Obstacles to success - doctoral student attrition in South Africa

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Authors

Herman, Chaya

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Faculty of Education, University of the Free State

Abstract

The article explores doctoral attrition in South Africa, investigating and comparing the attributions of attrition of doctoral students and PhD programme leaders. The article is based on secondary data analysis of two large studies on doctoral education in South Africa. The main point of the article is that the different understandings of the students and the PhD programme leaders, as well as the gaps in the narratives of both groups, are an indication of a lack of in-depth understanding of the actual causes of doctoral attrition. Using attribution theory, the article suggests that this lack of understanding may contribute to further attrition and calls for further research on the topic.

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Keywords

Doctoral student attrition, Attribution theory, Doctoral education

Sustainable Development Goals

Citation

Herman, C 2011, 'Obstacles to success – doctoral student attrition in South Africa', Perspectives in Education, vol. 29, no. 3, pp. 40-52.