Mentoring to degree completion: expanding the horizons of doctoral protégés

Abstract

The authors of this discussion identify one of the most pressing issues facing American universities: the number of graduate students who fail to graduate. We review the literature and further analyze the student and institutional factors most significant in predicting the degree completion rates of graduate students in education. Based on the literature and our many years of advising and mentoring graduate students, the most significant factor in predicting degree completion is the student‐faculty mentoring relationship. We develop a theoretical and conceptual base from which to examine university‐based doctoral mentoring programs by first distinguishing between advising and mentoring.

Keywords:

• mentoring
• advising
• graduation rates
• doctoral students
• self‐efficacy
• degree completion