Doctoral Students’ Perceived Barriers That Slow the Progress Toward Completing a Doctoral Dissertation: A Mixed Analysis

• In Event: Roundtable Session 17
  In Roundtable Session: Mixed Methods Roundtable

Abstract

The incompletion of doctoral degrees has been a concern due to the economic and intellectual drain, which affects both funding agencies and academic institutions negatively. In the current study, the researchers investigated perceived barriers of select doctoral students in completing their doctoral degrees by utilizing a fully mixed sequential mixed research design. The quantitative and qualitative data were concurrently collected using identical samples (n = 205) via a Reading Interest Survey questionnaire. A sequential mixed analysis revealed 6 emergent themes: external obligations (36%), challenges to doctoral-level researchers (34%), practical/logistical constraints (23%), emotional concerns (15%), program structure (9%), and support for completion (8%). Also, 3 meta-themes were identified: dissociation, external/internal barriers, and institutional/personal barriers. Implications of the findings are discussed.

Authors

• Eunjin Hwang, Sam Houston State University

• Valerie Tharp Byers, Sam Houston State University

• Shirley Dickerson, Sam Houston State University

• Leah McAlister Shields, Sam Houston State University

• Rachel N Smith, Lone Star College -Tomball

• Anthony J. Onwuegbuzie, Sam Houston State University

• Cindy Lee Benge, Aldine Independent School District