Mentoring in a Positive Graduate Student Experience: Survey Results from the Midwest Region, Part 1

The goal of this research is to provide statistical data on graduate studentsʹ perceptions that can be used as a basis for actions aimed at increasing the proportion of students successfully completing doctoral degrees. The correlates of graduate student satisfaction suggest the importance mentoring plays in improving retention and success rates. This article is the first of two on this topic. Data that suggest demographic patterns underlay differential success rates give impetus to this work. Women have nearly reached parity with men in political science graduate enrollment, yet they are under represented to a considerable extent in doctoral degrees awarded (Simmons 1996). Although women have been enrolling in political science graduate programs in greater proportions, they either have not stayed to complete their Ph.D. degrees at the same level as men or are taking a much longer time for degree completion. Because men are more likely to complete their Ph.D.s than women, we hypothesized that women face different obstacles in their graduate careers than men and that these obstacles do account, in part, for the smaller number of Ph.D.s conferred upon women. Research findings to date suggest several causes for higher attrition rates among females: lack of sufficient women faculty for role models and mentoring (Chenery 1990; Valos 1991); lack of true incorporation of women into the disciplinei.e., beyond tokenism (Tetreault 1997; Committee on the Status of Women 1992; Guy 1992; Sarkees and McGlen 1992; Jaquette 1971); and lack of a critical mass of cohorts to provide support and sharpen analytic skills through debate and resource sharing (Preston and Woodard 1984; National Research Council 1991). The decision to leave graduate school prior to Ph.D. completion is, of course, multi-faceted. While there are many good reasons for graduate students to leave a program prior to the attainment of a Ph.D., an improper reason would be that the climate of the department is systematically less hospitable to the professional advancement of women as compared with men. Further, since poor retention rates among female graduate students have been linked to the limited advancement of women in the profession (Hesli and Burrell 1995), important normative questions could be raised if the doctoral attainment rates of women continue to lag behind those of men. Several studies have tackled the question of what graduate students need for successful matriculation and socialization into the profession. Davis (1997) classi- fies the necessary resources into four categories: economic capital (money grants and scholarships); social capital (mentors and valuable communication networks); symbolic capital (prestige, awards, and credibility in the community); and cultural capital (knowledge and skills).