The model A Systems Model for Doctoral Student Development and Retention Elaine R. Parent, Ph.D. The imperatives for learning more about how to intervene in the doctoral education process, for retention purposes, are clear. Statistical reports of the number of students both beginning and completing a graduate degree any given year, by discipline area and institution, have been available for several decades. It has only been in the past 6-8 years that a limited amount of quantitative information about doctoral student attrition has become available. This is partly because of the increased data analysis and student tracking capabilities of institutions and professional organizations. However, exact information about the stages when students typically withdraw from their doctoral program is scarce.
Estimates vary according to both discipline and institution.
The graduate faculty is termed the critical agent conducting this socialization since its members define knowledge and disciplinary values. They model the roles of academics in the discipline and provide practical help and advice. The other socialization agents, and seldom given formal recognition according to Baird, are graduate student peers. At the undergraduate level, this process is referred to as academic and social integration . Attrition and slow progress are connected in the early stages with a strong sense of inadequacy and an overly idealistic view of the disciplineand professors.