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According to the Council of Graduate Schools, approximately 33% of all Ph.D. students are enrolled part-time. In certain academic areas, part-time students constitute nearly 57% of all students enrolled (Council of Graduate Schools [CGS], 2012). Despite these percentages, part-time students are rarely included in the literature on the doctoral student experience. The increasing numbers of part-time doctoral students combined with attrition rates of up to 70% (Berelson, 1960; CGS, 2008; Hawley, 2010; Lovitts, 2001; Nettles & Millett, 2006; Tinto, 1993), warrant special attention on this population of doctoral students. A line of research that holds promise to improve attrition rates revolves around a sense of community between the student and the academic department.
Accordingly, this study examined the ways that part-time Ph.D. students develop community within the academic department and how a sense of community is related to student persistence. This study included 12 participants (ten students and two program chairs) in two academic departments at one urban research institution. This qualitative study followed a descriptive case study design (Merriam, 2009; Stake, 2003) and provided three levels of data: the institution is the bounded system; the academic departments are the cases; and the participants are embedded cases.
The participants in this study defined a sense of community as: feeling connected to the academic department, a sense of belonging and trust, being part of a scholarly community of practice, and relationships with peers and faculty in the academic department. Positive relationships with peers and faculty served as a source of support and encouragement and supported persistence, particularly during challenging courses or semesters. However, it was often very difficult for the participants to develop and/or maintain peer and faculty relationships, due to issues of proximity, managing multiple life roles, and changing cohorts. Most of the participants did not consider full-time doctoral students to be part of their community, due to perceived differences between part-time and full-time students. The participants also perceived that faculty catered to full-time students and preferred to conduct research with them rather than part-time students. |
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