The Decision to Leave a Doctor of Education Program: An Explanatory Sequential Mixed Methods Design Study
Abstract
Although doctoral student attrition and persistence have been researched previously, attrition rates remain high and continue to be a cause for concern. This mixed methods study employed an explanatory sequential design to learn about the decision-making experiences of five former Doctor of Education (EdD) students from Canadian universities who left their academic programs prior to graduation. In the first phase of the study, quantitative data were collected through an online questionnaire. Interviews were conducted in the second, qualitative, phase to explain and to deepen the understanding of the quantitative results. In Phase One, finances, employment or job responsibilities, inability to complete program requirements within deadlines, and family responsibilities were found to have contributed to participants’ decisions to leave their EdD programs without graduating. During their interviews, participants expanded on their questionnaire responses. All participants identified a defining moment when they knew they would be leaving their EdD programs, and although participants expressed regret and disappointment at not graduating, all cited positive aspects to having been enrolled in their doctoral programs, and some spoke about the possibility of returning to doctoral studies in the future. The quantitative and qualitative findings from the two phases of the study are discussed within the context of previous research. Challenges with participant recruitment for this study are examined, and implications and recommendations are presented for current and future EdD students, EdD supervisors and supervisory committee members, and other leaders involved in the delivery of EdD programs.
Description
Keywords
Education--Administration, Education--Higher
Citation
Janz, L. M. (2016). The Decision to Leave a Doctor of Education Program: An Explanatory Sequential Mixed Methods Design Study (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/28043