A study of the doctoral pipeline: Time-to-degree in selected disciplines at South African Universities

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Over the past decade, there has been a clearly articulated interest, both on a national and institutionallevel, to identify strategies that would increase the number of doctorate graduates in South Africa.Currently, however, the pipeline leading up to the attainment of a doctoral degree is a long and leakyone. The study set out to explore whether doctoral time-to-degree differs across five academicdisciplines at South African public higher education institutions. Using a mixed-methods design, asecondary analysis of the HEMIS student data showed that doctoral graduates in education record theshortest average time-to-degree. Descriptive indicators, such as growth rates of doctoral enrolmentsand graduates, the pile-up effect and completion rates aided in focusing the hypothesis that thenature of academic disciplines is associated with doctoral completion times.It was also this study's objective to identify factors which are correlated with a shorter timeto-degree. Using Cross' chain of response model, I investigated the role of selected studentdemographics and contextual institutional, situational and dispositional factors in doctoral time-todegree.Using a multiple linear regression model, I found that younger age is a predictor of shortercompletion times, although it is more pertinent in disciplines such as physics and electricalengineering. Students' mode of enrolment was found to be a predictor of completion times with parttimestudents recording a statistically significantly longer time-to-degree when compared to full-timestudents. A student's nationality was also identified as a statistically significant predictor of time-todegreewith international students recording shorter completion times than domestic students. Lastly,I found that the academic discipline is a significant predictor of doctoral time-to-degree.Examining the role of institutional factors in time-to-degree reported a negative correlationbetween higher institutional throughput rates and shorter time-to-degree of academic institutions inelectrical engineering, but a positive correlation was found for institutions in education, the clinicalhealth sciences, physics and sociology. A survey showed that the immediate degree progression froma master's to a doctoral degree is associated with a shorter time-to-degree. Respondents who wereemployed full-time during their doctoral studies estimated a longer completion time than those whowere not employed, while students who considered discontinuing their studies similarly predictedlonger candidacy times. Survey respondents' satisfaction with their doctoral supervision was found tohave a correlation with shorter completion times.Although shorter time-to-degree can be considered an indicator of efficiency, it is imperativeto consider wider contextual factors in thinking about the efficiency of doctoral students. It is therecommendation of this study that institutional efforts towards combating student attrition and prolonged candidacy times be tailored for academic disciplines. Additionally, students should be enabled and encouraged to pursue doctoral studies full-time.A novel contribution of this study is a model predicting factors that explain differences in doctoral time-to-degree which has been widely neglected in the South African context. Through the integrative use of quantitative and qualitative data, this study is one of the most comprehensive studies of doctoral time-to-degree in the South African context.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University