Is non‐completion a failure or a new beginning? Research non‐completion from a student’s perspective

Abstract

Today's performance-driven model of higher degree research has constructed student withdrawal and non-completion as failure. This failure is often internalized by the student as their own failure. This paper draws on a longitudinal study that examined the experiences of four female Master's by Research degree students-Anna, Carla, Grace and Lydia-who had either withdrawn, not completed or who had taken a very long time to complete their research. Their stories reveal that they experienced many of the factors recognized in the literature as likely to negatively affect a student's chances of completion: isolation (social and intellectual); lack of resources; 'absence' of, or poor, supervision; and personal and/or professional crises; and additionally, in three cases, tensions arising from a mismatch between an individual's understandings and institutional conceptions of postgraduate research. Rather than internalizing their experience as one of loss and failure, each of these women 'wrote' beyond this expected ending to reconstruct non-completion of their postgraduate research as a beginning to a positive re-storying of their lives.

Exploring research supervision through Peshkin’s I’s: the yellow brick road

“…Tensions relating to balancing personal life and study are well‐documented and this might be particularly problematic for women (Leonard 2001, McCormack 2005, Kurtz‐Costes et al. 2006).…”

“…However, underestimating what a doctorate involves is a significant reason why students do not complete (Irving 2006). The doctoral journey then becomes a story of personal failure (Lovitts & Nelson 2000, McCormack 2005) and ‘unfinished business’ (Irving 2006). I offer this approach as one that might improve the experience, the corollary being improved chance of completion.…”

Supervisors’ Conceptions of Doctoral Studies

“…McCormack (2005) pointed out four categories: the psychological features of the doctoral student, the socio-economic situation of the student, the discipline and type of research, and supervision. Although all of the above mentioned factors are important, several scholars (e.g.…”

Advising Doctoral Students in Education Programs

“…According to Reina and Reina (2006), individuals enter relationships with explicit and implicit expectations. Failure to satisfactorily negotiate implicit expectations can result in strained relationships, misperceptions about the intent of inquiry or advice, and program attrition (McCormack, 2005). In the realm of advisoradvisee relationships, unacknowledged expecta tions-those unarticulated by the doctoral advisees or unmet by the advisor-can create a barrier to positive multiyear relationships (Harding-DeKam, Hamilton, & Loyd, 2012).…”