Why would a PhD student drop out after spending so much time in the program?
The most challenging task during your doctorate degree is doctorate degree itself as it’s such a hard nut to crack and its journey is filled with heartbroken challenges that’s why many doctoral students leave between the way. Let’s have a look at the factors that lead to drop out of doctoral students after spending much time as well as money in the programme.
Change of mind-set
A lot of doctoral students drop out their doctorate in the way because they think this is not the right career path, they should move on. A common motivation for doctoral students is a desire to become a university professor. Students are surprised by the time they will have to spend on research. The realization that they will have to concentrate more on research rather than teaching make them change their mind set as they think this is not the right thing they really aimed to do.
Anxiety & depression
No doubt, doing a doctoral degree is not an easy pill to swallow. It’s filled with pits of despair, frustrating challenges, and heartbroken demotivation. All this leads to anxiety and depression and every student can’t bear it.
Familial Issues
Some students are unable to continue on their doctoral degree because they had to focus on other responsibilities, such as their families, careers, or personal problems, or because they were unable to afford it. Social, familial & economic issues are leading causes to quit the Ph.D.
Relationship with supervisor
Ph.D. programmes call for far longer and more in-depth collaboration with advisers than other Ph.D. so, it is essential for the student’s academic performance to have a relationship that is amicable, or at the very least polite, with their faculty adviser since in many instances, the faculty advisor leads the research team of their advisee.
Students who are unable to maintain a healthy connection with their academic adviser or who have difficulty communicating with them can choose to enroll in a new institute or give up their doctorate entirely.
Academic realities are different from expectations
Sometimes students entering Ph.D. programmes with no expectation of a course load that is high in substance may thus find themselves disappointed. And if they weren’t aware of the nature of the curriculum beforehand, it can cause them to deviate from the path that leads to the degree. When students finally confront the rigorous routine of the doctoral programme, they discover that it is very different from what they had expected. This is because expectations and abstract conceptions don’t often match reality. As a result, they come to the conclusion that it is not something they want to continue doing and make the decision to stop.
In the end, I will suggest that if you are not sure about the lifestyle of a doctoral student, you should do some in-depth study into the programme of your desire. It might help you make an educated choice. Besides that, you should talk to existing students and teachers at your potential institute to get a sense of the workload expected of you before you apply.
Next, check your own honesty. For many, a career in academia represents the pinnacle of achievement, but it isn’t a good fit for everyone. You should think about that should you go through with it if there will be costs?