The Declining Likelihood of Completing the Ph.D. in Chemical Sciences: The Role of Graduate School Experiences

Maintaining a strong and diverse group of Ph.D.s is vital to the growth and productivity of the chemical sciences. Yet there are concerns this group has become relatively smaller over time as fewer Ph.D. students definitely plan to complete their degree. Using survey data gathered by the American Chemical Society (ACS), we analyze factors that may have contributed to this decline. Specifically, we address the following questions: (1) To what extent is the likelihood of chemical science Ph.D. students’ completing their degree related to socio-demographic characteristics, preferences regarding their future careers, and graduate school experiences? (2) To what extent can these variables account for declines in expressed likelihood of degree completion? Using data gathered in 2013 and 2019, we find students’ experiences in graduate school had a substantially greater influence on the likelihood of degree completion than individual characteristics or career preferences. While students who had adequate funding and more support from faculty and other staff were more likely to expect they would complete the degree, these associations declined markedly when encountering problems and interactions with advisors were controlled. Students reported encountering significantly more problems in their graduate program in 2019 than in 2013, and this difference could account for part of the decreased likelihood of degree completion in 2019. Data gathered in 2022 indicate that the decreased likelihood of degree completion became increasingly more serious over time, especially among students who were more advanced in their program.