A study of doctoral student -advisor satisfaction: Considering gender and ethnic grouping at a private research university

The purpose of this study was to explore the advising relationship---the student's relationship with the dissertation chair---and the impact that relationship may have on completion of the doctoral degree. This study used a descriptive qualitative and quantitative research design hinged to an exploratory methodology that examined the relationships that existed among a set of variables within a particular population of doctoral students. The participants in this study, all volunteers, were secured from a population of 560 doctoral students enrolled in one discipline (Education) at a private research university; 220 surveys were returned for a 39 percent response rate. The surveys---a modified version of Golde and Dore's 2001 survey of doctoral education---were administered in 2002. For purposes of this study, two variables (gender and ethnicity) were selected and analyzed with respect to two opposing scales ("I currently have the advisor I want" and "if I did it over again, I would select a different advisor") in an effort to address issues affecting the doctoral student-advisor relationship. Doctoral student respondents rated items related to their expectation and satisfaction with their relationship with the dissertation chair on a Likert scale.;This study reinforced the findings of other researchers into doctoral persistence. Overall, the results seemed to indicate that female doctoral students had a more negative perception of their relationship with their advisor than did their male counterparts. Specifically, female students were less satisfied with their current advisors and they were more likely to select a different advisor given the opportunity. Though the results were somewhat mixed, the indicators suggested African Americans were more satisfied with their current advisors and less likely to choose a different advisor than all other ethnic groupings. Caucasian students were least satisfied with their advisors and most inclined to select a different advisor given the opportunity. In a comparison of national norms, the data indicated that doctoral students attending this particular university were not significantly more or less satisfied with their relationship with the chair.