Why PhD students at a private university Thailand delay completing their doctoral dissertation or drop out

Abstract

As a faculty member at a private university in Thailand, it is noticeable that the majority of doctoral students substantially delay writing their dissertation or drop out. It is to be emphasized that the program under discussion is a part-time program for students who work full-time with completion of their doctoral program scheduled over 3 to 5 years (i.e. semesters 6 to 10). Discussions with colleagues and friends from other doctoral programs both in Thailand and abroad, reveal that it is common for such programs to have slow or a low completion rate .(Mournier and Tangchuang, 2010). A review of the literature confirms that low completion rates (30%) are also common locally and internationally. (Dunn, 204, Marshall and Green 2007, Phillips and Pugh, 2000, Atkinson and Parry, 1997). The purpose of this study is to identify (through a review of the literature and through anecdotal evidence) the nature of the problem; the impacts on the several parties involved and to propose an educational management solution to the problems of drop-out or delay completion of a PhD.