Purpose: The study determined the role of personal values in doctor of philosophy (Ph.D.) students' academic success in Tanzania. Specifically, it looked into the influence of openness to change values, self-enhancement values and conservation values on Ph.D. students' academic success. Design/methodology/approach: The study employed a cross-sectional survey design, in which 200 Ph.D. students from Tanzanian universities were involved by responding to a questionnaire. The relationship between the variables was determined by using structural equation modeling, and testing of the measurement model was done by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Findings: The results indicate that personal values influence Ph.D. students' academic success. Particularly, openness to change values have an [beta] value of 0.209 and p value of < 0.001, self-enhancement values have an [beta] of 0.173 and p-value of < 0.001 and conservation values have [beta] of 0.339 and p-value of < 0.001. Practical implications: In the quest to improve Ph.D. students' academic success, universities and Ph.D. students should foster openness to change values, self-enhancement values and conservation values in Ph.D. students. Originality/value: The results of this study extend the use of the Schwartz theory of basic human values in explaining the academic success of Ph.D. students in Tanzanian universities. Past studies that applied this theory were based on secondary school and college students. Moreover, based on the author's knowledge, this study is one of the early studies to systematically look into the role of personal values on Ph.D. students' academic success. Thus, the study contributes to the existing literature on personal values and academic success because previous studies on this subject could not examine Ph.D. students' success in isolation.