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. 2024 Oct 28:15:1390784.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1390784. eCollection 2024.

Factors associated with the permanence of doctoral students. A scoping review

Edna Hurtado  1   2 , Esther Rosado  1 , Martin Aoiz  3 , Soledad Quero  4   5 , Elkin O Luis  1
Affiliations

Factors associated with the permanence of doctoral students. A scoping review

Edna Hurtado et al. Front Psychol. .

Abstract

The permanence of students in doctoral programs is a multi-causal phenomenon, which makes it difficult to address and leads to an isolated investigation of its causes, being necessary a joint understanding. The aim is to investigate, through a scoping review of quantitative studies published between 2015 and 2021, the influence of individual, academic, socioeconomic and institutional factors on retention, attrition and dropout. The 32 included studies evidenced a predominance of research focused on individual factors versus few that combined all possibly relevant factors. The present study provides evidence for the emergence of several subfactors: female students, self-efficacy and motivation (individual); the relationship with the supervisor (academic); support for psychological needs (institutional); and migratory status (socioeconomic). This article highlights the need for research that understands this problem with a multifactor approach and an impact on permanence.

Keywords: doctoral attrition; doctoral dropout; doctoral education; doctoral persistence; higher education; student affairs.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow diagram of the procedure followed in the selection of studies according to the PRISMA methodology.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Thematic network of factors associated with dropout and emerging categories.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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