Dealing with Social Isolation to Minimize Doctoral Attrition – A Four Stage Framework

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to create a framework for dealing with social isolation in doctoral programs. Previous studies have focused on the issue of attrition among doctoral students and the factors that cause the same students to drop-out prior to completing their degrees. Among the fac- tors that affect students’ decisions to leave doctoral programs is the feeling of social isolation. However, such previous studies have focused on identifying the causes rather than establishing a framework for dealing with isolation feeling in doctoral programs. This paper intends to fill in the gap and to establish a framework for dealing with isolation feelings in order to minimize doctoral attrition.