A need exists for better models of what contributes to changes in the time that students take to complete doctorate degrees. Utilizing numerous data sources, On Time to the Doctorate presents a new model to explain changes in both total time to the doctorate and in the several components of time to the doctorate. It examines the lengthening time to the doctorate in many fields (chemistry; physics and astronomy; earth, atmospheric, and marine sciences; mathematical sciences; engineering; agricultural sciences; biological sciences; health sciences; psychology; economics; and "all other social sciences") and provides theoretical explanations for this lengthening time. This thorough and current analysis of time to the doctorate provides an up-to-date, extensive review of the literature and an exposition of data not available elsewhere.

Table of Contents


FRONT MATTER
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1 WHAT HAS BEEN HAPPENING TO TIME TO THE DOCTORATE?
2 MODELS OF THE FACTORS THAT AFFECT STUDENT CHOICE AND TIME TO THE DOCTORATE: A LITERATURE SURVEY
3 A MODEL OF THE DETERMINANTS OF TTD
4 THE RELATION BETWEEN THE FIVE VECTORS OF VARIABLES AND TTD AND ITS COMPONENTS: A COMPARISON OF ZERO-ORDER CORRELATIONS
5 CHANGES IN TTD
6 CHANGES IN REGISTERED TIME TO THE DOCTORATE, TIME PRIOR TO GRADUATE ENTRANCE, AND TIME NOT ENROLLED IN THE UNIVERSITY
7 PAST AS PROLOGUE
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
APPENDIXES
APPENDIX A: RELATED TABLES
APPENDIX B: LIST OF ACRONYMS