Abstract:

Research on doctoral programs in the U.S. reveals an ongoing struggle with completion – on average about half or 50 percent of doctoral students choose to opt out or do not continue beyond ABD (all but dissertation) status (Cassuto, 2013). That number has inched even higher when focusing on women, students from outside of the U.S., or other marginalized populations.

Educators have argued that in order to reverse this trend, doctoral programs should consider innovating ways of administering these terminal degrees especially at the dissertation writing stage, providing more robust and frequent supports and practical guidance to doctoral students -- to improve completion rates and social and cultural program inclusion.

This qualitative study focused on the analysis of practical and innovative learning approaches applied to a subset of 10 students in three different U.S. doctoral programs who either faced completion challenges – multiple years in doctoral research – or experienced social or cultural inclusion issues. The approaches used shared principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) (Rose & Meyer, 2002), mentoring alternatives (Eby, Rhodes & Allen, 2007), and application of Self-Determination Theory (Ryan & Deci, 2017).

Within the parameters of dissertation completion required by the institutions, doctoral learners were provided inclusive educational approaches including several ways of acquiring information and knowledge, alternative means to demonstrate what they were learning, multiple ways of reinforcing learning, and differing types of engagement tailored or "flexed" to interests, motivation, and challenges.

Using innovative approaches termed “dissertation rescue” and “flex-chair mentoring,” these strategies could align with Boyer’s Model of Scholarship (Boyer, 1990), offering universities a pathway to encourage doctoral-level faculty to expand their traditional definition of research in order to incorporate this model. The study includes recommendations for future research and additional findings.

Keywords:

Dissertation, mentoring, Universal Design for Learning (UDL), self-determination, inclusive education, innovation, teaching models, barriers to learning.