Exiting the Ivory Tower Before and After Graduation: Attrition and Non-Faculty Careers Among Diverse Students

P&SC and W/S Brown Bag

Abstract:

In this presentation I will examine two different processes of disengagement from the academy by doctoral students: attrition and adopting non-academic career goals. Using two datasets, I examine the role of gender, race, advisor support, field of study, and perceptions of department climate in relation to rates of attrition and students’ post-graduate career goals. Results from this study points to a number of continuing inequities in graduate education among women and URM students, and to the possibility of students’ non-tenure-track career goals as a further marginalizing factor in Ph.D. students’ graduate experiences.