An E-mentoring Approach that Promotes Doctoral Persistence
Abstract: Doctoral attrition rates in the United States range from 40 – 70% (Berelson, 1960; Council of Graduate Schools Ph.D. Completion Project, 2007); and the problem of attrition is even more grave in the online environment (Rovai, 2002a). This problem, both in traditional and online doctoral programs, is multi-faceted problem as researchers have identified numerous student and institutional factors as contributing to doctoral attrition. Institutional factors include economic integration, effective advising/mentoring, program type (e.g., online vs. face-to-face), and tools for supporting doctoral students. While all stages of the doctoral journey are demanding, students consistently report that the writing of the dissertation is the most demanding (Spaulding & Rockinson-Szapkiw, 2012); thus, it is a time when attrition frequently occurs. Thus, instructions need to be concerned with providing support for online doctoral students in the dissertation phase in order to decrease attrition