Facing Reality: What are Doctoral Students' Chances for Success?

Doctoral education in the United States had been scrutinized because of high-attrition rates reported as an average of 50 percent. Emerging from Lovitts (2001), this research examined students' attendance at Mock Orals (MO) and its relationship to their academic and social integration, cognitive maps, goals, rates of attrition, and retention in a doctoral program at a private metropolitan university. In contrast to the traditional dissertation model, the MO--activities designed to prepare doctoral students for their oral-defense presentations by engaging them in periodic bi-annual practice presentations. Data indicated that 87.5 percent of matriculated students had been graduated--a higher than the national 50 percent completion rate by more than one third. Conversely, 12.5 percent of the students were Non completers.