A doctoral degree is perceived as a milestone in one's expedition of educational advancement; however, studies show that 40% to 60% of doctoral candidates do not possess the persistence to complete their degree. The purpose of this phenomenological inquiry is to explore the factors that contribute towards increasing the persistence level among…

Online doctoral students may be at especially high risk for not completing their program. The purpose of this paper is to synthesize and critically analyze the body of research examining factors associated with persistence among online doctoral students, a relatively understudied population. Consistent with the notion that integration and…