Factors that Influence Chemistry Students’ Decisions to "Drop Out" of Graduate School

Focus group interviews were used to study the decision-making process by which chemistry graduate students decided to "drop out" of graduate school with an M.S. degree. Several factors played a role in the participants’ decisions to change their career goals, including balancing family and career, preconceptions (or misconceptions) about the nature of graduate school, role conflict versus role congruence, and self-esteem. Significant differences were found between the factors that influenced the career choices made by the male and female graduate students in the sample population. Significant differences were also found in the reactions to their decisions that the male and female graduate students received from their families, peers, and faculty mentors.