary of datasets that could be used to analyze patterns of graduate student attrition and degree completion nationally, along with an analysis of recent studies on the subject. Based on this information, the committee examines the feasibility of designing a system to produce national estimates of graduate student attrition.